Cam Newton Drops 'Real Story' on Fighting Mascot in Viral Video for 'Meme of the Year'

Cam Newton and Alabama A&M's mascot took a page out of pro wrestling by working the crowd when they had an altercation during an episode of ESPN's First Take last week.

On the latest episode of his 4th&1 podcast (starts at 3:30 mark), Newton explained what he called the "real story" of the situation that saw him slap the mascot's head in a moment that didn't seem preplanned.

"I just thank God no one got hurt," Newton said "as we were doing what we were doing. It was all in good fun."

Newton went on to add that there were "other clips" of the situation that made it clear it was a work, but did point out Butch can thank him for becoming the "meme of the year."

The situation occurred after the mascots for Alabama A&M and Alabama State competed in a 40-yard dash. Newton joined in to celebrate with Alabama State's mascot.

Butch the Bulldog wasn't happy about his loss, stepped up to Newton and took a slap to the face.

Newton joined the First Take panel of co-hosts in 2024 and was with the show for its Oct. 24 episode from Birmingham, Alabama, for the Alabama A&M-Alabama State game as part of its HBCU tour during the college football season.

When the "fight" between Newton and Butch occurred, it did generate a lot of reactions that could put it in contention for meme of the year. Birmingham mayor Randall Woodfin even commented on it on his Facebook page, writing "Cam Newton 1 Bulldogs Mascot 0" with four laughing emojis.

This situation was at least more believable than Seth Rollins' knee injury leading into Summer Slam before his Money in the Bank cash in on CM Punk at SummerSlam that WWE dubbed the "ruse of the century."

First Take does have one more scheduled stop on its HBCU tour this fall, at Bethune-Cookman University on Nov. 20 if the mascots want to start training now. Bethune-Cookman will host Florida A&M in the regular-season finale for both teams two days later.