Cam Newton Says He Hopes Jseth Owens' Apology Is a Lesson to Young Players

Cam Newton says he hopes his verbal sparring with a youth football player and the youngster's subsequent apology is a lesson for young players.

"I would like to say this, for all the kids that watch this: Let this be a lesson," Newton said in a Facebook video (around the 2:28 mark) posted Thursday. "[To] a man from Philly, repping 215, there's no hard feelings. I was just trying to give him a platform to say where he was from. I'm used to having that type of dialogue with kids. This is not my first rodeo. I know what being 16 and 17 is like.

"What I was looking for him to say and do, he wasn't saying and doing it. He took it as I was trying to 'try' him. That's the disconnect with this day and age, and the kids that are coming up. They feel tried when an adult, or as a man, you're talking to him." 

Jseth Owens, a high school player from Perkiomen Valley High School in Pennsylvania, trash-talked Newton at a seven-on-seven tournament in a video that went viral last week. Owens told Newton he was "ass" because he's a free agent and told him he was "about to be poor."

Newton and Owens later had an exchange in which the 2015 NFL MVP attempted to discuss his performance that again devolved into a back-and-forth. Owens later apologized in a Twitter post sent to Newton and media outlets. 

"As a football player I let my competitive side get the best of me," Owens wrote. "... I realize this can dictate my future as a young man having very big dreams/goals but I will not allow this to stop me from getting where I need to be."

Owens' actions received criticism across social media and even drew negative attention from some within the NFL community. 

Based on Newton's comments, he's looking to move past the situation.