Cam Newton: Panthers fans don’t have any hope right now

If any player knew how to connect with Carolina Panthers fans, it was Cam Newton. So he probably knows how they’re feeling right about now.

The franchise’s all-time leading passer spoke about his old employer on this week’s episode of 4th & 1 with Cam Newton. When discussing what lies ahead for the struggling Panthers, the former Most Valuable Player said the organization is in a [insert naughty verb here]-up situation.

“It wasn’t too many things where the fans have hope goin’ into the offseason,” he stated. “And that’s what people aren’t getting, or that’s what upper management is not getting in Carolina. It’s like, bro, these people who are keepin’ you in business, that are keepin’ the lights on—they ain’t got no hope.”

Hope went from 100 to zero really quick in Charlotte this past year.

The season started with a fresh “all-star” coaching staff, a No. 1 overall pick under center and a division ripe for the taking. But it ended no head coach, a fired general manager, a rough rookie campaign for said No. 1 pick and the most losses in franchise history.

Carolina’s 15 losses, with the last coming in a rare pair of shutouts, were also the most in the NFL this season—an especially embarrassing result given that they do not own their first-round pick. So, yeah, hope is hard to come by at the moment.