Former NFL fullback Michael Robinson found himself at the center of controversy after he speculated that Jalen Hurts was taking himself out of the firing line since the Philadelphia Eagles were not impressing on the field. Now that Hurts has been placed on injured reserve, Robinson has been forced to apologize for his divisive take.
That apology, however, is too little, too late for some people.
Former NFL MVP Cam Newton thought Robinson's words toward Hurts were extremely distasteful, but the retired quarterback used his " 4th and 1 with Cam Newton " podcast to offer a measured take on the turn of events.
"Yes, this is a very serious injury," Newton said. "And even with individuals critiquing whether it was serious or not, now we know that it's extremely serious, and we can't play about that. But there's another notion where we all act like we've never had bad takes and hold people to a standard when we've all been guilty of saying something we wish we could take back."
Newton displayed a refreshing level of honesty here, admitting that when analysts are asked to provide quick reactions, sometimes without having all the information in real-time, bad takes get exposed. That seems to be part of the case with Robinson too.
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"Everybody criticized him when Michael Robinson came out with that statement," Newton continued. "Yes, it wasn't a good look. It wasn't after the fact; it was during the fact. He was like, 'Man, listen.' But a lot of people are outraged when you go on Threads, X, and these particular platforms because people want that apology to be as loud as the statement was."
Yet, he also didn't quite appreciate how Robinson handled the aftermath, once he did face scrutiny for his comments.
Here was Robinson's apology : "I want to sincerely apologize to Jalen Hurts, his family, the Philadelphia Eagles organization and fan base for my comments last Thursday," Robinson said. "They were unfounded, and I never should've speculated on a health issue of a player nor his commitment to the team."
Newton said he wasn't quite ready to absolve Robinson of blame, given the gravity of the situation.
"So even with what, this ain't the time for you to be like, 'You know what? I'd like to apologize to the whole Hurts family,'" Newton added. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no. We hurt a lot of feelings. You're trying to compare your cleat, man. I got cleats too. No. This ain't the time to compare and contrast. This is not a kindergarten class where you can show and tell, because now we're about to show you and tell you that you need to get up out of here."
Newton is not the only one who took issue with Robinson's initial stance. There's a whole treasure trove of reactions on social media too.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network .
