“Needless to say — yo what’s good? What’s poppin? Cam Newton here man, I want to give a special shout out to the Johnson C Smith football team. Faculty, staff, football players, coaches, everybody involved as well as the fans. Man, I’m rooting for you. Keep rocking and rolling. And as always, say one pinky, one thumb, one love.”

Johnson C. Smith was in the middle of a win against Winston-Salem State University on Saturday when Newton made the video. The Division II HBCU squad is now 8-0 and nationally ranked as it continues its best season in over half a century. 

Newton, of course, remains a beloved figure in Charlotte where he spent much of the previous decade as the star quarterback of the Carolina Panthers franchise. He also has several ties to HBCUs. His father, Cecil Sr., played football at Savannah State. His older brother, Cecil Jr., played his college ball at Tennessee State University. His youngest brother, Caylin, started his career at Howard University where he led the program to a huge upset over UNLV back in 2017.

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