Brock Purdy game manager comments, explained: What Cam Newton said of former Iowa State QB

Over the course of his football career, Brock Purdy has had a number of different titles and descriptors attached to his name.

In high school, he was the Arizona Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior in 2017. At Iowa State, he was a two-time first-team all-Big 12 selection at quarterback while leading the Cyclones to a 23-15 mark over his three full seasons as a starter, which included a program-record nine wins and a Fiesta Bowl victory in 2020.

He was the final pick of the seventh round of the 2022 NFL Draft, making him “Mr. Irrelevant.” Now in his second season with the San Francisco 49ers, he is a Pro Bowler and an NFC champion, with his team set to play Sunday against the reigning champion Kansas City Chiefs in the 2024 Super Bowl.

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This season, though, it was another label that was affixed to Purdy that drew more attention than perhaps any other as he established himself as one of the NFL’s most statistically accomplished quarterbacks in 2023.

On an episode of his podcast in December 2023 — as Purdy was mounting a case for NFL MVP — former NFL star quarterback Cam Newton, the 2015 NFL MVP, described Purdy and several other NFL starting quarterbacks as “game managers.”

It’s a term that, in some ways, dictated some of the national discussion around Purdy during the final part of the 2023 regular season, though the 49ers’ run to the Super Bowl has quieted some of those dismissals.

Why did Newton’s comments elicit so much attention and controversy? And what exactly did he mean by saying what he did about Purdy? Here’s everything you need to know about Purdy and the “game manager” label:

Brock Purdy game manager comments, explained

With Purdy among the front-runners for the NFL MVP in the final weeks of the regular season, Newton took aim at the 49ers quarterback and several others on an episode of his podcast, "4^th & 1 With Cam Newton."

"They're not winning because of him," Newton said of Purdy. "He's managing the game. And if we were to put that in its own right as game managers: Brock Purdy, Tua Tagovailoa. Jared Goff. And really, Dak Prescott. These are game managers. They're not difference-makers."

At the time of Newton’s comments, the 49ers were 17-4 in games in which Purdy started going back to the previous season. Through the first 13 games of the 2023 season, Purdy had thrown for 3,553 yards, 25 touchdowns and just seven interceptions.

Newton, however, contrasted that kind of production with players such as Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson, who he described as “game changers.”

“I don’t give a damn what you do,” Newton said. “You don’t have to score every time. You just don’t have to throw a pick every time, either. If we’re going to call a spade a spade, a game manager is different than a game changer.”

If the context of Newton’s analysis wasn’t clear, “game manager” typically isn’t a compliment for quarterbacks. It’s often reserved for signal-callers who aren’t among the sport’s best players at the position, much less leading MVP candidates. In Purdy’s case, his success could cynically be attributed to the system in which he plays and the offensive pieces with which he has to work.

San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan is widely considered one of the sharpest, most innovative offensive minds in the NFL, someone whose teams regularly put up high point totals. In that scheme, there is no shortage of playmakers for Purdy to utilize, from running back Christian McCaffrey to tight end George Kittle to wide receivers Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel.

By calling Purdy a game manager, Newton minimized — if not outright discredited — his role in the 49ers’ offensive and overall success: He’s simply a product of a system and a beneficiary of favorable circumstances, not an excellent quarterback.

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Response to Brock Purdy game manager comments

Purdy declined to comment on Newton’s critique when asked about it.

“I'm playing quarterback, trying to win games and we'll see at the end of all of it,” Purdy said.

Newton’s evaluation of Purdy received widespread attention, some of which was critical. Analysts, Purdy’s 49ers teammates and professional athletes from outside the NFL have questioned Newton’s assessment.

Some of those critiques of Newton’s words gained new life after the 49ers’ comeback win against the Detroit Lions in the NFC championship game. In a post-game interview, star San Francisco linebacker Fred Warner cited Newton’s comments while addressing Purdy’s performance in a game in which he had 267 yards, a touchdown and an interception, as well as 48 rushing yards.

“Heck of a game manager, wow,” Warner said sarcastically. “Managed the heck out of that game.”

Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green referred to the game manager label assigned to Purdy as “slander.”

For his part, Newton doubled down on his comments after the 49ers earned a trip to the Super Bowl.

“I still reserve the right to say this: to be labeled a game changer, Brock Purdy has to be the best player on the offensive side of the ball,” Newton said on his podcast. “And that’s not the case.”

Newton later said that, between San Francisco’s offensive and defensive players, Purdy is the 10th-best player on the team. On Sunday, though, Purdy can further silence those doubts by doing something Newton never managed to achieve — win a Super Bowl.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Explaining Brock Purdy 'game manager' comments around former Iowa State QB