Former NFL MVP Cam Newton was upset after second-year quarterback Anthony Richardson asked Indianapolis Colts head coach Shane Steichen to take him out for one play. The former No. 4 overall pick explained to the media that he was “tired” when he made the unusual request for a healthy quarterback.
His actions and subsequent words didn’t sit well with a lot of people and some analysts and former players called him out over that decision. On this week’s episode of his “4thand1” show, Newton went in on Richardson, sending a NSFW message to the young playmaker.
The consequences for Richardson’s actions haven’t stopped coming, and although Shane Steichen insisted that it didn’t have anything to do with his antics on Sunday, he was benched for Joe Flacco for Sunday’s duel against the Minnesota Vikings.
What was initially seen as a one-week decision has evolved into a rest-of-the-season call for Steichen. On Wednesday, he announced that Flacco would be the starter moving forward, as he gives them the best chance to win right now.
Meanwhile, the trade rumors surrounding the young quarterback started surfacing and they don’t seem to be going away anytime soon.
Colts LB has strong reaction to Anthony Richardson’s explanation about checking out of Texans game
It’s not only former players like Cam Newton picking on Anthony Richardson over this situation. An active player and one of his teammates, Zaire Franklin, revealed on Wednesday that he would have liked to see the young player lie about his reasons for exiting that game.