Overview

• During a Thursday locker-room session, David Newton followed up a question about childhood Cowboys fandom by saying of Xavier Legette’s father, “I take it he won’t be this week,” despite Legette’s father having died in 2019 and his mother in 2015.
• Newton posted an apology on X, saying he contacted the Panthers and reached out to Legette, calling it an innocent but hurtful mistake and asking for forgiveness.
• The exchange circulated widely on social media through aggregator accounts, drawing heavy criticism and public calls for ESPN to fire or remove Newton from the Panthers beat.
• A Change.org petition urging action against Newton recorded roughly 1,400 verified signatures in the latest counts, alongside a separate 2024 petition that previously surpassed 2,000 signatures.
• Multiple outlets noted Newton had written a 2024 ESPN feature that recounted Legette’s parents’ deaths, and there were no public reports of ESPN disciplinary measures as of the latest coverage.