In 2008, Cam Newton was arrested for reportedly stealing another student’s laptop at the University of Florida. It’s the type of incident that might seem to be mere youthful indiscretion—but because the alleged perpetrator was a Black quarterback in the Southeastern Conference, it became a radioactive scandal. After intense media scrutiny, Newton left behind one of college football’s best teams. Tall, handsome, and charming, Newton later returned to win a national championship with Auburn and an MVP award in the NFL. (He’s since been accused of soliciting bribes from colleges and making sexist remarks.) In The Cam Chronicles, writer Tyler Tynes extracts the truth from the rumors that have long clung to the star. Newton doesn’t participate in the podcast beyond a brief cameo, but interviews with the quarterback’s father and coaches seek to reclaim the legacy of a man whose story the public took control of long ago. Tynes makes the case that Newton is simply both spectacular and flawed—but when you’re a Black athlete with those traits, the world tends to hold it against you.