Former NFL quarterback Cam Newton is getting real about life after professional football.

During an appearance on Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test, the 35-year-old athlete shared how stepping away from the game has impacted his ability to provide for his eight children.

Newton, who last played in the NFL during the 2021 season, described the emotional toll of transitioning into this new chapter of his life.

“I’m going into a different phase of my life that’s going to require a different form of myself,” Newton said. “Being in the NFL, everyone knows there’s a large sum of money that comes to you in a short span of time and being away from the game for three years, those checks don’t came in the same. Like I got eight kids.”

The former Carolina Panthers quarterback admitted that adjusting to life without his professional athlete income has been difficult.

“It hurts me knowing that I can’t provide like I once did. It hurts thinking that I’m Superman, but in reality, I’m just a man,” he added.

While the adjustment hasn’t been easy, Newton is focusing on personal growth and preparing for the future.

“There’s a famous quote that says in order to get something that you’ve never had, you go to do something that you’ve never done. At 35, I can literally say, ‘Okay now I’m getting prepared for this next chapter of my life.’”

Newton shares four children with ex-girlfriend Kia Proctor: sons Chosen Sebastian, Camidas Swain, and Cashmere Saint, and daughter Sovereign-Dior Cambella. He also helps raise Proctor’s older daughter, Shakira. Additionally, Newton has two children with photographer LaReina Shaw: their son, Caesar, and Shaw’s older son, Jaden, from a previous relationship.

Earlier last year, Newton and his girlfriend, comedian and actress Jasmin Brown, welcomed their first child together, a baby girl, in March 2024. The couple has not yet revealed her name.