“I'm not proud of it - Cam Newton opens up about his own incarceration while confronting Brittney Griner’s brutal 2022 Russian detention 

Cam Newton opened up about his incarceration during his college days while interviewing WNBA star Brittney Griner. Newton hosted Griner on his YouTube channel on Saturday.

The pair discussed her 2022 arrest in Russia for illegally carrying cannabis oil into the country. While asking about Griner's incarceration in Russia, Newton talked about his time behind bars in 2008 while he attended the University of Florida.

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"What was the light that kept you going? Because I ain't going to lie, right? Interesting fact about me—um, I was incarcerated in my life for 2 days. It felt like a lifetime. I'm not proud of it. It happened. "And I can only imagine—you are in another country, there's a language barrier, your safety is breached at this particular point because they've already handled you in a way where, you know, a stray has more rights than you at this particular point. But mentally, how were you able to still find the power to keep going? Or what was the grace that you probably needed to search down deep to find for yourself?"

Newton was arrested in Florida on felony counts of burglary, larceny and obstructing justice in connection with the theft of a laptop from another student. While he was in jail, the University of Florida football team suspended him. After completing a court-approved diversion program, the charges were dropped.

After the incident, Newton transferred to Auburn University, where he won a Heisman Trophy and a national championship.

How Brittney Griner nearly spent nine years in Russian prison

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While in Russia to play for UMMC Ekaterinburg in February of 2022, Griner was arrested at an airport after vape cartridges containing cannabis were found on her person. Griner had been prescribed medical cannabis in Arizona to help with pain management.

However, they are illegal in Russia, which led to her arrest. Griner was held for almost 10 months in pre-trial detention before being sentenced to nine years in a penal colony. She had been found guilty of drug smuggling with criminal intent. The United States government had declared her to be wrongfully detained.

The United States later agreed to a prisoner swap with Russia, giving Russia arms dealer Viktor Bout in December 2022 in exchange for Griner. She was soon returned to the United States, where she was reunited with her family in Texas.

Edited by Chaitanya Prakash