How does Cam Newton feel about his Carolina Panthers offensive lineman, Taylor Hearn, getting knocked out in a street fight?
Exactly how you think he would feel ... telling TMZ Sports, "It's unfortunate."
Cam didn't wanna get too into the situation involving Hearn ... but noted he hasn't spoken with the 23-year-old since the incident.
We broke the story ... Hearn -- 6'4", 315 pounds -- tried to fight several people outside of a bar in Augusta, Georgia ... only to get KO'd by a guy half his size.
The one thing Cam DID want to talk about ... HATS!!!
Turns out, Newton is a part owner of the Meshika hat company -- where our photog, Charlie, gets all his cool headwear and the two talked about their obsession with lids!
In fact, Cam told us he's got roughly 50 HATS from legendary hat maker Alberto Hernandez -- and he still remembers the very first one he ever bought!
The hat obsession ain't cheap -- some of Alberto's hats can run upwards of $1,800!!
Good thing Cam's rich (he's reportedly made more than $104 million during his NFL career!).