The statistics are in the pudding

Former New England Patriots quarterback Cam Newton says you’re a ‘fool’ if you think there are 32 NFL QBs better than him: “‘The statistics are in the pudding”.

https://www.masslive.com/patriots/2022/06/cam-newton-says-youre-a-fool-if-you-think-there-are-32-nfl-qbs-better-than-him-the-statistics-are-in-the-pudding.html#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThe%20statistics%20are%20in%20the,be%20what%20it’s%20gonna%20be.

This is a conflation of “proof is in the pudding” (the final results of something are the only way to judge its quality or veracity) and “statistics/the numbers don’t lie” (the numerical data related to something shows the truth of a situation). Both idioms refer to describing the veracity of something.

A big thank you to Joe Welch and Jim Kozlowski for both sending this one in within hours of each other. There are many malaphor hunters out there!