http://bleacherreport.com/articles/516087-cam-newton-is-guilty
CAM NEWTON IS GUILTY
By Jay Urban
(Correspondent) on November 12, 2010
In the court of Public Opinion.
And as we all know, the court of public opinion is the one that matters
original content found on www.bigredcritic.blogspot.com
Three weeks ago, reports began to surface that during the recruiting season Cecil Newton, father of Cam Newton, had solicited payment in return for his son’s services on the football field. Newton, who came to Auburn by way of Florida, and then Blinn Jr. College, was the apparent Heisman front-runner. Since then, a myriad of articles have appeared which decry the Heisman potential of a candidate stained with the hint of impropriety.
The story of how these alleged improprieties have come to light is a story in and of itself. Apparently, the most recent round of allegations were actually filed with the NCAA by Mississippi State University in January after they found themselves on the losing end of the bidding for Newton’s services.
Since the beginning of this process, Newton’s father, Cecil, was said to have a very large role in deciding where his son would play football. According to the reports which have recently come to light, Cecil was requesting a figure in the area of $200,000 for his son to play football. According to Kenny Rogers:
Or is it this Kenny Rogers?
G. Newman Lowrance/Getty Images
(you knew he would sing if he got the chance),
a Mississippi State Bulldog in the 80’s and current booster of the program, Cecil was asking $200,000 from other SEC schools, but was willing to settle for $180,000 with MSU because his son Cam liked the Bulldog coaching staff.
In the wake of these allegations, and Gene Chizik attacking them as “garbage”,
Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images
Andy Lyons/Getty Images
Bill Bell, a former teammate of Kenny Rogers, decided to also come forward and confirm the story, going as far as to claim that Mississippi State coaches heard from a distraught Cam Newton after the decision had been made, saying, “the money was too much”, referring to the money that his father supposedly sought. Do I believe these rumors? Should you believe these rumors?
Of course.
While Kirk Herbstreit appeared on SportsCenter this morning and attacked the “where there’s smoke, there’s fire” crowd, I happen to think that recent sports history makes it pretty apparent that where smoke appears, there usually is some sort of fire. These fires might not be as big of a deal as the big time media makes it out to be, but in this case, it would be wise to assume that something is going on.
Whether it be Brett Favre, Tiger Woods, or Roger Clemens, sports scandals ALMOST NEVER arise out of a single isolated incident; and they NEVER arise out of nothing.
The same can be said here.
Cam Newton’s initial brush with infamy took place while he was still enrolled at Florida and sitting through a medical red-shirt after injuring his ankle. According to official reports, Newton purchased a stolen laptop and then threw it out the window when campus police arrived to investigate the possible theft of the laptop. Originally, it was believed that Newton had stolen the laptop. The individual who sold it to him was never located.
While this may appear as an isolated incident with a lot of blurry details, other reports of misdeeds by Newton at the University of Florida have recently been made public as well. Apparently, the presence of Tim Tebow coming back for his senior year wasn’t the only thing that caused Newton to leave Florida. He was also, allegedly, caught cheating three times, putting his name on another student’s writing project and buying a paper off of the internet. According to the sources, he stood to appear before an academic hearing to judge his case in the spring of 2009, when he instead, chose to transfer to Blinn Jr. College.
Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images
Most surprising (and telling) about all of these incidents is that when asked about these allegations, Coach Chizik from Auburn is the only one taking a firm stance. Both Cecil and Cam Newton repeatedly “neither confirm or deny” any of the charges that have been made.
This much smoke almost always signals a fire.
Even if it doesn’t, the key phrases – “cheating”, “theft”, “pay-for-play” – along with the convicting “neither confirm or deny” – have all been mentioned alongside his name. He’s guilty. We all know it. It’s guilt by association. It’s wrong. It’s useful.
All these things are true, and there’s no way for Cam Newton to get out of it.
It’s a shame though, because there is a way around this issue. No matter what happens, Cam Newton will be considered to be someone who did things the wrong way. As I have said before, I have no issues with players taking money. I think there should be a way for it to take place so the student athletes can avoid situations like the one Mr. Newton faces.
CAM NEWTON IS GUILTY
By Jay Urban
(Correspondent) on November 12, 2010
In the court of Public Opinion.
And as we all know, the court of public opinion is the one that matters
original content found on www.bigredcritic.blogspot.com
Three weeks ago, reports began to surface that during the recruiting season Cecil Newton, father of Cam Newton, had solicited payment in return for his son’s services on the football field. Newton, who came to Auburn by way of Florida, and then Blinn Jr. College, was the apparent Heisman front-runner. Since then, a myriad of articles have appeared which decry the Heisman potential of a candidate stained with the hint of impropriety.
The story of how these alleged improprieties have come to light is a story in and of itself. Apparently, the most recent round of allegations were actually filed with the NCAA by Mississippi State University in January after they found themselves on the losing end of the bidding for Newton’s services.
Since the beginning of this process, Newton’s father, Cecil, was said to have a very large role in deciding where his son would play football. According to the reports which have recently come to light, Cecil was requesting a figure in the area of $200,000 for his son to play football. According to Kenny Rogers:
G. Newman Lowrance/Getty Images
(you knew he would sing if he got the chance),
a Mississippi State Bulldog in the 80’s and current booster of the program, Cecil was asking $200,000 from other SEC schools, but was willing to settle for $180,000 with MSU because his son Cam liked the Bulldog coaching staff.
In the wake of these allegations, and Gene Chizik attacking them as “garbage”,
Bill Bell, a former teammate of Kenny Rogers, decided to also come forward and confirm the story, going as far as to claim that Mississippi State coaches heard from a distraught Cam Newton after the decision had been made, saying, “the money was too much”, referring to the money that his father supposedly sought. Do I believe these rumors? Should you believe these rumors?
Of course.
While Kirk Herbstreit appeared on SportsCenter this morning and attacked the “where there’s smoke, there’s fire” crowd, I happen to think that recent sports history makes it pretty apparent that where smoke appears, there usually is some sort of fire. These fires might not be as big of a deal as the big time media makes it out to be, but in this case, it would be wise to assume that something is going on.
Whether it be Brett Favre, Tiger Woods, or Roger Clemens, sports scandals ALMOST NEVER arise out of a single isolated incident; and they NEVER arise out of nothing.
The same can be said here.
Cam Newton’s initial brush with infamy took place while he was still enrolled at Florida and sitting through a medical red-shirt after injuring his ankle. According to official reports, Newton purchased a stolen laptop and then threw it out the window when campus police arrived to investigate the possible theft of the laptop. Originally, it was believed that Newton had stolen the laptop. The individual who sold it to him was never located.
While this may appear as an isolated incident with a lot of blurry details, other reports of misdeeds by Newton at the University of Florida have recently been made public as well. Apparently, the presence of Tim Tebow coming back for his senior year wasn’t the only thing that caused Newton to leave Florida. He was also, allegedly, caught cheating three times, putting his name on another student’s writing project and buying a paper off of the internet. According to the sources, he stood to appear before an academic hearing to judge his case in the spring of 2009, when he instead, chose to transfer to Blinn Jr. College.
Most surprising (and telling) about all of these incidents is that when asked about these allegations, Coach Chizik from Auburn is the only one taking a firm stance. Both Cecil and Cam Newton repeatedly “neither confirm or deny” any of the charges that have been made.
This much smoke almost always signals a fire.
Even if it doesn’t, the key phrases – “cheating”, “theft”, “pay-for-play” – along with the convicting “neither confirm or deny” – have all been mentioned alongside his name. He’s guilty. We all know it. It’s guilt by association. It’s wrong. It’s useful.
All these things are true, and there’s no way for Cam Newton to get out of it.
It’s a shame though, because there is a way around this issue. No matter what happens, Cam Newton will be considered to be someone who did things the wrong way. As I have said before, I have no issues with players taking money. I think there should be a way for it to take place so the student athletes can avoid situations like the one Mr. Newton faces.
