April 2011 and the NFL Draft can’t get here soon enough for quarterback Cam Newton.
The Auburn junior has been in the middle of a NCAA and media firestorm after a report last week implied a six-figure payment was sought for the collegiate services of Newton.
Kenny Rogers, a former Mississippi State player, allegedly represented Newton and tried to solicit $180,000 from the Bulldogs in order to get Newton’s signature on a national letter of intent. The going offer for Newton was reportedly $200,000, but since Newton had a relationship with head coach Dan Mullen from his days at the University of Florida, the price was reduced.
According to ESPN.com, two sources that recruit for Mississippi State said Newton, and his father, Cecil, said in separate phone conversations that his college choice would be part of a pay-for-play plan and that it would take “more than a scholarship” in order for him to play in Starkville.
While they are nothing more than allegations at this point, this isn’t the first red flag for Newton during his collegiate career.
A prep star from Westlake High School in Atlanta, Newton signed a letter of intent with the University of Florida in 2007. As a freshman, he would backup eventual Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow before taking a medical redshirt during his sophomore season in 2008 because of an ankle injury.
Newton was arrested in November 2008 on felony charges of burglary, larceny and obstruction of justice after buying a stolen laptop from a man selling electronics out of the trunk of his car for $120. The charges against Newton were dropped after he completed a pretrial intervention program for first-time offenders. Newton decided to transfer from Florida not because of his legal woes, but because he allegedly faced a possible expulsion for academic cheating according to a FoxSports.com report released this week.
Newton got his life back in order at Blinn College, a junior college outside of Houston, emerging as the top junior recruit in the nation before eventually transferring to Auburn.
On the field this season, Newton is the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy. At 6-foot-6 and 250 pounds, Newton is an athletic freak that has NFL scouts drooling. With the physical makeup similar to Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, Newton has 34 touchdowns this season for Auburn and has led the Tigers to a 10-0 record and second in the BCS standings.
A key part of the Newton saga has been his father Cecil, who first came to light during a Sports Illustrated profile earlier this month. In Lars Anderson’s story, it was revealed that Cecil ultimately decided on his son attending Auburn over Mississippi State, despite the fact he had a close relationship with Mullen, who was Newton’s offensive coordinator at Florida.
It’s not everyday where a college recruit of Newton’s stature turns to his parents for the ultimate decision on where to attend school.
Cecil, a pastor, oversees five churches in Georgia, including the Holy Zion Center of Deliverance in Newnan. The church was in danger of being demolished in 2009 for failing to meet the city’s building code.
“If you’ve ever seen our church, you’d know we don’t have any money,” Jackie Newton, Cam’s mother, told ESPN.com. “We have nothing.”
Renovation work began last spring on the Holy Zion Center of Deliverance and the church is in compliance with building requirements after numerous delays, extensions and compromises from the city council.
According to Elizabeth Melville of the Newnan Times-Herald, an unnamed contractor did the necessary repairs to the church pro bono.
The NCAA reportedly sent a letter last month to the Newton family asking for financial statements. Cecil submitted bank statements and records for Holy Zion along with other records.
We learned during the Reggie Bush investigation that where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
That thick cloud of smoke you see is coming directly from Auburn, who has no other choice but to defend Newton while the NCAA conducts their investigation. While Newton is innocent until proven guilty, would it surprise anyone at this point if the allegations were true?
There are dozens of Cam Newton’s in college football who are being swayed with money from boosters to sign on the dotted line — but not all of them are the quarterback of one of the two best teams in the country.
Are there vindictive people from Mississippi State and Florida that are leaking information in order to take down Newton?
Probably.
But that’s the price you pay when you play in the Southeastern Conference, aka “Sometimes Everybody Cheats.”
Newton was well aware that he was on double secret probation from his time at Florida and that one false move could spell the end for his college career.
“I believe that a person should not be thought of as a bad person because of some senseless mistake that they made,” Newton said on a teleconference last month. “I think every person should have a second chance. If they blow that second chance, so be it for them.”
Sadly, it appears Newton is on his way to blowing that second chance.
