Alabama staffer fired for mocking Cam Newton with songs (UPDATED with video evidence)
Here's Cam Newton, not leading the Auburn crowd in "Son of a Preacher Man."
(Check for video at end)
It turns out that there’s a limit to what’s acceptable when it comes to making fun of Cam Newton — in Tuscaloosa, of all places.
Alabama has fired an employee who mocked the Auburn quarterback with songs he played over the public address system before their game Friday night at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, according to TideSports.com.
The songs of choice?
“Take the Money and Run” by the Steve Miller Band and “Son of a Preacher Man.” (Reports don’t make clear if it was the Aretha Franklin or Dusty Springfield version of
“Preacher Man.” But I’m guessing it doesn’t matter, even if Aretha is the queen of soul.)
As you no doubt have heard, Newton and his father, the Rev. Cecil Newton, are under NCAA investigation for possibly soliciting payment from one or more potential universities for Newton’s services prior to the player transferring from a Texas community college. Hence, the background music during the pre-game.
Alabama’s part time DJ presumably passed on the Beatles’ “Money,” Pink Floyd’s “Money,” AC/DC’s “Money Talks,” the O’Jays’ “For The Love of Money” and of course Donna Summer’s “[He] Works Hard For The Money.” (Sorry. Just had to go there.)
Seriously though, this from Alabama public relations director Debbie Lane: “Our processes require that all music and videos played in the stadium prior to and during every game be carefully scripted and approved by a senior administrator in the Athletics Department. The former staff member deviated from the script that had been approved for the game with Auburn, and the University took steps to immediately terminate his contract.”
Alas, there is civility in perhaps college football’s most vicious rivalry.
Is the firing just or is it overreaction?
♦
(Here’s pre-game video, via YouTube. Fast forward to about the 9:35 mark to hear the two songs over the PA. Thanks for tip from Tweeter @JaxStateFan)
♦
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517 comments Add your comment
AU For The Win
November 30th, 2010
3:13 am
And merculf – nice try. We’ve seen you post on here before. YOU are not an Auburn fan. You’re just getting in a dig to try and downplay the tackiness of the music. Auburn fans were not amused but CAM sure seemed to be! Classy young man. Just smile back at your enemies and ignore them. Especially after 28-27!!!
We may lose Cam next year to the NFL, but guess who else is graduating or NFL eligible? Julio, Ingram, Richardson, Dareus, AJ Green. Seems that neither Bama or Puppies will have THEIR star players needed in order to win games either. If Bama couldn’t repeat a National Title with their Heisman (let alone an SEC TITLE), how are they going to pull it off NEXT year!
Yay!!! BAMA’S BACK, BAMA’S BACK! That’s all we heard last year. You counted your chickens before they hatched ALL over you! War Eagle!!! 28-27. I’d rather be laughing over this the next 365 rather than some classless desperation of playing tacky music and throwing monopoly money!
AU For The Win
November 30th, 2010
3:20 am
Bubba Dodd, your name says it all. Only a redneck would think it NOT tacky to play tacky music over the stadium PA to make fun of another person. Besides, I don’t see any other school stooping to that level. There’s a difference in a good joke but just being outright tackiness and ridiculing from an Administrator? He got what he deserved. Saban had to know beforehand so it shows what kind of class he has as well!
IT’S GREAT TO BE AN AUBURN TIGER!
Cam WINS Heisman
November 30th, 2010
3:41 am
And POAD – thanks for the intelligent posts. It must suck for Bama and Dawgs to be represented by morons on these blogs. It makes their entire fan base seem like idiots.
Tide Rising – you are P-A-T-H-E-T-I-C! Learn to live with the next 363 instead of trying to mount that dead horse! Obessession is unhealthy! You should see a therapist over that pacing the floor 24/7, wringing your hands, and spending all your free time glued to the TV and internet to research ANYTHING thing you can find on CAM and the Tigers. Hey? Did you hear the one about how CAM tugged at a little girl’s braid in elementary school? Bet you missed that one Sherlock! ****smirk*****. CAM and the Tigers are innocent and here to stay. Get used to it! 28-27!!! I’d be more focused on who will replace Saban! EVERYONE has seen the “FIRE SABAN” rants. LOL!!!!
A Drunk UGA Rep - Imagine THAT!
November 30th, 2010
3:48 am
What would we expect from Party 101 University! A fine example their staff teaches the students! LMAO!!!
Reported by Jim Galloway – Political section of AJC:
The editor-in-chief of the University of Georgia’s campus newspaper has resigned after being ejected from the president’s box – and a visit with Gov.-elect Nathan Deal and Gov. Sonny Perdue — during Saturday’s game against Georgia Tech.
Alcohol was said to be involved. Neither Perdue nor Deal are drinkers.
In an article posted in The Red and Black, the daily newspaper, editor Daniel Burnett said he had been at a tailgate party before his visit to the prestigious booth of UGA President Michael Adams:
“It’s my understanding his behavior was disruptive enough to the point he was asked to leave,” said Meg Amstutz, executive assistant to the president.
Burnett told The Red & Black he responded, “Yeah, that’s fine,” before walking out of the box without further confrontation.
“I think someone smelled the vodka,” Burnett said Monday. “I was talking to people, I don’t believe I was being disruptive. But they have the right to escort anybody out. I don’t have a problem with that.”
That’s the problem with thUGA! It’s always someones else’s fault and they take the low road of “No!! It wasn’t me!” kharma is a beyotch, ain’t it you leg humpers!!
Whistling Dixie
November 30th, 2010
3:59 am
I frickin love it! This tasteless music fiasco has backfired against Bama and even made Sports Illustrated! So much for these Bammer rednecks saying “it wasn’t a big deal”. Of course it wouldn’t be to THEM! They were never taught class and what is appropriate and inappropriate! They probably pas gas at the dinner table as well and then ask “what’s the big deal?”
Bravesfan79
November 30th, 2010
4:11 am
As a AU fan, the people who run Alabama must be a bunch of Nazis. What a overreaction from a bunch of control freaks.
Bravesfan79
November 30th, 2010
4:17 am
AU for the win: “any other school stooping to that level” o, you mean like having to stoop to the level of intentially hurting the QB’s of other teams with cheap/ late hits so that AU wins? Arkansas, SC, UGA, AL all had their QB’s hurt by cheap shots.
Im a AU fan, and i dont think destiny is on their side, because they havent done it fairly. Besides, college football is just lame compared to the NFL. Go Falcons!! Theres no “voting” on who goes to the Super Bowl!!
Logan8
November 30th, 2010
4:21 am
Seems like it’s all in good fun, but then, Alabama folks take their football seriously.
Gator
November 30th, 2010
4:26 am
As a gator fan I love to hear UGA fans talk about Tech. They have won more games against UGA than Georgia has against us in the past 20 years but UGA fans continue to talk about the UGA-FLA rivalry. Rivalry? Are you kidding me?
Bravesfan79
November 30th, 2010
4:29 am
I cant believe most pple on here would side with the University, what a bunch of politically correct pansy asses most of you are! Yall are probably a bunch of mommas boys whos parents put you thru college, and have never had to deal with the stress of loosing your job and not knowing how your going to pay your bills. Players can rob people at gunpoint yet still play football, yet someone plays a basic song and their let go? What a double standard.
Mr. Wee Wee
November 30th, 2010
5:10 am
MR. WEE WEE SEZ ‘YOU GO GIRL’ and STAND FIRM BEHIND BARACK!
Cam is Mr. Wee Wee’s FLAVORIFIC favorite~~~ yOu gO girl!
dagnabit
November 30th, 2010
5:36 am
I haven’t seen the Auburn team playing dirty at all this year. The two dirtiest football teams I’ve seen this year are Arkansas and Georgia. Everybody saw the georgia tackler try to injure Anthony Allen on the second play of the game.
Roy Hill
November 30th, 2010
5:44 am
I don’t think Cam should be punished for something his father did. His father said his wife or Cam did know about that.
To Bravesfan
November 30th, 2010
5:44 am
Grab a clue, darlin’
It had nothing to do with political correctness.
rod
November 30th, 2010
5:44 am
have a sense of humor folks i did not go to either school but it was harmless fun. Clemson puts it on us Gamecocks at Clemson and we drive John Deeres on our field in Columbia. Don Rickles, a national treasure could not make it in this crazy PC world we have now.
Roy Hill
November 30th, 2010
5:47 am
Correction: “for something his father allegedly did”
Still no evidence. Anywhere. For all we know, if there was contact the Mississippi State booster contacted HIM. Still odd that all the other teams recruiting Cam Newton found nothing amiss. No contact. No talk of money. The one common denominator is MSU.
PJW
November 30th, 2010
5:48 am
A part-time employee has a contract?
gator24
November 30th, 2010
6:01 am
Those people in Alabama are rabid Football Fans. What a difference a few decades can make.
Funny But Sad
November 30th, 2010
6:01 am
To Dk5150 and the other Bammers posting such ridiculous comments on this blog desperately trying to justify… frantically hoping Auburn is found guilty… almost begging the NCAA to find something that isn’t there.
You lost. Get over it.
Auburn isn’t going down. Live with it.
Play football on the field. Don’t hope against hope that your loss is vacated. It won’t be.
If you think Bama is clean, you’re fooling yourself. The Bear was the originator of illegal recruiting. He was proud of it. He flaunted it. No one dared touch him for it.
So just shush. Take your lickin’ like men and move on.
WDE
Barbara
November 30th, 2010
6:02 am
He came back and won !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Atlanta Layla
November 30th, 2010
6:05 am
All of this…..just to try to cover Alabama’s loss ? Ha !
zinc
November 30th, 2010
6:14 am
Typical classy Alabama humor. Bama fans are about as low as UGA fans–only more delusional. Sure glad Tim Tebow graduated, that paved the way for Cam to be the most hated SEC player. Jealousy around.
Enjoy the Birmingham bowl rednecks, hahaha, you barely beat your little sister to become bowl eligible. Ha.
William Buckley
November 30th, 2010
6:17 am
Please tell me why this makes the front page of http://www.ajc.com ?
Is it because this newpaper is a Total Rag ?
Or it’s illiterate readers enjoy trash ?
Just another example of why I stated one must pass a test first to vote !
Simply too many unscrupulous individuals in that state !
legionaire
November 30th, 2010
6:21 am
An appropriate song for preacher Newton would have been Johnny Paycheck’s ” To hell with the IRS” and for Cam ” Working on the Chaingang”.
StatesBurr
November 30th, 2010
6:26 am
I have friends at the Yamaha Plant in Newnan, they knew about the dirty dealings way before it broke…small towns can’t keep secrets… we should know that in the South.
01HAWK
November 30th, 2010
6:42 am
Itn’t it funny how these AUBARN TIGER FANS have a little success………………And I mean a little success, and they get all overwhelmed.
Get over it already. You have won 1 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP and that was 1957. And you will screw this one up also.
Every time you get close to winning a championship, you screw it up.
Remember PAT DYE, and TERRY MIDGET BOWDEN. How soon you forget. You will not win this time either due to SCAM FIG NEWTON.
You had better win it this year because NICK FAIRLY and SCAM will be gone. No wonder they hate ALABAMA.
Shakespeare S. Shakespeare
November 30th, 2010
6:46 am
After a loss like that; blame has to be placed somewhere. So, they take down someone who really needs their job. The person they (Alabama) really needs to and soon will go after is the sleezy coach. Losing to Auburn is just a nail in the coffin of Nick Saban. If he doesn’t get his team headed in the right direction he won’t be at Alabama long, I’ll bet’ya!
DH
November 30th, 2010
6:49 am
When Bama played in Auburn last year. Mark Ingram’s father was in jail. Didn’t hear “Jailhouse Rock”. There is such a thing as crossing the line. Of course the line has been pushed and pushed over the years. Just read these blogs
MrDan
November 30th, 2010
6:49 am
How about “If you’ve got the money honey, I’ve got the boy, uh I mean time”. Whatever. As much as one wants to dislike Auburn, you’ve got to hand it to their coaches. It’s been awhile since we’ve seen halftime adjustments with the results these guys have.
Go Gamecocks!
catlady
November 30th, 2010
6:52 am
Absolutely stupid to fire someone because of the songs. However, if he deviated from protocol, then he should be fired even if he played “Mary Had a Little Lamb” and “Jesus Loves Me.”
catlady
November 30th, 2010
6:55 am
However, this begs the question: Why wasn’t a stop put to it after the first “unauthorized” song? Hmmm?
Gator Mike
November 30th, 2010
6:56 am
Political correctnes is a major cancer in many sectors of our society. Firing the gent at BAMA is absurd. He should have simply recieved a private reprimand. What about the oversight at BAMA in this person’s case? Who approves the music played in the stadium? I want AU to win it all, and I have no problem with Cam because I firmly believe the snake in the wood pile may be his father. The AU-BAMA Game was great. The BAMA authorities may need to look in the mirror in this case. They knee jerked.
Julio for Victoryland
November 30th, 2010
7:07 am
@ Statesburr!
I have family and friends who work at Hyundai in Montgomery and THEY are BAMA fans! They were just so excited to see their HERO, Julio, that they boasted about having seen him this summer! They’ve seen Julio driving an Escalade and throwing money at VictoryLand! You’re absolutely correct. You cannot keep a secret in a small town!
How does an unemployed college student whose mother and father were divorced when he was a child, his family home is in the hood surrounded by violence and drugs (Julio’s words – not the media), and his mother worked two jobs – one in a restaurant to keep Julio straight because his younger brother had already mucked up – and YET?!!! Here he is throwing money and driving $60K SUV’s….spill it! Which Booster paid for this? We already know about last year’s fishing trip Julio and Ingram were the beneficiaries of from a total stranger at the beach whose father has kids enrolled in AU and Florida, with no affiliation to Alabama. Want to know how? A booster funneled the money to this TOTAL Auburn/Florida football stranger to pay for ALABAMA football players to have a FREE fishing trip in the GULF! Smelling fishing here!!!!
Jeff
November 30th, 2010
7:07 am
What a joke….fired for that??????????????????????????????? never mind Fairley trying to intentionally hurt another player. What a bunch of croc….I wish nothing but BAD for the Barn and anyone associated with them.
snuffy smith
November 30th, 2010
7:11 am
Nice try BravesFan. YOU are no Auburn fan. You’re just posting as one to try and make it sound like AU fans didn’t mind and that we are OH SO APPALLED at Newton! Give it up! The AU FAMILY stands WITH and BEHIND Newton and AU! Any AU fan who posts DIFFERENTLY is either a Bama or Dawg fan POSTING as an AU fan to try and justify their delusional lies!
Just like DH posted – we didn’t play Jailhouse Rock for Mark Ingram last year at Jordan-Hare EAST, but what a welcome mat you rednecks gave us at Jordan-Hare WEST!!!
Coastal Dog
November 30th, 2010
7:13 am
Definitely the Dusty Springfield version of “Son of a Preacher Man”.
Tail-Gator
November 30th, 2010
7:19 am
Thinking there was nothing classless or vulgar about those song choices shows EXACTLY how low ALABAMA has sank this year. Not just on the 9-3 record, but their character has suffered the same defeating blow.
Thanks for confirming to the rest of the SEC what kind of jerks you really are.
chazzo
November 30th, 2010
7:23 am
BAMA lost.
» SEC: Bama employee fired over song selections John Clay’s Sidelines
November 30th, 2010
7:24 am
[...] Jeff Schultz of the AJC has video proof of the Alabama song selections. [...]
Knox Tiger
November 30th, 2010
7:24 am
catlady
November 30th, 2010
6:55 am
However, this begs the question: Why wasn’t a stop put to it after the first “unauthorized” song? Hmmm?
Because the Bama coaching staff, players and fans all supported those songs. The stadium errupted into laughter and mockery at AU and it only got the DJ more excited and stupid. I guess he was just “giving” the fans what they wanted. Ironic that the laughing and mockery has come home to roost.
Knox Tiger
November 30th, 2010
7:30 am
01Hawk……jealous much?
melvinowens
November 30th, 2010
7:38 am
to tease someone about unfounded allegations is wrong. alabama still lost the game, and auburn will win the national championship, because when all is said and done, cam newton has done nothing illegal on the football field, but win.
Auburn Fan
November 30th, 2010
7:39 am
Whatever happened to the concept of being innocent until proven guilty? If “your” quarterback at (enter your SEC school team here) was accused of anything, you’d adamently defend him, even though you have no knowledge of the situation. Why is it different here? Because it’s not “your” quarterback. UGA alone has what.. 8, 10, 13 arrests in the past year? I’d say that’s definitely closer to GUILTY than baseless allegations that still haven’t been shown to contain a shred of proof.
Every single SEC school would love to have a quarterback the caliber of Cam Newton, but since they don’t, and since we beat every one of ‘em, they have to show a complete lack of respect (and in UGA and UA’s case, lack of class, but what’s new?) for a twenty-one year old kid that is living “the dream.” Keep up the comments. Each one just makes me hold my head up higher.
I believe in Auburn and love it. Never thought Alabama fans had class (what can you expect from sidewalk alumni?), so I won’t even expect it from them. I grew up a UGA fan and have always pulled for them, but the past few weeks has showed me what happens when ignorant people are allowed to breed. I don’t see much talent in the ACC (compared to the SEC) but.. Go Jackets!
At the end of the day: Cam (01), UGA (00). Cam (01), Alabama (00). Need I go on? No. Enjoy the Papa Johns Bowl. I’ll wave from Glendale, wearing my number two jersey.
wardenerd
November 30th, 2010
7:41 am
What a stupid overreaction.. In ACC basketball we throw coins at thieves and paid players and panties at those accused of sexual assault. We dress and wear false bald head covers like a coach with a broken leg and follow him onto the court. We pick out some poor soul for the silent treatment and stop cheering only when he gets the ball. How foolish for a termination over BS.
Laurie
November 30th, 2010
7:41 am
If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime. I guess this could apply to Newton and the employee who was fired for calling him out.
cg
November 30th, 2010
7:41 am
Can’t beat ‘em on the field, so beat ‘em up off the field. Meanwhile, UGA has another embarrassing red and black eye thanks to their drunk editor. Oh, and the cheating, lying former AD appears in court today. UGA — Number 1 party school in the country! Take your pitiful win over the Jackets. You barely went .500 this year thanks in part to the thugs on your team. Meanwhile, no real evidence has emerged that Cam broke any rules. One thing Bama fans have over UGA fans is they didn’t whine and cry when their quarterback got sacked.
Fiddledeedoo
November 30th, 2010
7:42 am
dumb. there wasn’t even anyone there yet.
SGA AU FAN
November 30th, 2010
7:46 am
The world is too PC!
These things just add a little spice to life.
If he (Fairley) were a Bulldog he would be a rockstar…who said it?
Mikey
November 30th, 2010
7:47 am
Gimme a break! It was funny as hell. UA administrators need to un-bunch their boxers and get a life. Humor is essential to a healthy life; as long as we can laugh at ourselves and our circumstances we will be okay.
Auburn Redhead
November 30th, 2010
7:48 am
A 28-27 win over the Tide with their 9-3 record is killing the Bama fans. Man up and take your defeat with some dignity. You only make yourselves look like deseparate sore losers when you’re still harping on an OLD Newton story with no foundation that began crumbling weeks ago. I love how these “anonymous” bloggers pop up every week, “well I heard this….I heard that….”. As if they have more connections and know more than the NCAA and FBI. Here’s something we haven’t thought of! Why don’t you Bama bloggers “with the real scoop” contact the NCAA/FBI with your secret information!