Stop whining: NCAA got it right on Cam Newton, Auburn
Cam Newton can go ahead of celebrate. The NCAA ruled that he and Auburn are in the clear.
Let me start this by declaring that I’m as cynical as the next person — OK, perhaps a little more — and I’m absolutely convinced there was a second gunman in the grassy knoll and there’s something about Area 51 that the government is not telling us.
But listen up: The NCAA got it right.
It could not suspend Cam Newton based on he whispered/he whispered.
It could not place Auburn on probation based on the fact the father of its star player admitted that he solicited money from ANOTHER school.
It could not significantly punish any athlete or institution based on what we all THINK must have happened simply because that’s what our suspicious mind tells us.
This whole saga has been one of the strangest NCAA investigations I can remember, in part because the athlete’s current school (Auburn) never was even connected to the allegations.
I know. Our head tells us: It’s Auburn. It’s the SEC. It’s big-time college football with big-time shenanigans. We’ve been exposed to so much of it in the past that we’ve come to believe that every player, coach, administrator and booster have been have been tainted. This story is even better than most because it involved a father allegedly pimping his kid . . . and he’s a minister!
At some point, you expected a Kardashian to show up on Toomers Corner.
But take a breath and, just for a moment, follow me through the levels of this thing. Then I’ll address why I don’t believe this can be compared to other recent cases, including the one at USC and A.J. Green’s suspension:
♦ Question: Did Cecil Newton, Cam’s father, solicit money from Mississippi State for his son’s services? Answer: Yes. INFRACTION.
♦ Question: Did Cam Newton know his father solicited an offer? Answer: Based on a lack of evidence, no. (If you want to assume otherwise, fine. But let’s just say I’m aware of situations where children did not know of things their parents did. Whether you consider that a longshot or not, the bottom line is that it can’t be proven.)
♦ Question: Did Cecil Newton receive money? Answer: Based on a lack of evidence, no.
♦ Question: Did Cam Newton receive money? Answer: Based on a lack of evidence, no.
♦ Question: Did Cam or Cecil Newton solicit an offer from Auburn? Answer: Based on a lack of evidence, no.
♦ Question: Did Cam or Cecil Newton receive money from Auburn. Answer: Based on a lack of evidence, no.
That’s it. There’s nothing else.
Now, should the NCAA continue to investigate this thing and discover that somebody in the Auburn athletic department or a big-bucks booster slipped a fat envelope under Cam’s door or paid for new floors and sheetrock in Cecil’s new church, then all bets are off.
But that’s not where we are right now.
Now, as for comparing Newton to other cases, I’ve been hearing from USC and Georgia fans all day and night and reading comments on line from various stunned officials, including USC athletic director Pat Haden. But this case is so not those cases. Consider:
♦ Newton vs. USC: Really? Fact: Reggie Bush’s parents received thousands of dollars in benefits from an agent. They lived in a home rent-free for one year. A USC assistant coach, Todd McNair, was tied directly to the case when the NCAA ruled he had knowledge of Bush’s dealings with agents. For whiny Trojan fans to be comparing their case to the Cam Newton case is completely nonsensical.
♦ Newton vs. A.J. Green: Really? Fact: Green sold his Independence Bowl jersey for $1,000. That’s a violation, even if he sold it to you. The fact that he sold to a person that the NCAA classified as an agent increased the suspension to four games. (Best estimate: It would’ve been two games otherwise.) It has not been found that Cam and Cecil Newton received anything (or sold his Blinn Community College jersey).
♦ Newton vs. Damon Stoudamire: This is a very similar case, as laid out by SportsByBrooks, in which the father of the former Arizona basketball star was accused by the NCAA of accepting a plane ticket from an agent in 1995. Stoudamire denied knowing about his father’s alleged transaction. The father denied taking the ticket. The NCAA suspended the player for a game, then reinstated him just before the NCAA tournament. But here’s where the cases go in different directions. The agent in question, Steve Feldman, ultimately admitted he gave airplane tickets to Stoudamire’s father. The father had to reiumburse him. The NCAA believed to other penalty was warranted. Coversely, there is no paper trail or evidence of any kind in the Newton case.
Some believe the NCAA has opened a giant loophole with this ruling — the thinking being that now every dad can go out and pimp his kid to universities, then just claim the kid knew nothing about it. The only problem with that theory is — again — Cecil Newton was not found to have taken anything.
If a father puts his son up for bidding and actually accepts a payment, effectively closing the deal, it really doesn’t matter whether the son knew or not. The athlete is ineligible. It’s like saying you want to rob a bank without ever doing it.
So enough with the NCAA bashing. They got it right. You can’t convict on conjecture.
♦
Recent episodes . . .
♦ Gruden to Miami would be manna for starving ACC
♦ Falcons are winning because they’re following Mike Smith
♦ Surprise! Spurrier proves South Carolina can be a player in SEC
♦ Alabama staffer fired for mocking Cam Newton with songs
♦
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1,356 comments Add your comment
Cam-A-Lot
December 1st, 2010
9:34 pm
“Thanks to a couple of other bloggers, I have just been able to read the pertinent NCAA and SEC bylaws in Cam Newton’s case, and now I agree with the NCAA and SEC’s decision. Reading the bylaws like a lawyer, I put the emphasis on the word “agree.” To a lawyer like Slive, and the herd of NCAA compliance lawyers who reviewed this case, the word “agree” implies an agreement, a contract, a contract, a deal between two people. What Cecil Newton did was make an offer; his offer was not accepted by Mississippi State, and there is no evidence that Cecil made such an offer to Auburn, nor that Auburn accepted any such offer. It takes to parties to “agree”; only Cecil made a proposal or offer. There is no evidence that either school accepted the offered deal, therefore there was no agreement. Legalistic. Sylogistic. Logical. You don’t have to like it, but I certainly understand it.”
Well said Atlanta Gator…and thanks for explaining it in terms we can understand.
AUFan
December 1st, 2010
9:34 pm
Edawg71
Again, what did I write that was false?
Bill Hall
December 1st, 2010
9:34 pm
Excellent article. Very well written, and very fair.
Justin
December 1st, 2010
9:36 pm
So basically, you people are saying that if I, as an Auburn fan, see a top recruit that UGA has a good chance of landing, I should solicit that recruit’s father, that way he will be ineligible to play at any SEC school? Makes a lot of sense.
AUMan
December 1st, 2010
9:36 pm
Edawg71:
That was me that stated that about AU’s compliance director, not AUFan. It holds plenty of water, when he, the SEC, and AU all knew about these allegations in July. There is no money trail or anything of value that has been found.
He, the SEC Commissioner, the AU Pres, the AD, and the coaches, would not all risk their careers over 1 kid. They cleared him as did the NCAA. Get over it. He is eligible at Auburn.
For the 3rd time to all of you, research what happened in the Albert Means case at Bama and then come back to us.
AUFan
December 1st, 2010
9:36 pm
Delbert D.
You’ve just confused every single dawg fan on this blog. Since 99.999999% of all dawg fans are always looking down at their feet, they never knew stars existed.
Vinings DAWG
December 1st, 2010
9:37 pm
I am a DAWG fan and a UGA Grad. I must that I amazed by the idiots that are Dogs on this board. Some of you should be writing fiction novels. Gambling ties, Colonial Bank, the FBI, Please. As an Attorney, I will go ahead and tell you that the Milton McGregor deal has nothin to do with Auburn, Auburn football players, or Cam / Cecil Newton.
I know that Rich McGlynn is one of the top compliance guys in the country. He helped write several of the bylaws for the NCAA. If anyone knows the way the NCAA works, it is Rich McGlynn.
AUFan
December 1st, 2010
9:37 pm
“For the 3rd time to all of you, research what happened in the Albert Means case at Bama and then come back to us.”
Dawg fans don’t know what “research” means.
Truth
December 1st, 2010
9:37 pm
ATTENTION!! ALL WHINERS READ HERE…Mike Slive Speaks
http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2010/12/01/sec-commissioner-mike-slive-speaks-on-cam-newton-eligibility/
Mike Slive
December 1st, 2010
9:37 pm
I would like to thank all of these Georgia fans for their incredibly insightful comments. As a result you are the first to know that I will be reopening the investigation ASAP. In the interim I have suggest many of you refill your Zoloft prescriptions and back away from your computers.
Ralph is lurking
December 1st, 2010
9:38 pm
AUFan, one thing that you wrote which was false was that Brad has an IQ of a carrot.
That is an insult to all carrots which clearly have higher IQ’s.
AUFan
December 1st, 2010
9:38 pm
“Some of you should be writing fiction novels.’
Most of them can’t write a coherent sentence. Please don’t fill their minds with delusions of grandeur.
Seriously Jeff . . . .
December 1st, 2010
9:38 pm
AUFan, enjoy it . . . while it lasts. You might want to look at SMU and see what their fans did during the fall while they were expelled from football.
AUFan
December 1st, 2010
9:39 pm
“That is an insult to all carrots which clearly have higher IQ’s.”
Well, carrots are at least smart enough to keep their mouths shut.
Johnny Cochran's appeal to NCAA
December 1st, 2010
9:39 pm
“If the glove don’t fit”
sorry I meant to say,
“Cam don’t know sh_t, then you must acquit!”
Sautee Dawg
December 1st, 2010
9:39 pm
Auburn Fan
None of our 11 were arrested for pimping.
DISGUSTING
bardawg
December 1st, 2010
9:40 pm
Hey all you Awbern fans , you’re still crowing prematurely . The NCAA may have cleared Sham today ,. but the real hammer will drop when the FBI comes out with their indictments . Just wait & see , Uncle Miltie McGregor , Bobby Louder , & the rest of Alabama polytechnic institute folks are just as pure as the driven snow , they ain’t did nothing wrong !
Cam Eligible
December 1st, 2010
9:40 pm
Hey Jeff…your hatred is making you stupid.
AUMan
December 1st, 2010
9:40 pm
Vinings DAWG
Rich is who I have been speaking of in my posts, but I did not want to say his name. Thanks for your comments as well.
AUFan
December 1st, 2010
9:40 pm
“You might want to look at SMU and see what their fans did during the fall while they were expelled from football.”
SMU got the death penalty……… Your point?
To get the death penalty, a school has to violate their probation while being on probation…
Make sense?
Alabama COULD get the death penalty if they broke their current probation. Alabama is on probation until 2012. ALL SPORTS.
Worm
December 1st, 2010
9:41 pm
Very simple-Cam and the Diesel pass a polygraph and we’ll all say we’re sorry!
Danny G
December 1st, 2010
9:41 pm
Simple question. Where did Cecil get the money to build a new church?
AUFan
December 1st, 2010
9:41 pm
“None of our 11 were arrested for pimping.”
No, just stealing, crashing cars, drugs, drinking and driving………..
Braves95WS
December 1st, 2010
9:42 pm
AUFan,
It is time for you to go to bed. I think everyone would agree that you have worn out your welcome here. It is becoming slightly obnoxious now.
AUFan
December 1st, 2010
9:42 pm
“your hatred is making you stupid.”
FOR THE LOVE OF PETE, PLEASE TAKE REMEDIAL ENGLISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GT-Armchair QB
December 1st, 2010
9:43 pm
GOOOOOOOO SOUTH CAROLINA!!!
Johnny Cochran's appeal to NCAA
December 1st, 2010
9:43 pm
NCAA sent a strong message today – “Shopping you son is okay, as long as your son says he didn’t know anything!”
Let the shopping begin!!!!
AUFan
December 1st, 2010
9:43 pm
“It is time for you to go to bed. ”
But your mom isn’t here, yet.
“I think everyone would agree that you have worn out your welcome here. ”
Huh, I had no idea you spoke for everyone else.
“It is becoming slightly obnoxious now.”
Ok, so make me leave. Come on 95WS, make me leave.
AUFan
December 1st, 2010
9:44 pm
“GOOOOOOOO SOUTH CAROLINA!!!”
Where are they going?
Seriously Jeff . . . .
December 1st, 2010
9:44 pm
Interesting that he was “reinstated” just a day after his non-public “ineligibility”. ESPN reported that it was a coordinated effort . . . ESPN doesn’t think this is over keep dreaming scam eagles!!! Gooooooo Cocks. I hope Spurrier kicks your a$$$$$
AUFan
December 1st, 2010
9:44 pm
“Where did Cecil get the money to build a new church?”
Obama’s stimulus package.
UGAGrad99
December 1st, 2010
9:44 pm
Here is the flaw in the ruling. Now, any dad can pimp his kid out and try and get something. If the school balks, no harm no foul. If the school does pay, it will be too hard to trace and nothing happens. There is no way to prove (if they were smart) whether Cecil got anything. How does a church prove where cash donations come from? The NCAA can’t look at the financials of every booster of a program. The NCAA had a chance to really make a statement and say that even the appearance of inpropriety is wrong and will be punished. Ruling a playing Heisman candidate ineligible would send a very powerful message to recruits and schools. The NCAA chose the money as usual.
ThugaStinks
December 1st, 2010
9:45 pm
What will the Thuga fans complain about now?
atltiger15
December 1st, 2010
9:45 pm
This is AUsome looking at the theories you guys are throwing out there. Guess what..The FBI is looking at Rogers because of all the different states that money has crossed lines.. Let me throw a few names that i know for sure he has dealt with, Ryan Perriloux (sp),the Bell kid that transferred from Fla to Miss St, tons of more names we’ll just have to wait and find out…Once again this is not about AU anymore, promise you..If they find any money linking cecil and Cam then yes, take everything AU won and throw it out the window, all AU fans think like that, but dont convict us for something that happened at MISS ST who continued to recruit him to the final day. Lets face it, Cam is the best player in college football this year and has beaten the beloved dawgs and bammers this year..Anyone ever think Cecil was approached by Rogers and it sounded like a good deal at first but as time past, Cecil realized this is no good, get out of dodge, AU we go..This part is where the rented mule comment comes into effect. AU has senior OL and good RB’s, and WR’s. Misss ST has talent but not as much. I never heard we were recruiting Cam until around Christmas. A prized QB recruit we had got suspended and decided to transferred for grade and behavior issues..Luper was actually at Blinn to recruit the receiver but came away impressed with Cam, so after losing Rollison it became obvious Cam would do well in this offense.
Braves95WS
December 1st, 2010
9:46 pm
AUFan,
Need I say more? Typical Auburn fan making “mom” jokes. Last time I checked this wasn’t your blog. So. . . why do you have to respond to every comment someone makes?
AUFan
December 1st, 2010
9:46 pm
UGAGrad99
Do you have proof of anything you wrote? NOPE
Sports Review
December 1st, 2010
9:46 pm
[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) [...]
AUFan
December 1st, 2010
9:46 pm
“What will the Thuga fans complain about now?”
Nick Fairley.
Cam-A-Lot
December 1st, 2010
9:47 pm
OK just so we’re all on the same page we are now waiting on the FBI to find something the NCAA couldn’t? What if they don’t find anything? What about the DEA, ATF, CIA, NSA, DOD, KGB, etc…
AUFan
December 1st, 2010
9:47 pm
“Need I say more? ”
Why are you asking me, troglodyte?
“Last time I checked this wasn’t your blog.”
Gee, ya think, Forrest?
“why do you have to respond to every comment someone makes?”
Because I can.
atltiger15
December 1st, 2010
9:47 pm
how would it send a good message when he did nothing wrong, sounds like sour grapes to me
Seriously Jeff . . . .
December 1st, 2010
9:48 pm
Cameron Newton to NCAA, “Seriously, I didn’t know . . . . and I thought all that money coming into the church was just because the economy was improving, and I thought Dad just wanted me closer to home, and no, I didn’t cheat at Florida, and I didn’t steal that laptop. And I think Fairley should get the sportmanship of the year award and btw, I don’t really care because I can admit taking the money in the NFL”
AUFan
December 1st, 2010
9:48 pm
Cam-A-Lot
Maybe Obama can assign a Cam Newton Task Force to get to the bottom of this. There is some unspent stimulus dollars that could pay some out of work GM workers to look into it.
Ralph is lurking
December 1st, 2010
9:49 pm
AUFan, you are WELCOME here. Now those trailer park type dwag thUGA fans might be invited elsewhere ….
GT-Armchair QB
December 1st, 2010
9:49 pm
Auburn better enjoy this one!
The FBI and NCAA are going to drop HAMMER!
And when they do…. NO MORE FOOTBALL IN OPELIKA!
Jordan-Hare will make a fine venue for womens soccer!
Braves95WS
December 1st, 2010
9:49 pm
AUFan,
You forgot to respond to the part where I called you a typical Auburn fan because of the “mom” joke.
AUFan
December 1st, 2010
9:50 pm
Ralph is lurking
UGA clowns don’t bother me. I think it’s really funny to see these fans cry and complain about this. What’s even funnier is this NCAA ruling being the icing on the cake to angry Bama fans.
AUFan
December 1st, 2010
9:50 pm
“The FBI and NCAA are going to drop HAMMER!”
Did you just wake up from a coma?
.
December 1st, 2010
9:50 pm
I wish the Braves would sign Bill Hall………..
Great job Jeff. Its to bad some people are so stupid the don’t believe facts. There are none. Innocent till proven guility.
UGA fans will cry and bitch over any thing that has to do with other schools.. Good day.
ThugaStinks
December 1st, 2010
9:51 pm
Keep dreaming GT-Armchair QB