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
♦
Follow me on Twitter @JeffSchultzAJC and Facebook.com/JeffSchultzAJC
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
1,356 comments Add your comment
AUFan
December 1st, 2010
10:06 pm
“Newton v. Jeff Schultz: Both love to take it in the butt!!!!!”
Insult fail, Willy.
AUFan
December 1st, 2010
10:07 pm
“Either AUFan is looking for a job or he is attempting to take yours.”
Seriously, please quit while your behind.
“I must admit he is pretty fast at responding to everyones post.”
Yeah, it’s called having a high IQ and being quick witted. Something you lack.
You cant be that Stupid
December 1st, 2010
10:07 pm
Remember: the NCAA has stated clearly that “[t]he solicitation of cash or benefits by a prospective student-athlete or another individual on his or her behalf is not allowed under NCAA rules.”
World English Dictionary
solicit (səˈlɪsɪt)
— vb (when intr, foll by for ) , -its , -iting , -ited
1. to make a request, application, or entreaty to (a person for business, support, etc)
2. to accost (a person) with an offer of sexual relations in return for money
3. to provoke or incite (a person) to do something wrong or illegal
AUFan
December 1st, 2010
10:07 pm
“The other show WILL drop…and when it does…it will drop HARD.”
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawn.
Cam-A-Lot
December 1st, 2010
10:07 pm
From Atlanta Gator:
“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.”
Wae Damn Eagle
December 1st, 2010
10:09 pm
Think about the football team THUGA puts on the field. 96% of the players are academically provisionally accepted, with Adams and Richt their cronies knowing full well that they will use up all their coaching and tutors and elligibility and then have their asses kicked out on the street and soon be pushing grocery carts around Atlanta looking for a warm place to sleep. What a pitiful way to run the State’s flagship university.
And dawgtards are complaining about Auburn? What a joke!
Braves95WS
December 1st, 2010
10:09 pm
Jeff,
Another selling point for your job. . . he has a HIGH IQ!!!!
flagboy?
December 1st, 2010
10:10 pm
anyone who honestly believes this doesn’t open Pandora’s Box is a fool. I guess that includes Schultz.
AUFan
December 1st, 2010
10:10 pm
Wae Damn Eagle
Remember that time when 11 players got arrested at UGA? Oh yeah, that was THIS year!!!!!!!
UGA75
December 1st, 2010
10:11 pm
Jeff, I’m a long time supporter of your writing, I think you missed the boat badly here. Rev. Newton’s church was near Bankruptcy, it no long is and has gone on a building program. He owns a trucking company that last year only employed two drivers and they were hurting for business. Today they have 8 drivers and contracts to haul stuff everywhere. Know any other small businesses that have expanded their businesses 4 fold during the recession? When it is all said and done the NCAA will make an example of Auburn and especially their corrupt boosters.
AUFan
December 1st, 2010
10:11 pm
Braves95WS
What do you think about the Uggla trade? Personally, I’m hoping that they can pick up Crawford or Upton.
Thoughts?
richtfan
December 1st, 2010
10:11 pm
as long as we’re operating within the new rules established by ncaa precedence, then i’m ok with the Newton exclusion. I am going to start pimping out my own child for money to various schools. As long as the kid doesn’t know i’m doing it, the ncaa has ruled that this is ok and just fine.
AUFan
December 1st, 2010
10:12 pm
Rob
Just because you say so doesn’t mean it will happen.
Johnny Cochran
December 1st, 2010
10:12 pm
If the glove don’t fit, Sorry, I mean, “Cam don’t know sh_t, so you must acquit!!”
AUFan
December 1st, 2010
10:13 pm
“When it is all said and done the NCAA will make an example of Auburn and especially their corrupt boosters.”
I have a song for you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycbgHM1mI0k
NatCoruptAcceptAssoc
December 1st, 2010
10:13 pm
AUFan, I see your reasoning skills are no greater than JS. Finding foul the odor of Auburn football requires no allegiance to UGA or any other school. More troubling than your lack of reasoning skills is your dearth of ethics. Auburn just admitted playing an ineligible player and rather than showing some contrition the reaction was to plead for no punishment. And you, and those like you, would throw stones and insults at those who point out a certain level of ethical conduct is expected. And if you think Cam is not dirty, you are not facing reality. As the notorious free-shoes man noted: the kid never asks directly. It is always the mother, the father, the coach, etc. Guess the Auburn ship, along with CamScam, run on the concept of plausible deniability.
5150 P.O.A.D.
December 1st, 2010
10:13 pm
UGAgrad99 and you don’t think H. Walker got that Smokey and The Bandit TransAM from his Family now do you? Dooley was doing the same sh.t in the 70s and 80’s.
AUFan
December 1st, 2010
10:14 pm
“I am going to start pimping out my own child for money to various schools.”
Well, you’re obviously not too bright since you just admitted your plan on an AJC blog.
AUFan
December 1st, 2010
10:15 pm
NatCoruptAcceptAssoc
Let me be as clear as possible: I do not care what you think.
Clear enough?
Cam-A-Lot
December 1st, 2010
10:15 pm
Asked if he was concerned that the NCAA’s ruling and the SEC’s acquiescence to that ruling without further punishment opened a large loophole in NCAA rules, Slive acknowledged that he was concerned by the precedent set in the Cam Newton case — that family members may solicit benefits from one university while remaining eligible at another. As a result Slive said the SEC would sponsor and send legislation to the NCAA to close the Cam Newton loophole and prevent future instances such as this from occurring. “To the extent that the current legislation is not thorough enough, we are going to work to get national legislation passed to close this loophole,” Slive said.
Rod
December 1st, 2010
10:15 pm
Some idiots on here are even talking about the “Preacher” (Cecil) going to hell for this.
Seriously? Going to hell for trying to get money for a church?
You go to hell for not believing Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
AUFan
December 1st, 2010
10:15 pm
5150 P.O.A.D.
Walker is doing just well, LOL, as an ultimate fighter. LOL
AUFan
December 1st, 2010
10:16 pm
“You go to hell for not believing Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
BINGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
all you dawg fans are butthurt bigtime
December 1st, 2010
10:16 pm
I suppose the fact that there is 0, I repeat 0 proof that Cecil took any money from anyone is just too much for people to understand. Think about this, I could go out and say, hey Mr College Coach, my nephew would love to come to your school for $100K. All of the sudden that nephew can’t play ball for that school or any other because someone made an offer that the kid was not ware of? Seriously? That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard and you fans of other schools know it. The NCAA could not rule any other way or they would have opened a huge can of worms and kids would be ruled ineligible all over the country based on pure speculation. I would guess they will update the rules to fit this type of situation better but based on current rules and common sense, this is absolutely the only ruling that makes sense.
Braves95WS
December 1st, 2010
10:16 pm
AUFan,
Now we are on the same page! I think Carl Crawford would be a great pick up, but I think he costs too much for the Braves payroll. However, I do believe Cecil Newton could lend Liberty Media some money to make it possible. I also think the Dan Uggla acquisition was a very good move by Frank Wren. What do you think?
Steve
December 1st, 2010
10:16 pm
THERE’S NO LOOPHOLE.
MONEY WAS NEVER PAID – ANYWHERE. duh
Glory to old Georgia
December 1st, 2010
10:16 pm
Did Georgia beat any teams with a winning record this year? Next year I hear the Dawgs are going to conduct half a days and allocate more time for swan dives off the platform diving board.
Willy
December 1st, 2010
10:16 pm
AUFan, your school educates retards.
AUFan
December 1st, 2010
10:17 pm
“the kid never asks directly. It is always the mother, the father, the coach, etc. ”
Well gee, imagine a kid asking his parents about what they think……
Steve
December 1st, 2010
10:17 pm
Willy – you ARE a retard.
Gumby
December 1st, 2010
10:18 pm
Truth is no longer truth anymore. Instead truth is filtered through personal or political dogma.
In the Cam Netwon case the money is the dogma. This is bad for the SEC, bad for the NCAA, bad for college football just like the ‘97 Marlins buying an entire team to win a World Series was bad for baseball.
It will always carry an unofficial asterisk next to it.
Hmmm
December 1st, 2010
10:18 pm
“Because they have no life”
says the person who has probably been refreshing a blog page for the past hour hoping to show off their witty comments even more!
AUFan
December 1st, 2010
10:18 pm
“What do you think?”
Fantastic move by Wren. We just need one or two more bats because Chipper can’t make it through an entire season.
Don
December 1st, 2010
10:18 pm
11 UGA players arrested this year, along with the Athletic Director.
Now THAT’S pathetic.
AUFan
December 1st, 2010
10:19 pm
“AUFan, your school educates retards.”
Great! I applaud any school that educates special needs kids. You would make a great addition.
Sautee Dawg
December 1st, 2010
10:20 pm
5150
Nothing wrong with giving a young lady a ride. Damon was arrested for DWI not pimping.
LaGrange 78
December 1st, 2010
10:20 pm
I like what Johnny Cochran had to say, “Cam don’t know sh_t, so you must acquit.”
Perry Mason
December 1st, 2010
10:20 pm
Based on this reasoning, it is ok for a terrorist to talk about blowing up a building, as long as he doesn’t do it or take the money for doing it. Wonder if the FBI would agree?
AUFan
December 1st, 2010
10:20 pm
“Willy – you ARE a retard.”
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Willy
December 1st, 2010
10:21 pm
I wasn’t talking to you, STEVE.
AUFan
December 1st, 2010
10:21 pm
“like the ‘97 Marlins buying an entire team to win a World Series was bad for baseball.”
Guess you’ve never heard of THE FREE MARKET!!!!!!!
Joker
December 1st, 2010
10:21 pm
Right – and OJ was innocent! Your logic is a joke.
AUFan
December 1st, 2010
10:21 pm
“says the person who has probably been refreshing a blog page for the past hour hoping to show off their witty comments even more!”
Awe, poor whiny dawg fan.
Ridiculous
December 1st, 2010
10:22 pm
Jeff – I’m going to throw up if I read ‘based on a lack of evidence’ one more time. It is the NCAA’s responsibility to gather evidence before ruling. Why did they make a ‘ruling’ if the investigation is going to continue? And why was Cam Newton delcared ‘ineligible’ and ‘reinstated’ almost instantly.
All missing evidence aside, do you really believe Cam didn’t know about this? Because even Auburn fans don’t. If that’s the case, the rule should be that the actions of immediate family are sufficient to make the player ineligible, no questions asked, and it should be enforced this way. Of course, if the evidence proves the player was aware, the punishment should be greater.
Glory to old Georgia
December 1st, 2010
10:22 pm
We have an entire month left this year to allow Georgia to double their win total with their arrests!
Willy
December 1st, 2010
10:22 pm
STEVE, would you blow Cam Newton???
Molly
December 1st, 2010
10:23 pm
Popular Statement tonight: This opens “Pandora’s Box” – every parent will now solicit and the student will claim they had no idea. You could run a truck through this and it guts the purpose of avoiding paying the student-athletes.
Truth: Not even close. In fact, the rules worked here. The purpose is avoiding payment to athletes. Success. No evidence that cash changed hands. The focus is on the schools, and it should be. Miss St did the right thing. They didn’t pay and they reported this. Do we want to ruin Newton’s life and all of his teammates dreams because his dad is an idiot? Is that fair? The system worked. Great job.
AUFan
December 1st, 2010
10:23 pm
“I wasn’t talking to you, STEVE.”
Huh, I had no idea one could talk on a blog….
Ted Striker
December 1st, 2010
10:23 pm
Agreed with all of the above except for a Kardashian to show up at Toomer’s corner.
No touching the junk in the trunk until u can flash the cash. Cam’s gotta wait another 6 weeks or so.
AUFan
December 1st, 2010
10:23 pm
“STEVE, would you blow Cam Newton???”
Willy, seriously, you are one dumb human being.