Another Cam Newton allegation? Sorry, I’m still not swayed
Cam Newton while at Westlake High. He was good then, too. (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
Another Cam Newton allegation has arisen, this one involving the quarterback himself. Citing an unnamed source, Thayer Evans of FoxSports.com reports that Newton was accused of cheating while enrolled at Florida.
The same Thayer Evans, it must be noted, had already passed judgment on Newton before his latest round of reporting. Wrote Evans last week: “Listen closely, Heisman voters: Do not vote for Newton.”
I no longer vote for the Heisman Trophy. (The AJC now precludes its writers from so doing.) But if I did, I’d have no problem casting a ballot for the Westlake grad.
Because even if he did cheat at Florida — he was also arrested there on three felony counts involving a stolen laptop — he’s not at Florida anymore. (The charges were dropped after Newton completed a pretrial diversion program.) Even if former Mississippi State quarterback John Bond was approached by someone saying it would cost $180,000 to land Cam, as reported last week by ESPN.com, Newton didn’t go to Mississippi State.
He enrolled at Auburn. He plays for Auburn. Neither the school nor the NCAA has ruled him ineligible. This isn’t to say that both parties shouldn’t go back and investigate his recruitment; it’s simply to say that anyone who seriously believes a player should be forced to sit because a charge of recruiting impropriety surfaces that doesn’t involve either the player directly or his chosen school is, shall we say, naive.
(Think of it this way: Auburn plays Alabama the day after Thanksgiving. Auburn and Alabama are — stop the presses — serious rivals. What would prevent an Alabama fan from saying to some news outlet: “Know what? I offered Newton 10 zillion dollars to play for the Tide — somebody suspend that guy now!”)
Yes, naivete cuts both ways. We can be skeptical of Newton. Heck, we can be skeptical of college football writ large. (Ask Clemson fans if they ever wondered about the recruitment of the 1982 Heisman winner, a tailback from Wrightsville, Ga.) But Newton getting arrested at Florida and being accused of cheating there in no way proves there’s anything untoward about his presence at Auburn.
If something implicating Auburn does come to light, that’s a different matter. But we cannot make the Reggie Bush leap — Bush had to return his Heisman, so no future Heisman should go to someone who might have to hand it back — because, at last check, Cam Newton is not Reggie Bush. I mean, come on.
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405 comments Add your comment
Ted M
November 9th, 2010
10:26 am
Newton is a lock to play Saturday.
F Taylor
November 9th, 2010
10:26 am
WINDERDOGG……..U R AN IDIOT!!!!!!!
Auburn Rocs!
November 9th, 2010
10:26 am
Everyone that hates Auburn is a LOOSER!
Paul in RDU
November 9th, 2010
10:26 am
Mark – Excellent post on your part.
There certainly seems to be quite a rush to judgement concerning Cam Newton and whether he may or may not have committed plagiarism when he was at UF. I don’t see how it has any effect on his academic eligibility at Auburn. Kids flunk out or transfer for academic reasons all of the time. As long as he is in good standing at AU, he’s eligible to play. It is interesting that these allegations have come out now – his academic record at UF is supposed to be private, so you can bet someone with an agenda leaked it.
Unfortunately plagiarism happens all the time.
http://www.american.com/archive/2008/november-december-magazine/cheating-2.0
From the article:
Schools with honor codes have lower rates of cheating, but the rates are still significant. The Center for Academic Integrity at Clemson University found that while 45 percent of students at colleges without codes cheat, only 33 percent of students at schools with modified honor codes cheat and 23 percent of students at schools with traditional codes cheat.
Tim Tebow
November 9th, 2010
10:27 am
I tried to help this young gangsta… but he wasn’t interested.
God bless from Denver
GT
November 9th, 2010
10:27 am
You are fighting ghost. First of all the compliance at Auburn is reputed to be one of the best and this cheap allegation doesn’t even dazzle us with footwork. Secondly there will be another cheat winning the Heisman and probably are many in the past that won it doing worse things than Bush. Not only do they have winners with no talent but huge political pull winning it, we still have OJ Simpson a member of the club, while Bush gives back his trophy in what looks like a kid trying to help his parents out.
Fact is most of us realize and have from the start of the season, Cam Newton is the best football player in college football. The Heisman goes to a ton of undeserving players both talent wise and character wise. The Heisman has become a minor event, check the television ratings. The public knows a fake when it sees it and the Heisman is taking a beating. When another person holds that trophy this year, if it is not Cam Newton, he will be an imposture. The person holding it will know it, the country will know it and it will be the Heisman that will be defending itself once again. Newton will turn pro, be the number one draft choice, ( Vegas and the NFL are about reality) and making millions, and the winner of this year’s Heisman will be a question on some quiz show offering a million dollars for the correct answer five years from now. The bonus question may be what is the Heisman.
Auburn Girl
November 9th, 2010
10:27 am
@Seriously – Viable proof? Where is this proof? It’s just not there.
Fuzzybee
November 9th, 2010
10:28 am
Are the SEC fans so desperate to be in the national championship discussion that they are blind to what is going on here. The only relevant SEC team in the BCS discussion this year is using a questionable guy that has been passed from school to school and each administration has been willing to compromise their ethical standards for the services of a great player.
Benjamin
November 9th, 2010
10:28 am
If this country likes anything more than a good story, it is pulling out all the threads of those who’ve had good stories told of them.
UGA_2001
November 9th, 2010
10:29 am
C’mon Mark, Clempson was the most corrupt program in the country at the time of the Herschel recruitment. They had just come off probation under Pell and were about to be put on probation under Ford.
The only reason HW considered Clempson was because of their illegal recruiting tactics.
Chris
November 9th, 2010
10:29 am
Thayer Evans wrote the article about not voting for Cam and he also said he wouldn’t vote for James from Oregon because of something he did. I guess Evans has never made a mistake, especially when he was 18-22 years old.
Nothing has been proven against Cam or Auburn if they had any evidence he would not be playing. Stop crying leave the kid alone and lets decide it on the field. For people who say he can’t make the grades at Auburn????How do you know are you his professor, or privy to grade information from the University, oh I didn’ think so. War Eagle
Auburn Rocs!
November 9th, 2010
10:29 am
Cam doesnt have to cheat at Auburn! You bunch of LOOSERS!
Buckeye
November 9th, 2010
10:30 am
All this is pure spewage…….the question remains will UGA play in the :
A) The L I B E R T Y B O W L or
B) The B I R M I N G H A M B O W L ?
cajdawg
November 9th, 2010
10:30 am
Auburn brought this on themselves- trolling for the character castoffs of other schools.
Mettenberger is available, maybe he could replace Newton.
Brent
November 9th, 2010
10:32 am
This just in, Cam Newton took a candy bar away from a classmate in 2nd grade. Film at 11
Another Unamed Rumor
November 9th, 2010
10:33 am
I can’t reveal my source but word is that Mike Dodo is being fired after this year but UGA will make it look like he has a better offer
Bleeds Blue and Orange
November 9th, 2010
10:33 am
It’s amazing reading all these sad Bulldog nation comments. AU is coming at the Bulldogs hard. I don’t care if you’ve “owned” us these last few years. Saturday is coming and ya’ll have no idea what’s in store for your Bulldogs this weekend. Upset? Please! Everyone of you will have a LONG ride home this weekend after we hang 50 on you. Since these allegations have come out it has only made our football team stronger and more focused. It’s us against the world now. Wait and see.
WAR EAGLE !!!
Future Heisman winner
November 9th, 2010
10:33 am
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/specials/highschool-potw/10/26/hs.pow3/index.html
Auburn has to cheat to compete with Alabama.. bottom line
November 9th, 2010
10:34 am
…and now they are going to pay the price!
Enjoy your 1 year in the sun barners…. next year you will suck again while Scam Newton is holding a clipboard in the NFL!
Yes you got sCAMmed…
MD
November 9th, 2010
10:35 am
I think its comical that all you UGA fans call Cam a thug. You of all people should be familiar with what a thug is. You’ve had your fair share this year. Everyone has made mistakes, but what matters is what you do to pull yourself out and get up again. So for anyone who hasn’t made mistakes, go ahead and throw stones. Quit with all the accusations that have no proof. Bottom line, the man is incredibly talented. His numbers alone have earned him respect. So until there is solid proof that any of this bogus mess is true, leave him alone and just enjoy watching the Beast do his thing on the field!
NORRIS
November 9th, 2010
10:35 am
Richt didnt recruit this kid because he was a trouble maker and we have had enough of those. It is great that he has kept his nose clean of late. But with our history we couldnt take that chance.
Bill
November 9th, 2010
10:35 am
There is no proof that Cam has done any of this…Bad BS to keep him from getting Heisman and hurt Auburn’s chance to be #1. God forgive those that speak with forked tongue.(Mr Evans BS report with no facts)
Chris
November 9th, 2010
10:35 am
Character castoffs??? what a joke. Nothing has been proven and what he did in class at Florida is not relavent as long as he was eligable to play when Auburn recruited him.
4 losses in a row .. maybe they can finally win this year with their $200,000 quarterback
November 9th, 2010
10:35 am
Fig Newton can throw a laptop better than a football.
kimmer
November 9th, 2010
10:35 am
“He enrolled at Auburn. He plays for Auburn. Neither the school nor the NCAA has ruled him ineligible. This isn’t to say that both parties shouldn’t go back and investigate his recruitment; it’s simply to say that anyone who seriously believes a player should be forced to sit because a charge of recruiting impropriety surfaces that doesn’t involve either the player directly or his chosen school is, shall we say, naive.”
Maybe, but here is the problem with that. If at any time it is found out that money changed hands AU is screwed whether they knew about it or not. One could argue I suppose that at this point they are already screwed if this turns out to be true so why not play him but the NCAA would go MUCH harder on the program for using a player after they had knowledge that his eligibility was in question.
The $65,000 question then is how confident is AU that this thing will amount to nothing (no pun intended) vs blow up in their faces? My guess is that their compliance officer is hating life right now because this has become a hot story. If they could have just made it though the season without this showing up on the media’s radar they could have feigned ignorance. The stakes are now much higher for AU’s program.
NORRIS
November 9th, 2010
10:36 am
No way Auburn scores 50 on the dawgs. Auburn may win but Auburns defense is horrible. Georgie may score 40 on them…
Bill the barner
November 9th, 2010
10:36 am
I look so sexy in my orange t-shirt.
$200,000 will buy you one good season
November 9th, 2010
10:37 am
This is all poppy-crop right war eagles???????
None of it could be true, I’m sure it will all go away soon.
Go Dogs
November 9th, 2010
10:38 am
http://www.thegeorgiasportsreport.com
pauly
November 9th, 2010
10:38 am
Bradley- Your article is nuts. Where Cam went to college ISNT the point. The point IS that Cam has an undeniable track record of problems. Go read the instructions for voting on the Heisman and you’ll read that INTEGRITY is part of the formula. When a kid steals a laptop, he shows a lack of integrity. Whether or not any of the other stuff is true doesn’t matter. He’s already failed the integrity test.
how2fish
November 9th, 2010
10:38 am
This is B.S of the first order…IF the young man has done any cheating at AUBURN then there is a problem until he has been proved to be doing wrong at AUBURN this is just a bunch of pot stirring by Auburn bashers…sad really.That being said I hope we beat the brakes off Auburn this Sat…Go Dawgs!
Andy in Blairsville
November 9th, 2010
10:38 am
UGA would still get it’s ass kicked by Auburn’s backup QB.
Chris
November 9th, 2010
10:38 am
Maybe the game will come down to a field goal so an assistant at Georgia can run down the sidelines giving the choke sign to Auburns kicker.
Kickoffs R Us
November 9th, 2010
10:38 am
AJC headline: Kickoff return record in sight for Georgia’s Boykin
Boykin will get many, many opportunities to run the ball back this week. As in, everytime Auburn scores!
Auburn 49, dawgtards 17. Feel those hobnail boots grinding your face in.
CrackDaddy
November 9th, 2010
10:39 am
UNC didn’t allow any of the players suspected of either non-sanctioned activity involving an agent, or those being investigated for possible academic misconduct (none were found guilty of this by the UNC Honor Council, even though they were held out for many, many games). I.E., no one can say with justification that UNC played with players that were in violation of NCAA rules (i.e., with “cheaters”). Austin, Quinn (both projected to be first round NFL draftees) and Little (a WR who was also expected to be a high draft pick) were held out the entire season. Top running back Houston was held out 7 games, only to be cleared. Burney, a defensive back, was held out 6 games due to agent-related misconduct. Good to see that Newton has not been held out based soley upon “suspicion of misconduct”. UNC paid a high price, and in some cases, without justification. Hasn’t hurt their recruiting though, they are currently ranked no. 10 in recruiting for 2011 by Scout.
SECWasteManagement
November 9th, 2010
10:39 am
“African Dancing A++”
ROLF
Slim Mady
November 9th, 2010
10:39 am
What can be gleaned from all of these posts from Cash Newton Apologists, is that cheatin’ at the barn isn’t frowned upon. Since readin’ and writin’ ain’t emphasized at the barn either, students need only show up for class occasionally to receive a degree from the barn.
RambleOn84
November 9th, 2010
10:40 am
PacMan Jones was also a Westlake “grad.”
I had the displeasure of playing there once, incidentally when PacMan was still on the team (unbelievably talented at the high school level, as you would guess).
We beat them at their place, and our team was verbally threatened several times by players and students alike on our way back to the locker room and buses.
The culture at schools like Westlake fosters this sort of self-serving, deviant behavior.
JCTiger
November 9th, 2010
10:40 am
As far as rags to riches, how about a team who loses to Louisiana Monroe one year and then wins the NC and has a Heisman Trophy winner a couple of years later. How about a kid Auburn turned down because of bad grades suddenly getting a suspicious grade change once he commits to bama and is now a starter. How about Darius getting a two game suspension for consorting with agents (and $2800 had to be repayed), but AJ Greene gets a 4 game suspension for selling a jersey for $1000. How about several of bama’s players taking cruises just so they could help a ‘handicapped’ man with 4 sons get on the boat, yet never missed a game.
lewis
November 9th, 2010
10:40 am
I agree with earlier post regarding integrity. The Heisman should go to a student athlete who has shown some character. Trouble seems to follow Cam around wherever he goes. We know he is a theif. Isn’t that enough to disqualify the guy? In my mind, yes it is. He might have also had a cheating problem.
Schmee
November 9th, 2010
10:41 am
haters gonna hate
master debaters gonna bate^
Cam still has a clean slate
10-0 with puppies on his plate
oh, and he’s f*in great.
Norm's Panties in a KNOT
November 9th, 2010
10:41 am
UGA better get that BIG DONATION from Matt Stafford soon. He will not be in the NFL much longer. Another UGA QB that will be nothing but a clipboard holder at best.
Can Fatt Matt take the beating? I thought people from TEXAS were supposed to be TOUGH.
Marsh Mellow Matt Stafford.
CrackDaddy
November 9th, 2010
10:41 am
Pensacola Dawg, you sound just like theose ABC’ers (anybody but Carolina) who have predicted UNC’s downfall, when in fact their recruiting is going like gangbusters for 2011.
TruthSeeker
November 9th, 2010
10:42 am
I’m FROM Valdosta, GA, went to Valdosta High and I still live in Valdosta, GA. It’s common knowledge here that John Bond is, was and always will be a thug. Cam Newton isn’t even in his league.
Don’t pass judgement on this young man yet. The incidents at Florida are in the past. Over. Punishment passed out and served. There has yet to be any proof of the current alligations. I believe that in this country people are still considered innocent until PROVEN guilty.
Brock
November 9th, 2010
10:42 am
South GA Dawg
November 9th, 2010
10:02 am
He is a thug and not wanted at UGA we have standards.
Funniest thing I’ve EVER read on a blog.
lewis
November 9th, 2010
10:42 am
All you Auburn dorks need to calm down. We don’t care about Cam being ineligible to play. We don’t care if Auburn gets in trouble. What we do care about is making sure that a KNOWN THIEF isn’t awarded the Heisman trophy.
PETER NORTH
November 9th, 2010
10:42 am
It’s ironic these allegations broke when they did. Think of the entities that have the most to gain
by creating a distraction at Auburn. Alabama just out of pure hatred for their rival…and the mass media obsessed over Boise State making the BCS Championship. Auburn…the SEC…and NCAA
officials have known of these allegations for months. Trust me when I say there is no way this kid walks on the field if there was any chance of guilt. The SEC compliance office is super sensitive
to these issues and wouldn’t put the conference at risk if there was any merit to the story.
Cam Newton can throw a perfect laptop
November 9th, 2010
10:43 am
C’mon people… who hasn’t bought a laptop out of a trunk for $20.00 ??
Who hasn’t cheated in college THREE TIMES and get caught every time?
Who hasn’t let their father choose what college you go to?
Who hasn’t accepted $200,000 to attend a college.
This crap happens everyday, nothing to see here. Keep moving.
lewis
November 9th, 2010
10:43 am
“Cam still has a clean slate”
No he doesn’t. He admitted to stealing a laptop. He’s an admitted thief.
Shug
November 9th, 2010
10:43 am
If you’re a big time college athlete you can get away with just about anything. And enablers in the big time college athletics world–such as sportswriters who make a living enabling big time college athletics–can’t be trusted to oversee the problem.
It seems the best that can be offered of Mr. Newton and his behavior is something on the lines of “everyone does it” or “this is no worse than what [fill in name] does.” Sad.