For Cam and Auburn, what the NCAA didn’t say resonates
For SEC championship game purposes, the three biggest words in the NCAA’s statement on Cam Newton were these: “Is immediately eligible.” Over the longer term, three bigger words were tucked into this statement from the NCAA’s Kevin Lennon.
“Based on the information available to the reinstatement staff at this time, we do not have sufficient evidence that Cam Newton or anyone from Auburn was aware of this activity.”
The three massive words: “At this time.”
Just because Cam Newton has been cleared to play Saturday doesn’t mean he has been cleared forever. It doesn’t mean the NCAA can’t and won’t continue to investigate. (It can and surely will.) And if at any time it finds “sufficient evidence” that Newton himself or a representative of Auburn violated an NCAA regulation … well, we know what that means.
Forfeit city.
Folks on the outside have a tough time understanding how the NCAA works. (Folks on the inside do, too.) But the key revelation made Wednesday was that the NCAA had indeed found evidence a rule had been flouted — by Cecil Newton, Cam’s dad, and the scout Kenny Rogers in their solicitation of Mississippi State. This prompted Auburn to declare Newton ineligible and petition for reinstatement.
This is the procedure in every NCAA case. (Georgia’s A.J. Green had to be reinstated after the NCAA suspended him those four games.) That the NCAA acted so quickly, reinstating Newton a day after Auburn ruled him ineligible, was surely due to logistics: Auburn has a game Saturday.
Yes, it’s a big game. And yes, it was awfully convenient that Auburn rendered Newton ineligible on Tuesday, Nov. 30, as opposed, say, to Friday, Nov. 26. (Gee, that was the date of the Iron Bowl!) So far, you’d have to say Auburn has found its version of Ed Tolley, the Athens attorney who has steered Georgia through tempest after tempest the past quarter-century. But that’s OK: If you were a school under scrutiny and your football team was about to play for an SEC championship and then maybe the BCS title, you’d have to be awfully dumb not to hire a smart lawyer.
Newton being rendered ineligible for one day might seem silly, but it served an essential purpose: It forced the NCAA to say yea or nay as to his playing status. It forced the NCAA to tell us, “A violation was committed … but the violation wasn’t Auburn’s.” A lot of folks have hooted down this ruling, saying it opens the door for every prospect to find a relative willing to be his talent broker and take the rap if found out, but the NCAA hasn’t yet slammed this particular door.
I say again: Don’t mistake this reinstatement for absolution. The NCAA didn’t say, “Case closed.” Newton and Auburn could still be held accountable for any transgressions that come to light. (And we know already the NCAA has found one violation involving one Newton.) Cam Newton has been cleared to play Saturday, but he and his school are not yet in the clear. Wednesday’s ruling restored his eligibility at this time, which isn’t to say for all time.
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
450 comments Add your comment
Mark Bradley
December 2nd, 2010
7:57 am
Belated kudos to God Bless America.
Steve Spurrier
December 2nd, 2010
7:58 am
Diffrent rules for diffrent players.
Dave
December 2nd, 2010
7:58 am
Hey Kyle – you’re a moron.
Auburn fans weren’t booing the hurt UGA player. They were booing the UGA coaches. That player was coming off the field until the UGA coaches waved at him to get down. The pathetic UGA coaches were using that as an advantage. He could have gotten off the field by himself easily.
So, yeah, the classless UGA coaches deserved to get booed.
80 Dawg
December 2nd, 2010
7:59 am
@ SEAN Thats right the money didnt change hands …. It just went to CAMS fathers churchs . Guilty by association. Cam is a great player its all Aub. has . HE will make millions at the pro level . While AUB. will no longer have a football team. Les see how much you love CAM then
Sean
December 2nd, 2010
8:01 am
80 Dawg – seriously, get over your hatred and get a clue.
NO MONEY CHANGED HANDS. Cecil provided all financials – personal and church. Have you seen the church? It still looks like crap, repairs were not made.
waaaaaaa waaaaaa waaaaaaa – keep crying about everything except your pathetic team
Steve Spurrier
December 2nd, 2010
8:01 am
They all will get whats coming to them. The God Lord will see to that !
Hurt Kurbstreit
December 2nd, 2010
8:01 am
My guess is that the Cam Newton investigation is far from over. Maybe Cam didn’t know what his father was doing. I find that hard to believe but I’ll go with that for now. However, the appearances are that Cecil certainly got some money from somewhere and the NCAA will continue to look into that at their slow own pace. Don’t think the AU coaches were involved but probably a wealthy booster was involved. AU has a long history of that.
Sean
December 2nd, 2010
8:02 am
Hurt – why do you say there are appearances that Cecil got money from somewhere?
There is no “appearance” of money.
tr
December 2nd, 2010
8:03 am
Is watching and hoping for other people to suffer really such a great spectator sport that you insist on reading things into a story that aren’t there?
Another thing the NCAA did NOT say was “Letter of Inquiry” for Auburn and/or Cam Newton.
The wording of the NCAA statement is consistent with thousands of others they have made. They weren’t dropping hints of things to come, now or in the past.
You really don’t think the NCAA tried, and tried hard, to find a smoking gun?
Don’t you think that if there really was a “smoking gun” that whoever held it would have stepped up to get their 15-minutes of fame? Don’t you think that all those reporters with all those unnamed sources would have leaked them by now?
You’ve got to grab three little words, “at this time,” pull them out, and use them to not only make a mockery of the legal standard of “innocent until proven guilty,” and expand the opposite to say, “guilty while we wait for proof that may not even exist or come to light – supposing, assuming, and suggesting are enough to keep this story alive.”
It’s easy to say, “Newton and Auburn could still be held accountable for any transgressions that come to light.” But you could say the same thing about every player and every school in the nation – they haven’t been accused or even served a letter of inquiry yet, either.
And you could extend that, “And we know already the NCAA has found one violation involving one Newton” statement into a theory to conclude that Mark Ingram might be a criminal because his father is in prison. Both notions are equally absurd.
georgia87
December 2nd, 2010
8:04 am
MR – You missed it. The NCAA ruled that there was a violation. Auburn declared Cam ineligible. Money or no money, what happened was an NCAA violation. My argument is that the ruling is inconsistent. The NCAA ruled the Green should’ve known about the business connections of a stranger and that Cam Newton could not have known about the connections of his father. This is not about the fact that Auburn beat Georgia. With Cam Newton, y’all are the better team. Does that make you feel better? However, with AJ Green, I think that Georgia has a much better shot at winning two games: Arkansas and Miss. State. My point is that enforcement should be fairly applied.
SimpleDawg
December 2nd, 2010
8:05 am
Scam-Daddy did the crime, but Scam-son serves no time.
This quick suspension and reinstatement was well orchestrated by Awbarn and the NCAA……if you do this, we’ll do this, and then we can all hold hands and sing while we skip along through the poppies on the way to Oz.
It all feels soooo……dirty.
Robert
December 2nd, 2010
8:05 am
georgia87 – hello? Use your brain much?
GREEN GOT MONEY!!!
duh
Sean
December 2nd, 2010
8:06 am
waaaaaaaaaaa waaaaaaaaaaa waaaaaaaaaaa
UGA fans just gotta cry about something.
waaaaaaaaaaa waaaaaaaaaaa waaaaaaaaaaa
Hurt Kurbstreit
December 2nd, 2010
8:07 am
Sean, the reports I’ve seen are saing that the church was in foreclosure and dissrepair. Now it is out of foreclosure and has been remodeled. He is also driving a new truck. Do you know that those stories are not true? If so, I will take back my comment. As an independent analysis, I have no dog in this fight.
RAPbama
December 2nd, 2010
8:07 am
Cam’s Dad had to have the ability to deliver his son, or he wouldn’t have asked for money, which he did. Something tells me this is not over, way too much smoke trail.
Read the rules, idiots
December 2nd, 2010
8:09 am
Take the time to read the NCAA and SEC rules and it plainly states that attempting to set up the offer is grounds enough to make the player ineligible, period. It does not matter if the player had knowledge or not. The hypocricy is that these rules are in place and the conference and the NCAA decide not to follow them. ITIS ALL ABOUT THE MONEY.
Hurt Kurbstreit
December 2nd, 2010
8:10 am
At georgia87, the AJ Green 4 game suspension was ridiculous, no doubt.
Bud
December 2nd, 2010
8:10 am
This thing stinks worse than the dempsty dumpster behind the Red Lobster. I think Auburn pulled a pretty good bluff on the NCAA.
ugagradaufan
December 2nd, 2010
8:10 am
Turn the clocks back one year. Cam Newton had played three years of college football. In that time he participated in ten plays in two years at Florida. Has one productive year in JUNIOR COLLEGE (ran for only 600 yards) and had offers from Miss State, Auburn and moderate interest from Oklahoma. Who in their right minds would have thought that Cam Newton would do what he has done to SEC defenses? In other words it would have been ridiculous for any school to pay money for a player who at that time had potential but was only mildly recruited. Okay it appears that there was at least a conversation between Cam’s father and Kenny Rodgers about getting money to sign with Miss State. However, NO money ever exchanged hands and Cam received no extra benefits to sign with Auburn. Hence accodring to the NCAA “Cameron Newton is eligible to play for Auburn University without conditions” Case closed!
Greg
December 2nd, 2010
8:11 am
What makes this all even more of a joke is the comments by the SEC Commish. Talk about an idiot…..of course, he is a Tech guy so at least that explains it. he is a spineless coward that refuses to stand up and do what his own by laws state…..
RAPbama
December 2nd, 2010
8:11 am
For the record, I hope Cam is innocent. If his is found ineligible, this will look terrible for Auburn, the State of Alabama and the SEC. The ridicule and shame with that would be hard to bear.
Hankie Aron
December 2nd, 2010
8:13 am
Thanks Mark for the article. I am not a betting man but I think something else will come to light on this and won’t be good for Cam or Auburn. Might take a year or so before the investigation is done.
Hankie Aron
December 2nd, 2010
8:14 am
Mark-
A song for Cecil Newton- Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag– of money that is
AU in ATL
December 2nd, 2010
8:14 am
Just a thought…so, based on all the disturbed UGA fans, if this is an NCAA conspiracy with AU, newton has been paid. Then AU is an extremely powerful program, more than USC or Bama. Heck, the NCAA seems to be scared of AU. And, UGA, well, you are just irrelevant.
you are 6-6 with no wins a against a team with a winning record.
you cant beat UF, regardless
you are by far the biggest cry baby in the SEC
you are historically a middle of the pack SEC team with a few highlights here and there over the past 100 years.
Take your lumps, go play whatever crap bowl you are going to be in and dont embarrass the SEC any more than you already have this season. pleeeaase.
Serioulsy, UGA fans, get over it. its getting old. “there always next year”.
Craig
December 2nd, 2010
8:15 am
RAPbama….I agree as far as the state of Alabama and the SEC….as for Auburn…any disgrace that can come to this institution and its fan base can never be enough. As for the SEC, if Mike Slive would follow his own by-laws, it would not ebd up giving the SEC a blackeye- he chooses not to
fact check
December 2nd, 2010
8:16 am
Auburn fans are truly the delusional ones if they think this is all going away and no one will remember. This will cement Auburn’s “brand” forever. Nice. They can pretend, they can make excuses, they can claim its jealousy on the part of other teams, but if you poll the sports fan across the country you will see how disgusted people feel about Auburn, and unfortunately, the SEC. Nice work War Scheming Eagles. Should be great for recruiting, too. On-going NCAA investigation that drags on and on with lots of bad press and innuendos flying around, potential sanctions, loss of scholarships at any time, vacated victories are all super reasons to go to Auburn. Enjoy!
Bud
December 2nd, 2010
8:16 am
By this time most people have decided who to believe. Who cares anymore? The damage has been done to Auburn (by Cam Newton & his Dad). It’s just tragic & sad how he has hurt his fellow teammates and all they’ve accomplished this year.
John
December 2nd, 2010
8:18 am
AU in ATL…what a loser…like the barn is some kind of dynasty program in the SEC…that you’re in Atlanta explains the stink we all smell…
virginia dog
December 2nd, 2010
8:20 am
WOW !!! SO here is the thing. If Auburn(or another school) cheats and wins a national championship and Newton wins a Heisman.They have to give up the victories and maybe the awards… BUT THEY DON’T HAVE TO GIVE UP THE MONEY.
John
December 2nd, 2010
8:20 am
Fact Check…well said and so true……
jasont13
December 2nd, 2010
8:21 am
Like the NCAA said there is no evidence at this TIME that proves Auburn or Cam Newton was aware. The key work is at this TIME. I believe they will still investigate into wether Cam new about his father shopping him.
Tweets that mention For Cam and Auburn, what the NCAA didn't say resonates | Mark Bradley -- Topsy.com
December 2nd, 2010
8:22 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Mark Bradley, Justin Evans, laurencoppage, Kristen H. Rachels, Megan McDaniel and others. Megan McDaniel said: RT @MarkBradleyAJC: For #CamNewton and #Auburn, what the NCAA didn't say still looms large. http://bit.ly/hz6HS3 [...]
RAPbama
December 2nd, 2010
8:23 am
It will be interesting to watch Cam pick up the Heisman. This would be a good chance for him to clear his name in no uncertain words. If he does not do that, then I think we can look for more from the NCAA but in about a year, as was suggested. No declaration of innocence = forfeits in future for AU. The nation is watching, very, very closely. AU is either real smart or real stupid. We’ll see.
John
December 2nd, 2010
8:23 am
Cam Newton strikes me as a young man making the most of his opportunity. He’s gonna enjoy his every millisecond in the limelight. Heck, he chases the limelight down like cops do an escaped convict when it isn’t focused on him – and shamelessly hams for the camera / crowd once it is. Check out the videos. The kid sprints off the team bus in order to get close to his adoring fans.
Why do you suppose? His legitimate tenure at Auburn is clearly on borrowed time. He knows that. He’s a talented young man. Hopefully he’ll enjoy success in his future endeavors. But I expect his Auburn gig will be revealed as a fraud perpetrated by his old man and some AU boosters with way much more money than character.
georgia87
December 2nd, 2010
8:24 am
Robert – since you want to insult me, perhaps you should read the posts. I stipulated as much. But the NCAA ruled that what Mr. Newton did was a violation of the rules. I am not arguing that Newton should be suspended because he received money. I am arguing that he should be suspended because they punished AJ Green for what he should’ve known. Homerism does have a tendency to blind one to logic.
DC
December 2nd, 2010
8:24 am
nice analysis jasont13…..
DoodeeFace
December 2nd, 2010
8:24 am
And D. B. Cooper’s body may be found next week…….but I doubt it. Glad to see so many righteous Dawgs so incensed about this. The first thing I heard this morning when I turned on the TV was ESPN, that fount of all that is good and true, saying, “It ain’t over.” Of course it’s not. But shouldn’t we all be thankful that at least the NCAA got out of its own way so that the SEC championship and the NC don’t get screwed up. Yeah, duhhhhh….if it turns out that Cam broke the rules, the barners will be dealt with. Until then…..give it a rest, Ye Righteous Saints of Athens……
Sean
December 2nd, 2010
8:25 am
I am a SWM looking to meet SBM, preferably a high profile quarterback in the SEC. Like to spend cozy evenings at home .
BEAR
December 2nd, 2010
8:26 am
KYLE -3 CHOP BLOCKS ON FAIRLEY ( ONLY 1 PENALTY CALLED)IS WHAT GOT MURREY DRILLED IN BACK.UGA LINE MAN TRIED TO HURT FAIRLEY CAUSE THEIR SORRY ASSES COULD’NT BLOCK HIM.THAT CHOP BLOCK CRAP STOPPED AFTER THAT PLAT TO.THEY GOT THE MESSAGE.WAR EAGLE.
Dr. Dawg
December 2nd, 2010
8:26 am
OK, so the kid may be innocent. I hope so. But the Dad and agent broke the rules. The NCAA can’t touch them. They have no jurisdiction and what they did is not against the law and want be punished here either.
Even if Cam and/or Auburn are found to be complicit, Auburn is punished; Cam is ruled ineligible and turns pro, saying “so what?” Cam rides off into the sunset with a big fat pro contract leaving devastated Auburn behind. I see a potential for very little justice here if things go south.
Blurg
December 2nd, 2010
8:26 am
So Cam didn’t know his Dad was shopping his services? So what was Cam doing and saying to his father during the recruiting process? I think it went a little something like this:
“Hey Dad, I really like MSU. I think I’m going there.”
“Uh, not yet son.”
“Hey Dad, Auburn visit was cool but they haven’t offered me yet…I want to go to MSU.”
“Uh, not yet son.”
“Hey Dad, I’ve visited everywhere now, can I pick my school?”
“Uh, not yet son.”
“Hey Dad, what the heck is going on here? Why can’t I pick a school?”
“Uh, not yet son.”
2 WEEKS LATER
“Hey Dad, I sort of need to commit to a school now. Is something going on that I need to know about?”
“Uh, not yet son.”
2 MORE WEEKS LATER
“Son, you are going to Auburn.”
“Auburn? They never offered me.”
“Oh they offered alright. That’s where you are going.”
“OK, Dad. You’re the best!”
FAMILY HUG
MURPHY
December 2nd, 2010
8:27 am
Dawg Fan here.
Im off the Cam for money deal.Ncaa cleared him and as far as Im concerned he plays and thats it.I have never commented on Fairley and his treatmant of Q.B’s. No Dawg fan whining here! So with all that cleared up,I saw an interesting poll on the SEC Weekly Show last night. 47% of fans polled say Auburn wins Sat night.53% of the fans say Carolina. I think the Auburn fans on these blogs maybe a little over confident concerning Sat.This should be a great game.
AU in ATL
December 2nd, 2010
8:27 am
John, in case it went over your head, I’m being sarcastic. If you read my previous post, you will see that. Man, some of you UGA people bite easy. Does a crappy season really hurt that bad?
BS aside, I do believe the NCAA got it right. If further investigation shows that either Newton was actually paid by AU, then bring on the sanctions, I’m sure the NCAA will not hesitate. Until then, 12-0 and counting…
Yeah
December 2nd, 2010
8:27 am
These people who are so certain that Cam was involved are the same people who were certain that Auburn would lose to LSU, Ole Miss, Georgia, Alabama….. Look where their certainty has gotten them now.
Maybe AU will have to forfeit the wins, but maybe they won’t. No one but Cam and AU know for sure, so everyone else should stick to what they know – which is absolutely nothing!!!
DC
December 2nd, 2010
8:28 am
Basically with the NCAA saying there is insufficient evidence on Cam..makes me think that this is going to be almost over…
Think about it…
There was a third party stating that Cam said “the money was too much”…YOU don’t think that the NCAA didn’t dig into this further? You dont think Joe Schad told NCAA who this person was etc etc..? I’m sure the NCAA talked to this person before making a ruling like this…Just a thought folks..just a thought…
But, funny how on these stories MB just gives kudos and dips out on the blog…
RGP
December 2nd, 2010
8:28 am
Very LAME for NCAA to say Cam knew nothing about Dad’s illegal actions with Miss State. Especially when Cam says “the money was too much” so he had to go to Auburn.
Aubie in the house
December 2nd, 2010
8:29 am
So Goober with the “Supposed” text messages had a phone that was conveniently destroyed, thereby, “loosing” the proof about talk of a payment plan. Let me clue you in – those records could EASILY be obtaind by the owner of the phone number simply by calling his carrier and requesting “said” records. So WHY hasn’t this been done? Could it be because it NEVER existed? If I were Rogers and having to defend that what I was telling was true, I would be doing everything I could to prove otherwise by EASILY producing those stored text records his carrier has on file! This MSU story is so full of holes that no wonder the NCAA ruled Cam eligible and AU clear!!!
Falcsfan10
December 2nd, 2010
8:29 am
The only reason the NCAA is avoiding this is because of the bad publicity it would incur. They thought it out and decided it was better to let it slide than pursue it and strip the #1 team of its ranking. It’s all about publicity and money. They know that an Auburn/Oregon matchup will be huge revenue. NCAA has sold out.
RAPbama
December 2nd, 2010
8:30 am
After Bama got hammered in 2002, I said that if they ever do that again, I am no longer a fan. Took us 6 years to dig out of that ugly hole. Mike Price is still in El Paso, which is a hole. I suppose it has always been about the money and I am finally sick of it. Vandy has never been punished to my knowledge, but that isn’t the answer either. Pay the players, just go ahead and do it.
Jonathon
December 2nd, 2010
8:30 am
Auburn fans. No one I have noticed seems to like you or respect you! Quit trying to argue with everyone and quit being so defensive about Cam. Just win championships! Thats what the sport is all about. Which is something you haven’t been able to do. Until you win championships you can’t pop off at the mouth about anything. That is difference between your program and the other TOP programs (Alabama, Florida, LSU, Oklahoma, Texas, USC, Tennessee, etc). Through bad times at those programs, they came back and won national titles.Even though you beat Georgia, Bama, LSU over the years, you have yet to win a Championship. Once you do win one, then you can yap about doing something. GO SC! SC about to take down another #1 in its list of #1 upsets for 2010.