Serious question: Is Cam Newton the greatest collegian ever?
Say what you will about him, but he can play the game. (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
For a month, the question involving Cam Newton has been, “Did he or didn’t he?” Just for today, let’s try something different. Let’s ask instead: “Is he or isn’t he?”
As in, the greatest player in college football, and not just this year.
As in, the greatest ever.
Said Steve Spurrier, who won the Heisman and who has coached a Heisman winner: “That’s a good question. I don’t like putting anybody at the top, but he might be the best running quarterback probably ever to come through college ball.”
Gene Chizik coaches Auburn, so he doesn’t qualify as a disinterested party. But the same Gene Chizik was the defensive coordinator on a Texas team Vince Young willed to the 2005 BCS title, so he does have standing in the matter. And Chizik, asked if he’d ever seen a better college player than the one he has now, said this:
“No. It’s that simple. If you look over a 13-game span, I’ve never seen anything like it. And it’s running the ball, throwing the ball. Usually great quarterback usually do one or the other better … what God’s blessed Cameron with is the ability to be really, really good at both.”
Then: “We have one game left, so he can’t too big a head with one game left, but I can say he’s probably the best football player I’ve ever seen.”
Said Newton: “Wow.”
We might never know how Cam Newton came to be an Auburn Tiger, but let’s leave that for later. Let’s focus today on Cam Newton, Auburn Tiger. Let’s examine a quarterback who, in one SEC championship game Saturday, managed to replicate the best of what both Danny Wuerffel and Tim Tebow, Heisman winners from Florida, had done in this event on this field.
Against Spurrier’s Gamecocks, Newton passed for 335 yards and ran for 73. He accounted for six touchdowns — four passing, two running. He converted third-and-longs out of nothing.
The thinking was that South Carolina, having seen Newton in his game-of-arrival Sept. 25, might be better suited to get a hand on the irresistible Cam. Turned out the Gamecocks had no idea. They couldn’t sack him and couldn’t cover his receivers. They couldn’t even prevent him from — another Heisman reference! — pulling a Doug Flutie.
Sixteen seconds left, first half: The Gamecocks draw within 21-14. Newton throws two passes, the first for eight yards, the second for 51-yard deflected touchdown as time expired.
About here, you thought to yourself: “Tim Tebow never did that.”
Yeah, yeah. Nobody ever wondered if Tim Tebow’s daddy put him up for sale, either. But if we’re comparing the two quarterbacks — and it wouldn’t seem fanciful to do so, given that both played in the SEC and ran a spread offense — the sainted Tebow never worked the wonders in any of his four seasons that Newton has wrought in his one.
A year ago — to the day, Newton emphasized — this quarterback was winning a JUCO national championship with Blinn College of Texas. On Saturday he had won the SEC title and booked passage to the BCS title game and done it in his hometown to boot. “Words can’t explain it,” said Newton, meeting the media for the first time since Nov. 9.
Then: “It’s a wonder what God can do in a person’s life, in such quick fashion. I thank Him single every day. As soon as my feet touch [the floor] my knees touch … I can’t even be happier than I am right now.”
Newton began his postgame session by reading a statement: “I’ve done nothing wrong, and I’m only going to answer questions about football and this game.” And ordinarily we hard-nosed media types would have snorted with laughter at such a request. But such was the majesty of Newton’s play that the request seemed almost reasonable.
We can and will spend the month before Auburn plays Oregon in Glendale, Ariz., parsing the latest reports and allegations — and you just know some will be forthcoming — but for this night it was possible to revel in a performer and his performance. And we would like, so as not to leave the question posed above unanswered, to offer this:
Cam Newton is the second-best college player I’ve ever seen. Herschel Walker, and only Herschel Walker, was better. And not by much.
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995 comments Add your comment
The real score
December 4th, 2010
11:31 pm
Auburn Family 56 – Mark Bradley and his small media smear team 17
11:16 pm ---?
December 4th, 2010
11:31 pm
Just sayin …
I see you bought the media blitz.
Congrats! You’re a sheeple!
dawggirl
December 4th, 2010
11:31 pm
UGA Identity Crisis – why are you painting all UGA fans with the same brush? And what UGA fan hasn’t said that we’ve had a bad season? We have all said all year that we suck. A large majority want Richt fired. Maybe you need to calm down?
The Score
December 4th, 2010
11:32 pm
Auburn University 56 – Tony Barnhart’s TMZ Fantasy 17
Aubie's Denial
December 4th, 2010
11:32 pm
@ “hey aubie’s denial”, I stand corrected if wrong but CBS reported tonight, during the game, actually, before the game, that Cam’s father had solicited money. Perhaps they mispoke and I misunderstood. If so, apology sought . . . If not, AU should have to abandon its season based on past precedent.
Meme
December 4th, 2010
11:33 pm
Hell to the NO!
Just saying...
December 4th, 2010
11:33 pm
Identity…shove it.
Personally, I will now pull for Auburn against someone out of the conference, which blows your whole premise. You have a great team with Cam the Ham, but I am not sure how good you would be without him.
I will pull for you, but I have lost a ton of respect for your program that I previously considered a sister program to UGA and one I pulled for when they did not play UGA. Your coaching staff helped promote the dirty play and did nothing to correct it. You know Cammie knew about the money and it will come out. But you have never had an unbeaten season or won a championship without being on probation so you are used to it.
tom
December 4th, 2010
11:34 pm
how about hershal walker! da! or even flutie was better!
Aubie's Denial
December 4th, 2010
11:34 pm
Funny BnB, enjoyed the dialogue. Have a good night and good luck with the game and the investigation to come.
Yes, Aubie's Denial
December 4th, 2010
11:34 pm
As an Auburn fan, I WOULD be pissed if a guilty player were allowed to play.
The difference between you and me is I believe “innocent until proven guilty.”
You, on the other hand, believe “if the media says ‘a source’ claims a player is guilty, then let’s hang him from the highest tree.”
If, as you say, you’d beg that a bulldawg be crucified before all the evidence is in, I’d not call you much of a fan.
BnB
December 4th, 2010
11:34 pm
So…where was all this dirty play tonight versus SC that had not been “corrected?”
Smoke
December 4th, 2010
11:35 pm
Hey UGA fans…you like to give Cam Newton a hard time for smiling too much…you say he is taunting (I’ve never seen a player be crucified for smiling, but oh well). My question is this…how did you think Knowshon Moreno handled himself while he played for UGA…I always saw him getting up after running for 4 yards yards and wanting to get in somebody’s face…I didn’t hear you guys complaining then.
Dawg A
December 4th, 2010
11:35 pm
Hey Identity dude… I realize you are not real smart but this is a Atlanta paper thus there will be more Georgia fans. I doubt you are smart enough but go to the blogs for Alabama, Florida, LSU and South Carolina…. they are ripping you guys too! But I guess it would be asking too much to expect someone as ignorant as you to do something as simple as that before sticking your foot in your mouth.
ESPN, Yahoo Sports and Fox Sports is all over Auburn and the unfairness of the NCAA ruling. Did you not watch Gameday today?
So get your facts straight before posting! I did! It’s you guys and then EVERYBODY ELSE!!!! I reckon everyone is jealous!!!!
wondering
December 4th, 2010
11:35 pm
Are you F”N crazy? Do you actually know what you are asking? He has played one year of major college ball. There are lots of guys( Hershshel Walker, Archie Griffin, Barry Sanders, even Bo Jackson that were a lot better over time. Don’t be so quick to swallow to koolaid. He couldn’t even beat Tebow out at Fla so what makes you think he is the Messiah now?
BnB
December 4th, 2010
11:36 pm
So where was all this dirty play that was not “corrected” tonight versus USC? Or Bama for that matter?
JSS
December 4th, 2010
11:38 pm
@ UGA Identity Crisis…
What name do you normally post under? That was as clear headed piece of writing about so called “big time Southern college football as has been posted here in a long time! Kudos!
smart dawg
December 4th, 2010
11:39 pm
Cecil is not a bishop.
He’s a rook.
Mombebes
December 4th, 2010
11:39 pm
UGA Identity Crisis – THANK YOU! I’m married to a Bulldog, and he’s been thoroughly embarrassed by the whining of his fellow UGA brethen on this blog.
at 11:33 pm
December 4th, 2010
11:39 pm
You lost credibility as soon as you said “dirty player”
See? You’ve already convicted someone who’s not been proven guilty at all.
And I’m you’re mirror image, “just sayin”. UGA was one of my favorite SEC schools until I moved to the Atlanta area 10 years ago. The fans here are pretty classless.
And dawggirl — my apologies, but the UGA whining since Nov 13th has been non-stop. It really IS time to get over it.
Auburn/Delta
December 4th, 2010
11:39 pm
The best part of the win tonight is seeing Georgia fans whine about it.
It’s got to hurt. Just like it had to hurt to be up against Auburn early and lose big. Then to watch Auburn come back and beat Alabama without Nick Fairley getting a career ending chop block from Bama like you guys had hoped would happen. Then they beat South Carolina.
It sucks to be a Georgia fan right now.
Cecil Newton
December 4th, 2010
11:40 pm
Smoke… you at Pat Dye’s house ?
Just saying...
December 4th, 2010
11:40 pm
11:16…thanks, I didn’t know I had qualified as a sheeple. Now, what is that?
Cecil Newton
December 4th, 2010
11:41 pm
Smart dawg, you questioning my authority punk ?
Big Rick from East Point
December 4th, 2010
11:41 pm
Newton just scored again. The Gamecocks defenders couldn’t keep their cheerleaders off him. Haha! Go home craaaackahs and put your Taneyhill mullets back on.
dawggirl
December 4th, 2010
11:41 pm
“And dawggirl — my apologies, but the UGA whining since Nov 13th has been non-stop. It really IS time to get over it.”
I don’t need to get over anything, because I haven’t been the one whining. So thank you very much, do not presume to speak for me.
A serious question: Is Cam Newton the greatest collegian ever …
December 4th, 2010
11:42 pm
[...] more from the original source: A serious question: Is Cam Newton the greatest collegian ever … Tagged with: ajc • brant • brant-sanderlin • collegian-ever • game • [...]
Smoke
December 4th, 2010
11:43 pm
So nobody wants to answer the question…of course not.
Hypocritcal as usual.
Aubie's Denial
December 4th, 2010
11:43 pm
YES AUBIE’s DENIAL, I hear you, but, I think what I’m hearing is fact. It was reported on CBS tonight, before kickoff, that Bishop Newton sought money for his son to play. ONly in this case, for whatever reason (maybe 20 million $ to the SEC and BCS), was the rule regarding agent representation interpreted the way it was. Others have been ruled guilty for less than what happened here. Nothing else needs to be proven. If a father pimped his kid to UGA, and we knew it, even if we didn’t pay the player, I’d be pissed if he ever wore a UGA uniform. And I consider myself a UGA fan. I do believe in innocent until proven guilty, its just that AU, the SEC, and the NCAA has moved the bar on what “guilty” is and only AU fans are blind to that. Everyone, ESPN, sports writers everywhere, teams everywhere, fans everywhere, other commissioners and ADS, they are all in awe at the pass Cam got. PTI, Gameday, I could go on and on. I wish ya’ll well in the game and hope nothing else comes of this. Newton is so gifted, I hope his and his father’s actions do not leave the SEC with a black eye. Thanks for the dialogue guys. Calling it a night. Congrats AU, I hope it all works out without further complication.
Hey, Aubie's Denial?
December 4th, 2010
11:43 pm
Just exactly how DID Auburn “cheat?”
Pssst... dawggirl
December 4th, 2010
11:44 pm
Take a Midol
(make it 2)
Auburn/Delta
December 4th, 2010
11:44 pm
Sucks to be a Georgia fan right now. Not only did you have a bad bad season after talk of going at least 10-2. But you thought would be redeemed when you took an early lead against undefeated Auburn before losing big. Then you hoped Nick Fariley would have a career ending chop block by bama (something Ben Jones had tried but failed to do) and instead you had to watch Auburn come back from being down 24-0 and win.
THEN, you promised South Carolina would win but in the end it was a blow out and Auburn joins Tennessee, Florida, LSU and Alabama as an SEC team that has gotten to play in the national title game. And you find out that you get to go play nobody in a nobody bowl.
Sucks to be a Georgia fan tonight.
dawggirl
December 4th, 2010
11:45 pm
Smoke, I’ll answer it. I disagree with anyone showboating. He was a great player though, I enjoyed his highlight reel.
Aubie's Denial
December 4th, 2010
11:45 pm
an agent and his father reportedly sought 180K for his services . . . anywhere but AU, any year but this year, that is cheating
smart dawg
December 4th, 2010
11:45 pm
Cecil,
I realize it went over your head. I’m not willing to take the time to explain it so that you can understand it, but I will give you a hint.
There is a game that is harder than checkers called “chess”. Find a book with pictures in it and maybe you can figure it out.
Thuga
December 4th, 2010
11:45 pm
And AU holds a two game lead against thuga. Talk about a black eye. Thuga AD, not player, gets arrested for Dui with a tramp, not his wife, in the car and panties in his lap. Seriously??? War Eagle! What a great team led by a young man who has made mistakes and is trying to better himself and do the right thing. Easy to hate when you have been given everything on a silver platter. Some kids have a tough road and struggle to make the right decisions. Take a step back and do not be so judgemental…..
Cecil Newton
December 4th, 2010
11:45 pm
Cam should be smiling we cleared over 200 grand this year .
Auburn Won Again!
December 4th, 2010
11:45 pm
Sucks to be a Georgia fan right now. Not only did you have a bad bad season after talk of going at least 10-2. But you thought would be redeemed when you took an early lead against undefeated Auburn before losing big. Then you hoped Nick Fariley would have a career ending chop block by bama (something Ben Jones had tried but failed to do) and instead you had to watch Auburn come back from being down 24-0 and win.
THEN, you promised South Carolina would win but in the end it was a blow out and Auburn joins Tennessee, Florida, LSU and Alabama as an SEC team that has gotten to play in the national title game. And you find out that you get to go play nobody in a nobody bowl.
Sucks to be a Georgia fan tonight.
Smoke
December 4th, 2010
11:46 pm
Thanks dawgirl…one sensible UGA fan. Nice.
Big Rick from East Point
December 4th, 2010
11:46 pm
Auburn didn’t cheat. They got caught but not yet.
dawggirl
December 4th, 2010
11:46 pm
Hmm, racism, homophobia, sexism, this blog just gets more intelligent with every post.
ON LOAN !
December 4th, 2010
11:46 pm
Auburn wins the NC
Cam wins the Heisman. No doubt.
Both trophies will be returned. The “One Year Wonder” was not worth it.
Watch as 2010 Coach of the Year wins 7 games next year!
Better cut another deal ! Instant gratification.
Putrid
Auburn Won Again!
December 4th, 2010
11:46 pm
Poor Georgia.
Not only did you have a bad bad season after talk of going at least 10-2. But you thought would be redeemed when you took an early lead against undefeated Auburn before losing big. Then you hoped Nick Fariley would have a career ending chop block by bama (something Ben Jones had tried but failed to do) and instead you had to watch Auburn come back from being down 24-0 and win.
THEN, you promised South Carolina would win but in the end it was a blow out and Auburn joins Tennessee, Florida, LSU and Alabama as an SEC team that has gotten to play in the national title game. And you find out that you get to go play nobody in a nobody bowl.
Sucks to be a Georgia fan tonight.
Aubie's Denial
December 4th, 2010
11:47 pm
Evans should have been fired . . . . glad he was.
dawggirl
December 4th, 2010
11:47 pm
Smoke, that wasn’t directed towards you.
smart dawg
December 4th, 2010
11:48 pm
dawggirl’
You must enjoy it; you’re still here.
BnB
December 4th, 2010
11:48 pm
How many games did Mack Brown win this year?
Cecil Newton
December 4th, 2010
11:48 pm
Smart Dawg.. You wanna bet on a game of chess fool. I feel lucky tonight. Didn’t you see my boy throw a hail mary touchdown ? Now meet my playazz check and mate.
Auburn Won
December 4th, 2010
11:48 pm
Poor Georgia.
Not only did you have a bad bad season after talk of going at least 10-2. But you thought would be redeemed when you took an early lead against undefeated Auburn before losing big. Then you hoped Nick Fariley would have a career ending chop block by bama (something Ben Jones had tried but failed to do) and instead you had to watch Auburn come back from being down 24-0 and win.
THEN, you promised South Carolina would win but in the end it was a blow out and Auburn joins Tennessee, Florida, LSU and Alabama as an SEC team that has gotten to play in the national title game. And you find out that you get to go play nobody in a nobody bowl.
Sucks to be a Georgia fan tonight.
To Dawg A
December 4th, 2010
11:48 pm
“ESPN, Yahoo Sports and Fox Sports is all over Auburn and the unfairness of the NCAA ruling. Did you not watch Gameday today?”
—————-
Dude, the talking heads of the sports networks HAVE to be “all over” the unfairness of the NCAA ruling. They’ve been left with a HUGE amount of egg on their collective faces after all the irresponsible journalism they’ve dished out over the past month. Of course they’re going the scream “foul.” They hate it that they look like morons right about now!
mark louis
December 4th, 2010
11:49 pm
You’re an idiot.