# Cam Newton Guilty? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 11, 2010, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cam-newton-guilty/560309 "2010-11-11T15:06:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cam-newton-guilty/560309/21 "2010-11-11T17:43:03Z")
> [@Hawkeyeop](#): > > Well for starters they would get sued and lose. Beyond that why would the nfl care if their players got paid to play. That is kind of the idea of the nfl. Wait. Who would get sued and lose? Are you arguing that the NCAA would get sued by the NFL for imposing penalties on college teams that violated its rules? That’s not true at all. And the NFL should care because college teams are farm teams for the NFL. If the players can’t play, or their playing time is interfered with because of NCAA-imposed penalties, they should care very much. The NCAA and the NFL are very much interconnected. ---
**Author:** ![Stringer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Stringer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringer)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cam-newton-guilty/560309/22 "2010-11-11T17:58:29Z")
Everyone takes money, and I don’t blame them. The NCAA is happy to make billions on the backs of unpaid athletes while offering up scholarships with the laughable suggestion that this is fair. I don’t care if Cam Newton is guilty of violating stupid NCAA rules. I just wish Illinois boosters would pay more players so I could watch a good football team. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cam-newton-guilty/560309/23 "2010-11-11T17:58:49Z")
Hmmm…if this were nothing more than a poor college athlete taking some money to spend on dumb college kid things, I’d be in this thread challenging whether he was “guilty” of anything and blasting the NCAA. But we’re talking serious amounts of money here. Even if it was his dad soliciting it, there’s no way his son had no knowledge of what he was up to. And if you’re Auburn, and your hands are genuinely clean in regards to the recruitment (rogue booster), at what point do these reports become convincing enough that you bench him just to save your program’s skin? ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cam-newton-guilty/560309/24 "2010-11-11T18:06:20Z")
> [@Stringer](#): > > Everyone takes money, and I don’t blame them. The NCAA is happy to make billions on the backs of unpaid athletes while offering up scholarships with the laughable suggestion that this is fair. I don’t care if Cam Newton is guilty of violating stupid NCAA rules. > > I just wish Illinois boosters would pay more players so I could watch a good football team. Oh boo hoo. As we’ve discussed in another thread, most collegiate athletes will never see a professional field. They also get a shitload of other benefits from being on the team, including essentially a free college education (if they choose to do so. If not, fuck 'em.), the opportunity to argue their pro-level skills on national television, absolute favored status on their respective campuses, etc. Don’t give me any horseshit about those poor, poor, abused slaves of the system. No one is forcing them to play college sports. They’re out there doing what they love, in front of millions of people. If they’re good enough to go pro, they get rich. If not, they still have a college degree, and get to do exactly what the rest of us do: get a job. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cam-newton-guilty/560309/25 "2010-11-11T18:15:46Z")
I had never even heard of this guy (i don’t follow college ball at all), so i went and did some reading on his case. I was quite impressed that Michael Rosenberg, an ESPN columnist, seems to [have his priorities right](http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/michael_rosenberg/11/10/cam.newton/index.html) in discussing the case: > [@](#): > > The academic cheating story is the most disturbing, at least to me, because it goes to the heart of why universities exist. According to the [FoxSports.com](http://FoxSports.com) report, Florida kept Newton on the team after he was caught cheating once. The university’s code of conduct states that “the university will take severe action against dishonest students. Similarly, measures will be taken against faculty, staff and administrators who practice dishonest or demeaning behavior.” He had to cheat two more times before he was scheduled to go before the school’s Student Conduct Committee. He transferred to Blinn College rather than do that. I don’t give a flying fuck about college football players getting paid. Their talents bring in millions for their institutions. What i do care about, as an educator, is when the obsession about sports threatens to undermine the core mission of the university itself: its academics. I’d be quite happy, to be quite honest, if they separated college football from the rest of the institution altogether, and made it essentially a semi-pro or pro league that happens to be affiliated with universities, at least at the Division 1A level. The players who don’t want to take classes could play ball without the hassle of academics, and the players who do want to learn something would be able to enroll in classes just like any other student. ---
**Author:** ![Hawkeyeop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/958977/32.png) [@Hawkeyeop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hawkeyeop)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cam-newton-guilty/560309/26 "2010-11-11T18:18:18Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > Wait. Who would get sued and lose? Are you arguing that the NCAA would get sued by the NFL for imposing penalties on college teams that violated its rules? That’s not true at all. > > And the NFL should care because college teams are farm teams for the NFL. If the players can’t play, or their playing time is interfered with because of NCAA-imposed penalties, they should care very much. The NCAA and the NFL are very much interconnected. The NFL would get sued for collusion by a player who doesn’t get drafted.. You can’t simply make an agreement that no one signs a class of player. Most of these scandals get discovered way after players leave college, so I don’t see player suspensions being much of a concern anyway. Does it really affect the Saints that Bush lost his Heisman? > [@Ogre](#): > > Oh boo hoo. As we’ve discussed in another thread, most collegiate athletes will never see a professional field. They also get a shitload of other benefits from being on the team, including essentially a free college education (if they choose to do so. If not, fuck 'em.), the opportunity to argue their pro-level skills on national television, absolute favored status on their respective campuses, etc. Don’t give me any horseshit about those poor, poor, abused slaves of the system. No one is forcing them to play college sports. They’re out there doing what they love, in front of millions of people. If they’re good enough to go pro, they get rich. If not, they still have a college degree, and get to do exactly what the rest of us do: get a job. Someone is making a massive amount of money from college football. It might as well be the people who earned it. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cam-newton-guilty/560309/27 "2010-11-11T18:24:26Z")
Mainly undecided, but I said yes, and I am an Auburn fan. Where there is smoke, there is usually fire. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cam-newton-guilty/560309/28 "2010-11-11T21:05:31Z")
> [@Hawkeyeop](#): > > Someone is making a massive amount of money from college football. It might as well be the people who earned it. The only thing is, players would need to get equal pay throughout the NCAA. I wouldn’t have a huge problem with some kind of small payment. But the fact of the matter is, rules is rules and Cam probably broke 'em. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cam-newton-guilty/560309/29 "2010-11-11T21:54:45Z")
The simple solution is to allow players to declare eligibility for the draft upon graduation from high school. All the problems will be solved. What’s that? The players aren’t ready for the NFL yet? Oh - then they ARE gaining something other than money (and a free education) playing in college. What’s that? The players won’t have received enough attention to warrant being drafted? It’s almost as if publicity and attention are worth something… What’s that? Players won’t make as much money being drafted in the 6th round because they haven’t proven themselves? Huh - it’s almost as if you’re suggesting players _make more money_ by going to college…how novel. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cam-newton-guilty/560309/30 "2010-12-01T17:52:32Z")
> **[NCAA rules Auburn's Cam Newton is eligible to compete (updated)](https://www.al.com/sports/2010/12/ncaa_rules_auburns_cam_newton.html)** > > Tigers quarterback on track to play in SEC Championship Game ---
**Author:** ![TheFifthYear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@TheFifthYear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFifthYear)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cam-newton-guilty/560309/31 "2010-12-01T17:55:48Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > [NCAA rules Auburn's Cam Newton is eligible to compete (updated) - al.com](http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2010/12/ncaa_rules_auburns_cam_newton.html) The NCAA has no balls. If there were any integrity in this sport, Cam would be ineligible and Auburn would forfeit the season. Is there any doubt that this would have played out differently had Cam played for a small school, and not one headed to the title game? All I can say is: Go South Carolina, Go Oregon. Make sure the cheaters don’t win, because the NCAA rolled over. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cam-newton-guilty/560309/32 "2010-12-01T18:05:07Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > The evidence is pretty overwhelming. And no, I would not vote for him for the Heisman. Especially in light of the Reggie Bush fiasco. Evidence of what? I may have missed something, and I will be happy to be corrected, but the only accusations I have seen made are that his father asked for money from Mississippi State. Or Ol’ Miss, I forget. At any rate, has anyone produced any evidence that he actually took money from anyone? AFAIK, your father asking for money is not illegal. Again, I am happy to be corrected. ETA: I see by **Zeldar** ’s link that I am corrected on the second point. However, it was his father that committed the illegal (by NCAA standards) act, not him. ---
**Author:** ![Stringer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Stringer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringer)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cam-newton-guilty/560309/33 "2010-12-01T18:38:41Z")
This is the best precedent ever. I hope boosters paying player’s parents becomes commonplace. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cam-newton-guilty/560309/34 "2010-12-01T18:41:08Z")
> [@Stringer](#): > > This is the best precedent ever. I hope boosters paying player’s parents becomes commonplace. Did anyone get paid? ---
**Author:** ![TheFifthYear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@TheFifthYear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFifthYear)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cam-newton-guilty/560309/35 "2010-12-01T18:44:08Z")
> [@Stringer](#): > > This is the best precedent ever. I hope boosters paying player’s parents becomes commonplace. That’s the takeaway from this: if your kid is a D1 athlete, feel free to shop him around to the highest bidder. Just make sure he doesn’t know, then it’s all ok. Every dirty athletic department in the country is high fiving each other right now (there’s especially a lot of handslapping happening in the south east). As long as you only deal with the parents and hide the money well enough, you’re in the clear! Of course, if anyone thinks Cam didn’t know, I’ve got a bridge to sell you. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cam-newton-guilty/560309/36 "2010-12-01T18:48:08Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > Did anyone get paid? According to (alleged) FBI wiretaps, the whole recruiting class did. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cam-newton-guilty/560309/37 "2010-12-01T18:56:02Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > According to (alleged) FBI wiretaps, the whole recruiting class did. At Miss. State or Auburn? How did the NCAA miss this? ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cam-newton-guilty/560309/38 "2010-12-01T23:49:25Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > At Miss. State or Auburn? How did the NCAA miss this? Auburn, according to summaries [here](http://www.illegalshift.com/2010/11/18/a-simpler-version-of-the-auburn-sec-fbi-cam-newton-cecil-newton-milton-mcgregor-scandal/college-football/) and [here (long)](http://www.tigerdroppings.com/rant/MessageTopic.asp?p=22778676&Pg=1). (Links courtesy of **TheFifthYear** in the othe Cam Newton thread.) Other than off-the-record leaks, the NCAA might not have official access until the full investigation is done, which involves wide-ranging corruption and banking fraud, most of which doesn’t involve Auburn. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cam-newton-guilty/560309/39 "2010-12-02T01:14:33Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Auburn, according to summaries [here](http://www.illegalshift.com/2010/11/18/a-simpler-version-of-the-auburn-sec-fbi-cam-newton-cecil-newton-milton-mcgregor-scandal/college-football/) and [here (long)](http://www.tigerdroppings.com/rant/MessageTopic.asp?p=22778676&Pg=1). (Links courtesy of **TheFifthYear** in the othe Cam Newton thread.) > Other than off-the-record leaks, the NCAA might not have official access until the full investigation is done, which involves wide-ranging corruption and banking fraud, most of which doesn’t involve Auburn. I didn’t read the long link, but the first one, which prefaces everything with the word “allegedly”, never says the class was paid. It says schemes to pay the players were discussed. Hell, it could all be true. I’m just waiting for one piece of factual evidence that supports it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cam-newton-guilty/560309.md?page=1)