The "When Will Cam Newton Give the Heisman Back" Pool

The Game Room
1

Last night, Cam Newton won the Heisman despite being engulfed in controversy regarding the violations that occurred while he was being recruiting by Auburn and Mississippi State.

Like Reggie Bush before him, it’s only a matter of time before the Heisman is either revoked by the DAC or he gives it back. When will the details of his pay-for-play scheme become known?

Or maybe the won’t; some are convinced that surely Cam had no idea that his father was soliciting a pay-for-play scheme and that Cam (with no history of legal malfeasance or cheating :dubious:) went to Auburn (a school with no history of recruiting violations ever :dubious::dubious:) simply because it was the best fit for him as a scholar-athlete. :rolleyes:

So, it’s time to place our bets. Closest without going over wins. If he hasn’t given it back in 10 years, we’ll declare the Newton-loyalists the winners.

I’ll take March 15, 2012. Beware the ides, Cam.

2

When does the FBI finish that investigation to the point they’ll be willing to share the info?

3

Can I take the proposition bet that he will hock it for cash before he gets a chance to return it?

4

Hell yes!

There’s also the possibility that when they come for it, he’ll simply throw it out the window like, say, a laptop computer.

5

My question is, were ESPN “analysts” told to downplay the situation of Cam’s eligibility? I listened to a lot of ESPN radio last week (lots of driving) and every single on-air personality lamented about Cam being judged guilty until proven innocent by many voters who would omit him from their ballot. I don’t think it’s that big of a stretch to think that he will, eventually, return this trophy, but apparently ESPN shouldn’t say that. I’m sure it has everything to do with ratings, and of course they wanted people to watch the Heisman presentation.

6

Never. The investigation is over. Cecil Newton, Cam’s father, discussed money with Mississippi State booster Kenny Rogers in a Mississippi hotel lobby on November 27, 2009. This is the only time/place that money was discussed. Rogers almost certainly instigated the talks, hoping to get his 10% off the top.

On Newton’s recruiting trips to the U. of Oklahoma, U. of Tennessee and Auburn University there was no mention of money. Kenny Rogers, who has been charged by the NFLPA for impersonating an agent and who, in November of 2009 was running from $11,000 in bad checks is the only connection with money talks. Cecil Newton made a mistake and listened to Rogers, but in the end no money changed hands.

The SEC office and Auburn University Compliance office investigated for ten months. The NCAA’s team of investigators worked the case for five months. There is nothing there.

The FBI talked briefly with Kenny Rogers, supposedly to determine if he could be charged with embezzlement for trying to get money from some wealthy Mississippi State boosters. Other than that, the FBI has no interest in the case.

The FBI investigates criminal activity. They do not give a flip if every player in the country sells his trinkets to an agent or if every school in the country pays players to attend their school. These things are against NCAA rules but they are not illegal.
Those of you waiting breathlessly for the FBI to “reveal” things about this need to adjust your thinking to the fact that the FBI is not conducting an investigation into violation of NCAA policies and they will not be doing so. They have their own responsibilities and could not care less about NCAA policy.

FoxSports.com writer Thayer Evans either lied about having a single, anonymous source at the University of Florida or he did have a source and that source lied to him.
Here are three links that demonstrate the Evans’s story about Cam Newton cheating at Florida is not true. Note that these media outlets either have used named sources or have multiple anonymous sources, as good journalism requires.
Newton found refuge at Blinn before heading to Auburn
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=rivals-1150363
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20101119/ARTICLES/101119294

So what we have now is a kid that bought a stolen lap-top three years ago and when he learned the situation and that authorities were looking for said laptop, he panicked and threw it out a window. Handled properly this would have been a non issue. As it is, he did his penance for that and moved on.
Back to the original question, I’ll quote a couple of guys that had to eat a lot of crow about Cam Newton:
Sports Illustrated writer Lars Anderson on December 2nd. “Sources inside the NCAA say the Cam Newton case is closed. It’s over, done, dead. People need to move on.”

ESPN writer Joe Schad on December 3rd: “The NCAA is happy with the Cam Newton investigation. The case is closed and the files are put away. It’s over”
Both of those were on radio interviews, so I don’t have a link.

Cam won’t be giving any awards back.

So why all the hate? Why do people want the worst for this young man who has done nothing to them? I have a real hard time understanding that.

7

Great Response, John Carter of Mars.

So… what’s everyone’s opinion of the thought that the door has been opened to allow for a lot of NCAA indiscretions to happen because the blame is going to be shifted to the parents. “It wasn’t me that took the money, it was my dad, and I knew nothing about it!”

8

I don’t see why this would not be the claim for every single NCAA violation from here on out. In fact, if you’re the parent of a recruit, why not try to get something out of it? If you get caught, who cares…there won’t be any consequences.

9

No door has been opened. The NCAA clearly stated that if his father had received any money Cam Newton would not have been eligible.

The consequences are if you ACTUALLY TAKE money or other benefits and get caught your college career is shot. That’s the same as it has always been.

10

Can we at least agree that NCAA rules and enforcers are stupid? It’s against the rules to take money, but not to seek it. But, it’s against the rules to even sit down to dinner with an agent, whether or not you actually take anything or sign anything.

11

John Carter, I just hope that when Cam Newton does inevitably get in trouble, a la Reggie Bush, you come up with some mea culpa better than, “Well, all available evidence at the time pointed to Cam being a saint.” Everything about the whole scenario stinks, even if we don’t have notarized HD video of him swimming in a Scrooge McDuck vault of money.

12

I agree with that. In hockey, you can be signed with a pro team and still play NCAA hockey. I think baseball is the same. But in football, if you dare have your eyes meet an agent’s, you’re in a heap o’ trouble, boy. I say let the players sign their contracts in college and do anything but actually play pro ball.

13

The NCAA allows hockey players to be drafted by NHL teams and still play in college. They cannot sign a pro contract and still be eligible. Every year college players are drafted and go back to play NCAA hockey. The NHL team retains their rights until they finish their senior year.

14

I’ve never been one to duck out on responsibilities, even internet responsibilities like owning up to an error in judgment. I’ll be here if it all blows.

Please tell me how you come up with “inevitably gets in trouble”. What about this whole scenario stinks? It only stinks if you choose to believe irresponsible journalists that claim single, anonymous sources and did so hoping to increase hits on their websites.

That three years ago, Cam Newton bought a laptop that turned out to be stolen, then panicked and threw it out the window when the police came around is acknowledged and done.
That his father, however briefly, discussed money with Kenny Rogers in a Mississippi hotel lobby is acknowledged and done.

Everything else that raged through ESPN for two months has proven to be BS. There is nothing else there.

If you have facts, turn them over to the proper authorities. If you have a sincere question, ask and maybe I can answer it. I’m not an 'insider", but I live very close to Auburn and have followed this thing since day one.
I’ll provide honest opinions or links when available.

Here’s one example for you: ESPN and other news outlets frequently questioned how Cecil Newton made the required improvements to his church in Newnan, Georgia if he didn’t get money for Cam’s signature.
A local TV station, Channel 12 in Montgomery, sent a reporter and camera crew over to Newnan to look at things.
The next day, right there, on my friendly 10 O’clock news, was a member of the Newnan City Council holding a book of minutes. Reading from the minute book, she read: “Cecil Newton appeared before the Council and provided documentation proving that he had sufficient funding to accomplish the needed repairs on his church.”

The date of those minutes was July, 2009. Six months before Cam signed with Auburn. Did you ever see ESPN or any other major outlet run that story? I didn’t. Quoting Auburn linebacker Josh Bynes in an interview with a reporter from The Sporting News: “If we told you the truth you wouldn’t print it. The truth doesn’t sell”.

15

I’m not sure what you think this anecdote proves. You’re hanging a lot on a six-month gap between Cecil Newton having money to renovate his church and Cam signing with Auburn. I see absolutely no reason why an Auburn booster couldn’t have given Cecil some money six, seven, hell, 12 months before Cam signed with Auburn, as an incentive to actually sign with Auburn. (I obviously have no evidence that such happened, but my point is that there’s no reason money couldn’t have flowed to the Newtons well before Cam actually signed.)

Still, I don’t mean to sound snide. I appreciate you saying that you’ll man up when (or if, if you’d prefer) Cam gets busted. I’ll try to remember to do the same if, say, a reasonable period of time passes and nothing surfaces (reasonable can be defined as about the time period between Reggie Bush’s violations and his punishment).

P.S. Wait, he “panicked” and threw a laptop out the window?? Sounds like someone who knew that he had purchased stolen property from the get-go. Why wouldn’t anyone (save perhaps career criminals) say, “Look, I honestly had no idea that it was stolen, and I’d be happy to reunite it with its owner”? Again, that smell test looms.

16

Thanks for the clarification. But still, why are they allowed to be drafted and play NCAA hockey but if a football or basketball player so much as admits that he’s looking at the NFL or NBA, the NCAA goes bananas? Let’s get real, at the higher levels, very few of these players are legitimate students. They’re in the unpaid minor leagues of their future professional sport.

17

It is my opinion that the corrupt bankers that run Auburn just laundered the money really well. It’s not just Cam Newton and his people who got paid, either, and it’s not just Auburn.

18

Quoting quixotic78 I’m not sure what you think this anecdote proves. You’re hanging a lot on a six-month gap between Cecil Newton having money to renovate his church and Cam signing with Auburn. I see absolutely no reason why an Auburn booster couldn’t have given Cecil some money six, seven, hell, 12 months before Cam signed with Auburn,…"

Six months prior to January, 2010 nobody knew if Cam Newton’s signature on a letter of intent was going to be worth 50 cents. Auburn didn’t start recruiting him until after the 2009 JUCO season was over. The same for the other schools he visited on recruiting trips; Oklahoma, Tennessee and Mississippi State.
That doesn’t prove anything, but still…

"Still, I don’t mean to sound snide. I appreciate you saying that you’ll man up when (or if, if you’d prefer) Cam gets busted. I’ll try to remember to do the same if, say, a reasonable period of time passes and nothing surfaces (reasonable can be defined as about the time period between Reggie Bush’s violations and his punishment)."

The Reggie Bush case was an institutional investigation. Those can and do take years. Cam Newton’s case was a question of player eligibility. Those are settled quickly. See Georgia’s A.J. Greene and Alabama’s Marcel Darious. Like the Newton case, both settled quickly. Remember, nobody at any level has accused Auburn of even knowing about Cecil’s talk with Kenny Rogers. Nobody at any level of authority has alleged that Auburn paid money. Rogers is an MSU booster. That’s why money wasn’t mentioned at Oklahoma, Auburn or Tennessee. MSU and Rogers are the connection to money. Even Rogers said Auburn wasn’t mentioned in his talk with Cecil Newton. This one didn’t take nearly as long as an institutional investigation, it’s already over.

quote: "P.S. Wait, he “panicked” and threw a laptop out the window?? Sounds like someone who knew that he had purchased stolen property from the get-go. Why wouldn’t anyone (save perhaps career criminals) say, “Look, I honestly had no idea that it was stolen, and I’d be happy to reunite it with its owner”? Again, that smell test looms."

Why would someone write his name in magic marker on property he knew was stolen, then toss it out a window with name clearly visible? Panic is the only explanation.
The word swept through the dorm that the police were in the process of searching for a stolen laptop, Cam put 2+2 together on his super cheap laptop and tossed it. I wouldn’t have, you wouldn’t have, but I, at least, am quite old and experienced. Also, in the area of Atlanta where Cam Newton grew up trusting the police is not common. He did his punishment for that and hopefully is smarter now.

19

Well then, all you have to do is prove it. In the meantime, figure out how families of limited means hide large amounts of money from experienced investigators, and hide it for years.

20

Never. Reggie Bush gave back his Heisman only after demonstrable violations from which he benefited. Nothing of the sort has been demonstrated in the Newton case. The only problem is, how do collect on “never”?