Auburn’s Cameron Newton Saga—Reggie Bush Part II?
The first is the fact that Newton, the Auburn quarterback who has sliced defenses on the ground and in the air in his first year since transferring from a junior college, has been declared eligible despite the month long investigation into whether he had knowledge of a scheme between his father, the Reverend Cecil Newton, and former Mississippi State football player Kenny Rogers, to pay the Newton family 180,000.00 in exchange for his playing at ‘State.
The second, and perhaps more disturbing issue from my vantage point, is the fact that a father was so imbecilic or just plain old greedy that he was willing to make a Faustian bargain—all the while placing his son’s future in jeopardy.
With respect to the first point, the Newton saga is eerily similar to that of former University of Southern California running back Reggie Bush, who returned his Heisman Trophy earlier this year after the NCAA sanctioned his former school with forfeited games and scholarship reductions as a result of an investigation that revealed that Bush’s family received hundreds of thousands of dollars from a former hoodlum turned would-be sports agent who hoped to sign Bush to his new company.
I feel USC athletic director Pat Haden’s pain as he strives to reconcile how maddeningly inconsistent the Newton ruling appears to be at this point. And I must state “at this point” because it is apparent from yesterday’s news release that the NCAA reserves the right to readdress this issue in the future.
This simply means that after a lengthy FBI and NCAA investigation, that we can conclude that Newton’s father admitted to wrongdoing while swearing that his meal ticket, pardon, I meant son, had absolutely nothing to do with the negotiations.
The problem that I have with this notion is the same as Haden’s, which is how are athletic directors supposed to explain to their athletes that everything they have lectured about regarding Bush is now thrown into limbo?
And that is if you can even call it limbo. To me, yesterday’s ruling completely overturns the Bush precedent in that the standard that must be plead by the athlete is simply “ignorance” of the transgression. Even the most intellectually lightweight college athlete can repeatedly say “I didn’t know!”
Of course there are distinctions. One being that the Bush family actually received cash, house and God knows what else from their benefactor. In Newton’s case there was merely a discussion, which reminds me of the old first year contracts course about offers and acceptance. As per the elder Newton, there clearly was an offer, but no acceptance by Mississippi State, ergo no contract.
This does little to assuage the concerns of skeptics nationwide who wonder whether Auburn won Newton’ services illegally. At this time there is absolutely no evidence of such so it is not worth analyzing.
To me, what is more important than the NCAA’s maddening inconsistency is the fact that Reverend Newton, like Bush’s mother and stepfather years ago, should be ashamed of his conduct in this matter. Realizing that many college football players hail from financially strapped and/or single-parent homes, one could understand it if some poor kid tried to obtain money so that his family could survive while he attended school. I remember many years ago when an All-American cornerback at Florida State University drew tears from the faithful when reporting that he sent his bowl game gifts and perks back home so that his younger siblings could have gifts for Christmas. If Cameron Newton was destitute, it would not negate the wrongfulness of extorting money, but it darn sure would be understandable.
No, it appears that Reverend Newton succumbed to one of the deadly sins—greed—and in the process almost destroyed his child’s career—not to mention the hopes and dreams of dozens of other Auburn team member s, coaches and staff in the process. And to think that it all was nearly compromised for what amounts to chicken change when compared to the signing bonuses that await future first round draft picks like Newton.
With S.E.C. and possibly BCS championship games looming, I am quite sure that the television news cameras will look to focus upon Reverend Newton in the stands as he whoops it up cheering for his baby boy. One can only hope that if he has any sense of honor or humility that he will ban himself from the stadium to avoid the spectacle while, in his solitude, contemplating how very close he came to blowing it all.
That would assume that what he told investigators—that it was his fault —was true. If it later turns out that Cameron was complicit in his dad’s pimping, then the shame will rest squarely upon the NCAA for its muddling approach in ridding college football of the shady agents, runners and school officials who ignore the rules for their own pernicious goals.