Isn’t It Possible That Auburn Never Paid The Newtons A Thing?
November 19th, 2010 01:54 PM║ Posted By: John Pennington ║ Permalink
║ Schools: Auburn, Mississippi State
Tags: Henry Fonda, Mississippi State, MSU, Perhaps Newton
Over the course of the past week, I’ve done 23 radio interviews. At about 20 minutes a pop, that’s a lot of time spent talking about Cam Newton… and that’s exactly what I’ve been asked about.
In the majority of those on-air conversations, I’ve been asked something along these lines:
“If he wanted money from Mississippi State, then obviously Auburn had to have bought off Cecil Newton, right?”
Wrong. Or at least that can’t be proven yet. In fact, it’s not even been suggested yet.
Newton wanted $100,000 to $180,000 for his son to go to Mississippi State. Multiple people involved in the mess have now admitted as much. A source has told WSB-TV that the elder Newton has even admitted that to the NCAA. We’ll consider that fact.
So if Newton wanted six-figures from MSU… and his son signed with Auburn… then obviously Auburn offered more money than MSU.
2+2=4.
Only we might not have the full equation. Perhaps the FBI has dug up something that no one is else privy too, yet, but there really aren’t many people pointing fingers at AU right now.
And considering the rumors and allegations that have been blogged and tweeted in the Newton feeding frenzy, don’t you think someone would have lobbed a “You bought him!” grenade at Auburn if they had even a shred of evidence to suggest that had happened?
The lack of on-the-record accusations might be telling.
Okay, you say, so why would Newton have talked cash with MSU and not with Auburn?
Let’s hypothesize:
* Perhaps the elder Newton really did like Auburn’s offensive line and offense better than MSU’s… as was mentioned in a recent Sports Illustrated profile of Newton. If that was the case, maybe Newton — knowing that his son preferred State — decided to give MSU one last chance to win him over… with cash. Therefore, MSU would have been the only school asked to pay.
* Perhaps Newton made his request to Mississippi State representatives and immediately saw that the game just isn’t played the way he thought. Why ask Auburn or anyone else for cash if MSU’s backers rolled their eyes at his solicitations?
* Perhaps the reaction from MSU’s athletic department sent a chill down Newton’s spine. Maybe he saw how negatively they reacted, worried about getting caught, and decided to go the straight n’ narrow path with Auburn.
Those scenarios are all possible. However unlikely they may seem, they are possible. Really. Put yourself in Henry Fonda’s shoes in “12 Angry Men.” (And I know that’s tough because as a society we’re all a bunch of Lee J. Cobbs.)
Maybe in two hours, two days, two weeks or two months from now we’ll learn that someone in navy and orange really did open up a slush fund for the Newton family.
But for now, no one has drawn a dot for Auburn, a dot for Newton, and connected the two with cash. Not yet.
So it’s way too soon for anyone to be saying, “Well, obviously Auburn bought the kid, right?”
MiloDundee... It does matter with regards to Auburn because it could mean the difference between Auburn having to forfeit games... and Auburn being hit with a multi-year probation and additional sanctions.
Ditty... See above. If Auburn paid him, Auburn is looking at much bigger penalties and possible dismissals for coaches. Huge difference.
IBleedCrimsonRed... As I said, I agree that 2+2 looks to equal 4. But until someone proves Auburn paid the Newtons, it's not fair to say that they did.
1984m... I've mentioned for days that IF Cam made that call, then that's a smoking gun. I have repeatedly asked why no one has followed up on that? Maybe that's why Jody Wright was interviewed. But until that becomes a fact, it's just speculation.
marchrevin... If Newton really did call someone and know about this, then it'll come out. Personally, I think Newton's father solicitation is reason enough to declare Newton ineligible for at least some games retroactively. But to date, ONE source anonymously made the claim about the Cam Newton call.
Thanks for reading, folks,
John
The only problem with the theory that Auburn paid nothing is the Joe Schad report that
Newton siad "the money was too much" when explaining why he went to Auburn and not MSU. I do not think Schad lied about having that quote relayed to him. Did Schad's source lie?? I do not know. If
told the truth and Newton really said "the money was too much" then Newton and Auburn
should be hung out to dry.
something about the alledged emotional phone call by cam newton to a miss state representative stating he was sorry about his dad selecting auburn because the money was too much kinda makes me think auburn paid the newtons.also agree with ditty and milodundee. i guess we'll have to wait and see.
So let me get this straight. The price for Cam to play at Mississippi State was one-eight large, but he went to school at Auburn for no charge?
I've got some bridges, and some swampland, and a few collateralized mortgage obligations for sale to anyone stupid or naive enough to believe that. Cheap, too. $100,000 to $180,000 or something.
I agree 100 percent with MiloDundee. It is NOT whether Cam Newton received money or any other inappropriate compensation or incentives, rather, it is that he or his representative solicited it.
In all of your scenarios Cecil Newton pimped his son by soliciting money from MSU and according to the NCAA that makes Cam ineligible. It may clear Auburn, but it doesn't help Cam. And Auburn still used an ineligible player, so it doesn't really matter if they bought the kid.
[...] told Mississippi State representatives they could buy his son. (As we’ve pointed out, it’s never been established that he ever had any similar conversations with anyone representing Auburn.)In the aftermath of [...]