Heisman hopeful under fire
Jeff Moses
Allegations of payments made to amateur athletes have been around for decades dating back to Jim Thorpe being stripped of his Olympic gold medals in 1913. He was stripped becuase he spent two seasons, 1909 and 1910, playing minor league baseball for the Class D Eastern Carolina League, and receiving $25 per week.
He would later claim ignorance of the rule when asking his fans to excuse his actions.
Though ignorance may have been an excuse for a self described simple Indian schoolboy who didn’t know of such things, but the current NCAA landscape ignorance can no longer be an excuse.
Not even a year has passed since USC was forced to unceremoniously vacate their 2004 National Championship because of allegations of players being paid. Yet NCAA football has been plagued with another convoluted he-said-she-said story of alleged player payment.
Auburn quarterback, Heisman Trophy hopeful and the NCAA’s top touchdown man Cam Newton has found himself in the crosshairs of a NCAA investigation.
There are allegations that his father, Cecil Newton, approached Mississippi State for a payout between 100-200 thousand dollars to acquire the services of his son.
Kenny Rogers, a former Mississippi State player and current associate of NFL agent Ian Grossberg, alleges that in a meeting attended by Cecil Newton, himself and representatives of Mississippi State Football, Cecil asked for $180,000 to ensure his son’s signing with the Bulldogs.
This story has been corroborated by MSU booster Bill Bell, who stated he also received phone calls from Cecil Newton asking if the deal was going to go through.
Cam Newton and those close to him ardently deny any allegations of wrong doing by Cam or his father, but the evidence and all the witnesses coming forward seam to spell disaster for the football phenomenon.
