You can be angry, but remain at least a bit skeptical. The jury is still out, and it’s important to remember that Cam Newton, despite the innuendo, is innocent until proven guilty of the charges that he — or a peripheral member of his party, perhaps — enrolled at Auburn under highly dubious circumstances. Still, take note that this isn’t some highly-touted recruit that didn’t pan out; this isn’t even Reggie Bush, found guilty of rampant misconduct well after his record-setting career had concluded. This is the current Heisman front-runner, the current face of college football. And his purported mistakes are large enough that, if true, they can take down a sublime player, his coach and a program returning to the forefront of college football after a brief absence.
Let’s advance with this line of thought — the idea that Newton’s recruitment did include a rather hefty cover charge. It’s wildly inappropriate to do so, perhaps, but considering the opposite end of the spectrum — that Newton is innocent of all charges — is, well, boring. If the latter is the case, and Newton did nothing wrong, then we can continue with the status quo. He’ll continue his road to the Heisman, Gene Chizik will remain the second-most popular coach in town and Auburn can continue a run towards a national title.
Newton remains eligible until proven otherwise. Chizik was adamant about this point when interviewed by Ron Bramblett on Auburn’s Tiger Talk Radio:
“Well, unfortunately I can’t comment on it (asked about Newton). But here’s what I can say, and I will say it loud and clear: Cam Newton is eligible at Auburn University. Period. End of story.”
Chizik is going about this the right way, at least to a point. He’s burying his head in the sand, but for two reasons: one, he can’t comment on an ongoing N.C.A.A. investigation, of course; and two, he has no choice but to advance on the theory that Newton will be his quarterback for at least four more games, perhaps five.
He can’t show weakness. Chizik knows what’s on the line: his job, for starters, but also the health and welfare of his program. It’s not a stretch to say that both these sizable factors are riding on Newton’s potential misstep. If Newton was paid to accept Auburn’s scholarship offer, Chizik won’t be around for long. His coaching career won’t be over, but he’ll have a hard time finding another lead job on the B.C.S. conference level.
Yet Chizik must be petrified by what could occur should the N.C.A.A. find Auburn at fault. Let’s say that Auburn — not necessarily Chizik, but an assistant or booster — anted up $200,000 to ensure that Newton joined the program: Auburn’s looking at more than probation. It’s looking at a postseason ban, I’d think, to go along with probation and scholarship limitations. In short, Auburn could be looking at what recently occurred to U.S.C., though I’d think to a slightly lesser degree.
And what of Newton? His Heisman run would be over, obviously; it might already be over, though that remains to be seen. It would be up to the specific Heisman voter: one could choose to ignore the off-field innuendo, focusing instead on what Newton has achieved on Saturday — which has been quite a bit.
On the other hand, the headlines might be too much to ignore. Newton might go down in the court of public opinion, if merely the first round of news is any evidence. If we look closely enough, we might see enough circumstantial evidence to keep Newton relatively clean; perhaps Kenny Rogers was acting alone, hoping that he could develop a long, meaningful — monetary — relationship with Newton once he arrived on campus.
That’s a stretch. I can’t say that there isn’t a connection between Rogers and Newton. I can’t say that at least a portion of the $200,000 went to Newton, another portion to his family and another portion to Rogers. It’s just a despicable situation. And, unfortunately, it’s become par for the course.
There were countless instances before Reggie Bush. There was Reggie Bush before Cam Newton. If it turns out to be true, there will be another Cam Newton after Newton departs for the next level, whether it’s as a Heisman winner or a disgraced former front-runner.
And that’s the worst part: we were all ready for this, in one way or another. Not necessarily Newton, but we were waiting for the shoe to drop somewhere, or in regards to someone, some program or coach. It’s just par for the course. And we shouldn’t be angry. We should just be disillusioned with the whole thing.
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