Seichter: The situation with Cam Newton cannot come at a worse time for the sport of college football. As you recall, earlier this season, former Heisman Trophy winner and smokeshow Kim Kardashian's ex, Reggie Bush was stripped of his Heisman Trophy because it was found out that he received money during his tenure at University of Southern California. Similarly, players at Florida, Alabama, North Carolina and other big time Football Bowl Subdivision schools have also been under investigation for similar accusations.
The main difference between their situations and Newton's is that when they were accused they weren't the Heisman front-runner and the leader of one of Bowl Championship Series' top two teams like Newton is right now. This is the reason why his situation is so difficult to handle. If you suspend him for a couple of games until more evidence can be gathered, then it will no doubt hurt his team as well as his Heisman candidacy. If he turned out to be guilty, then I would have no problem with that, but if he was found innocent, then it would tarnish what has already been a great college football season and it would lead many Auburn fans to thinking "What if?"
Personally, I think the evidence points more toward the fact that he is guilty. Earlier this week, the recruiter from Mississippi State who recruited Newton while he was in high school stated that Cecil Newton, Cameron's father, put a price tag on his son's football skills and said Mississippi State would "have to pay between $100,000 and $180,000" for his son's commitment. It has also come to surface that when Newton was at Florida (he initially played at Florida before transferring to Auburn) he was charged of academic misconduct for cheating on an exam and was almost expelled.
I think that the NCAA has to do its best to find the answers to this case as soon as possible. If they don't and it takes them until after the season to find out Newton was guilty, they might not only have to take a Heisman Trophy away from Newton like they did with Bush, but they might have to consider taking a national championship away from the Auburn Tigers. Those two occurrences would put a stain over all of college football.
Hopkins: Tony Dorsett called the Cam Newton situation "a modern day lynching of an athlete." I have to disagree with the former Heisman Trophy winner and Dallas Cowboy great because it seems that Cam and his father, Cecil, brought these allegations upon themselves.
I initially was skeptical about the information brought to public attention by various Mississippi State personnel. In my mind, it seemed they were bitter about losing Newton, watching him tear apart defenses like a better version of Terrelle Pryor, and for being an inherently bad football team. When it came out that Newton had taken other students' papers and put his name on them while he attended the University of Florida and that his dad was basically a computer away from putting his son up for a bidding war on eBay, these accusations seemed a lot more believable.
When Newton left Florida, he then transferred to Blinn Junior College in Texas. In 2009, after an amazing season and winning the National Junior College Athletic Association national championship, he decided to transfer again and decided to go to Auburn over Mississippi State. The recruitment of Newton from Blinn happened before the epidemic of illegal recruiting in college football was brought to the public's attention. It would be easy to believe recruiting violations like this one could have gone unnoticed because the NCAA had yet to declare its war on agents and some players seemed to be getting higher signing bonuses and benefits than most NHL players. I think tCam Newton is guilty and nothing will happen until the season is over, but the NCAA will eventually rule against Newton and Auburn.
Unfortunately, Cam Newton will never be directly punished for his alleged wrongdoings because by the time the season is over he will be out of school faster than a John Calipari-coached player. The only thing these allegations could alter is the outcome of the Heisman Trophy because I am sure that the majority of the Heisman voters are petrified of having another scandalous winner. It will be interesting to see what the NCAA does with Newton, the Auburn football program and the problem of agents in general because right now recruiting violations are to college football what steroids were to baseball.
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