It took 13 months for the NCAA to finally release its findings into the Auburn football program, and if you’re a fan of Alabama, Mississippi State or any Auburn rival, you’re not going to like what they had to say.
In a report given to Auburn, and released today, we learned that other than what we already knew (that Cecil Newton and a scouting service director named Kenny Rogers tried to actively market Cam in hopes of getting payment for his college commitment), the NCAA found no other wrongdoings by the player of the school. No massive pay-for-play scheme, no forfeited games, no vacated titles.
Thanks for playing, now please move on.
In a letter to Auburn Athletics Director Jay Jacobs, the NCAA informed the school that after over 50 interviews, as well as reviews of bank records, tax forms, phone records and e-mails, the only violation they found was of rule No. 12.3.3 of the rulebook, which “prohibits individuals or entities from representing a prospective student-athlete for compensation to a school for an athletics scholarship.” That is basically what Cecil Newton and Kenny Rogers did, and what Auburn self-reported on November 30 of last year, after an investigation which began during the summer. Since neither Cam, nor the school knew of the violation, and since the administration was proactive in reporting it, no one will face additional charges. Assuming of course, that no new evidence comes to light.
(It should also be noted that the NCAA has cleared Auburn of any wrongdoing involving allegations of improprities of four former players on HBO’s Real Sports last spring. Only one of those players, Raven Gay, met with NCAA investigators, and his claims couldn’t be substantiated. Meanwhile Stanley McClover, Chaz Ramsey and Troy Reddick all refused to speak with NCAA investigators)
So now that we’ve got all the particulars out of the way, let’s get to the fun stuff, and to the most important questions. Mainly this: Is this case actually over? Or could something new come to light?
If you’re hoping for the latter, well I’m sorry, but it just isn’t going to happen. As the NCAA reported in its findings, they interviewed over 50 people in the Newton case, audited phone records, tax records, you name it, and they came up with nothing. And really, if they haven’t come up with anything yet, haven’t found a smoking gun, and haven’t found anyone to talk, it seems next to impossible that they ever will. For anyone outside of Auburn hoping that this would turn into Reggie Bush 2.0, it simply doesn’t seem likely.
Why?
Well if you read the particulars of the Reggie Bush case, there were a long list of people with an axe to grind with him, all willing to chirp to the NCAA. One was named Lloyd Lake, the proverbial “street agent,” who basically bankrolled Bush during his final year at USC, and who Bush then turned his back on once he left campus. Had Bush just paid him back (or signed with him as an agent), Lake would’ve never said a word, and the NCAA would’ve never found out about Bush’s wrongdoings.
So as that information pertains to Cam or Cecil Newton, I’ve got to ask: Who exactly is going to come forward and speak out against them if they haven’t already?
After all, say you’re a hypothetical Auburn booster, who hypothetically paid Cam. What do you have to be upset about? The school won an SEC and National Championship, and your investment was well-worth it. Cam was literally the best player money could buy.
(****Aaron’s Note: Please understand that I’m not implying that someone did pay Cam Newton, because I’m not. But if they did, it would’ve been money well spent)
Just about the only reason anyone would have to come forward, would be if they paid for Cam’s services and he somehow ended up at another school. It’d basically be an off-shoot of what happened at USC. Of course if that person existed, it’s hard to imagine they wouldn’t have stepped up and spoken already. Right?
But with all that said, what I found most interesting about the NCAA’s findings wasn’t the idea that none of those 50 people interviewed spoke out against Cam and Cecil. After all, people lie all the time. Nope, what I found fascinating was that after auditing all that paperwork, the NCAA still wasn’t able to come up with anything. Cam and Cecil are as squeaky clean as Paul Finebaum’s bald head. Because of that fact alone, I think the case is officially closed.
Now I know the argument here would be, “Aaron, don’t be so naïve, someone paid him, it was just in cash.” And again, you may be right.
The problem is that if you don’t have someone like a Lloyd Lake ready to talk, you need a paper trail. And if one hasn’t been found after auditing all that paperwork, it never will be.
Think I’m wrong? Let’s just think back to every NCAA case of the past few years, and how easy it was to find some kind of wrongdoing, simply by following a paper trail.
At Ohio State, there were e-mails sitting in Jim Tressel’s inbox implicating him. With UConn’s basketball program there were phone records linking a former agent with a recruit. North Carolina’s football team had all kinds of credit card receipts pop up that implicated the program, players and agents. At Oregon, there are e-mails and hand-written notes from the staff to Willie Lyles (whether that is an NCAA violation or not remains to be seen). Staying with Lyles, there’s a receipt for a money order from an assistant coach at Tennessee.
The point being…THERE’s ALWAYS A PAPER TRAIL!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, except here anyway. The fact that the NCAA couldn’t even get Cam or Cecil for taking a free cheeseburger, means one of two things: This is either the best cover-up in NCAA history, or they’re clean. And regardless of which it is, credit to them.
So to all you SEC fans hoping for something different to come out today, I apologize. Cam is keeping his Heisman, and Auburn is keeping its BCS Championship trophy.
Case closed.
This court is adjourned.
Follow Aaron on Twitter @Aaron_Torres.
