Well, more news is starting to come out on this story. Looks like the good "Bishop" Daddy Newton wasn't a saint when it came to following NCAA rules. There are videos to watch at both pf these links.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5786315
Two sources who recruit for
Mississippi State said that Cecil Newton and his son, quarterback
Cam Newton,
said in separate phone conversations that his college choice would be
part of a pay-for-play plan while Newton was being recruited late last
year.
Mississippi State compliance officials relayed the alleged conversations
to Southeastern Conference compliance officials in January, according
to two other sources close to the football program.
Prior to Newton's commitment to
Auburn,
one of the recruiters said Cecil Newton told him it would take "more
than a scholarship" to bring his son to Mississippi State, a request the
source said the school would not meet. Cecil Newton also referred the
recruiter to a third person who would provide more specifics, the source
said.<div ="mod-container mod-inline - mod-podcast right mod-no-er-footer">
<div ="mod-"><h4>Mike & Mike in the Morning</h4><div ="podcast-p">
</div>
ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit gives his take on the
Cam Newton situation at Auburn. Herbstreit says he's voting for Newton
for the Heisman unless there are hard facts proving the allegations.
</div></div>
After Newton committed to Auburn, another source said an emotional Cam
Newton phoned another recruiter to express regret that he wouldn't be
going to Mississippi State, stating that his father, Cecil, had chosen
Auburn for him because "the money was too much."
The NCAA is investigating allegations surrounding the Newtons in regards
to the recruiting process. Cam Newton, who is having a Heisman-caliber
season for No. 2 Auburn, declined comment.
Cecil Newton, who previously has denied any wrongdoing, did not respond to an e-mail request for comment Tuesday night.
However, when reached late Tuesday night by phone by FoxSports.com, Cecil Newton said he had no comment.
"I'm not going to confirm nor deny nothing that has been taking place," Cecil Newton said.
He also said he knew nothing about the report when asked if he'd seen it.<div ="mod-container mod-no-footer mod-inline - right mod-no-er-footer">
<div ="mod-">
<h4>SEC blog</h4>
ESPN.com's Chris Low writes about all things SEC in his conference
blog.
"¢<a href="http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation" target="_blank">Blog network:
College Football Nation</a>
</div>
</div>
"I've answered what I need to answer,"
Cecil Newton told FoxSports.com. "If they're out there, go with it and
make the decision or determination based on whatever you've got to say."
Cecil Newton also described all of the allegations about his son as "a witch hunt," according to FoxSports.com.
"They can continue doing whatever they're doing, sir," Cecil Newton told the website. "I'm just in support of my son."
Auburn
did not respond to a request for comment. The school has repeatedly
said it looked into Newton's recruitment and that he remains eligible.
Wednesday,
Auburn coach Gene Chizik said: "I want to get off the table up front
the fact that Cameron Newton will be playing Saturday against the
Georgia Bulldogs. I want to get that off the table. If there is anybody
that has any questions that relate to this game Saturday, I'd love to
entertain those questions only. Thank you."
After practice, Chizik remained silent on the subject.
"I
know you guys have a job to do and I respect that, but my job right now
is Georgia this weekend," Chizik told reporters. "I'll entertain
questions that have to do with that, because that's where my focus is."
Mississippi
State coach Dan Mullen said that he and his assistants are the only
people on the Bulldogs' staff registered with the NCAA as recruiters,
but he sidestepped other questions Wednesday about the latest allegation
against Newton.
Late Wednesday afternoon, Mississippi State
issued a statement clarifying when it contacted the SEC and when it
turned over information. The school admitted that it called the SEC in
January "regarding an issue relating to its recruitment of Cam Newton."
It said that the SEC asked for specific information, which the school didn't provide until July, however.
"Due
to MSU dealing with ongoing and time-consuming eligibility issues
involving non-football matters in the winter and spring of 2010, the
specific SEC request went unfulfilled," the Mississippi State statement
said. "Some additional information was provided to the SEC during July
of 2010.
"Once the NCAA enforcement staff became involved,
Mississippi State University cooperated fully with its investigation.
MSU is confident the SEC office has managed this process consistent with
its established procedures and the university is committed to the
conference's ongoing efforts to ensure compliance with SEC and NCAA
rules."
On Tuesday, Auburn found itself defending Newton in the wake of
allegations of academic cheating when he was at Florida. The Tigers'
coach, Gene Chizik, dismissed a FoxSports.com report as "pure garbage"
in an emotional 4-minute, 25-second rant.
"I'm standing up here on a very important week trying to defend something that's garbage," Chizik said. Auburn faces
Georgia on Saturday.
Meanwhile,
Georgia coach Mark Richt said Newton's situation could become a
distraction for his own team if the Bulldogs started worrying about
whether Newton will, or won't, play.
"We really haven't tried to
keep up with that at all," Richt said Wednesday. "I think it could be a
distraction to us, so we're keeping our blinders on and studying the
film and getting a plan and making sure that we're prepared for him
being the quarterback. It could be a distraction for us also if we're an
'is he in, is he out' kind of thing. We're planning on him being in and
we're preparing that way."
FoxSports.com reported Monday that Newton was caught cheating three
times and was to appear for a hearing in front of Florida's Student
Committee facing possible expulsion during the spring semester of 2009.
A
person with knowledge of Newton's situation confirmed Newton left
Florida after the fall 2008 semester rather than face suspension or
expulsion, in part due to the allegations of academic wrongdoing, The
New York Times reported on Wednesday.
Newton's father said he
could not confirm or deny the report, citing a gag order from his
attorney, The Times reported. "I don't know what's in his personal file,
but if someone is bold enough to post something like that, there will
be consequences," he said.
Newton transferred to Blinn Junior
College in Brenham, Texas, where he played last season. He declined to
discuss the latest report, which came on the heels of former Mississippi
State quarterback John Bond telling ESPN.com that someone claiming to
represent the Newton family sought money during his recruitment by the
school.
Sources told ESPN.com the man who said he was representing the Newtons
was Kenny Rogers, who played in the 1980s for Mississippi State
alongside Bond.
"I'm not going to entertain something that took place not three months,
not six months, not a year but two years ago," Cam Newton said. "I'm not
going to sit up here and say anything about it, whether I did or did
not do it, because I don't want to beat a dead horse talking about it.
It's not going to affect me any way, shape or fashion."
On Wednesday,
Cleveland Browns rookie cornerback
Joe Haden, Newton's roommate at Florida, said Newton isn't worried about the allegations being leveled against him.
Haden,
who lived with Newton for 1½ years and considers his former roommate
his best friend, said he spoke with Newton on the phone for an hour on
Tuesday night.
Haden said Newton "is not letting this stuff get
to him too much. He said, 'Joe, I got a plan and everything is going to
work out for the best.'"
Haden believes Newton is being targeted only because he's playing so well this season.
In Gainesville,
Florida
coach Urban Meyer said in a statement that neither he nor anyone on his
staff leaked information on Newton's academic record, calling it a
"ridiculous claim."
"For anyone to think that I or anyone
on our staff may have leaked information about private student records
to the media doesn't know us very well," Meyer said. "It's a ridiculous
claim and simply not true."
Cam Newton said Meyer was a man of integrity.
"I would hope he wouldn't say anything like that," he said.
Meanwhile,
Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops, who also recruited Newton out of Blinn, said he saw "nothing at all" out of the ordinary during that process.
"Our
recruitment of Cameron could not have been better, or was just fine,"
Stoops said. "I didn't notice anything and none of our coaches did as we
were recruiting him."
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5792707
Kenny Rogers, the former
Mississippi State player who ESPN.com reported allegedly sought money to sign
Cam Newton to a national letter of intent with the Bulldogs, said Thursday that Newton's father, Cecil, put a price tag on his son.
Rogers,
in an interview with ESPN 103.3 in Dallas, was asked if Cecil Newton
ever told him how much money it would take to get his son to play for
Mississippi State. "Yes, he did," Rogers said.
Asked how much, Rogers said: "Anywhere between $100,000 and $180,000."
Later in the interview, Rogers said he and Cecil Newton first talked after Cam Newton left
Florida Gators
following the 2008 season. In the course of their conversations, he
said Cecil Newton told him, "It's not gonna be free this time."
Rogers said he only was involved with Cecil Newton in regards to Mississippi State.<div ="mod-container mod-inline - mod-podcast right mod-no-er-footer">
<div ="mod-"><h4>Kenny Rogers: 11/11</h4><div ="podcast-p">
</div>
Kenny Rogers tells ESPN 103.3 FM's Ian Fitzsimmons that Cam Newton's
father asked for between $100,000 and $180,000 from Mississippi State to
have Newton play there.
More Podcasts »</div></div>
Rogers said on Nov. 28, 2009, he and Cecil Newton
followed each other out of Starkville, Miss., after the Ole
Miss-Mississippi State game. He said Newton asked him: "What do you
think is going to happen? You think it's going to go through?"
He said he was referred to a Mississippi State booster named Bill Bell.
Rogers said he left Bell a message telling him he was with Cecil Newton,
who wanted to know if the deal was going to happen.
Bell has not commented publicly on the allegation.
Rogers
said he didn't know if Cam Newton knew about the request for money. He
said he did not meet Cam Newton until Nov. 27, 2009.
Rogers said
he didn't know anything about Newton's recruitment at Auburn or any
other school. He said he had "no idea" why Newton chose Auburn or if
Auburn paid Newton.
Rogers spoke with his attorney on the phone.
The attorney, Doug Zeit, said there was never any discussion about
Rogers getting paid out of the money Cecil Newton was asking.
Mississippi State officials declined comment on Rogers' interview Thursday.
A
person who answered the telephone at Cecil Newton's home in Atlanta
said he wasn't there. The person said he didn't know where Cecil Newton
was.
Auburn declined comment through spokesman Kirk Sampson.
In an
e-mail to ESPN.com, an NCAA spokeswoman said: "The solicitation of cash
or benefits by a prospective student-athlete or another individual on
his or her behalf is not allowed under NCAA rules."
Rogers worked for Chicago-based agent Ian Greengross. The NFL Players
Association said last week said it had filed a disciplinary complaint
against Greengross for "violating numerous provisions of the NFLPA's
agent regulations while recruiting and representing players." It also
target the actions of Rogers.
In another e-mail, a spokesman said: "Generally speaking, if a third
party is marketing a student-athlete, there could be potential agent
violations. Under NCAA rules, it doesn't matter what you call yourself
or how you are compensated, the actions are what triggers agent
violation rules."
The NCAA spokeswoman said: "The decision to rule a student-athlete
ineligible is made by the university, not the NCAA. We do not suspend
student-athletes. It is a school action. The university can then seek
reinstatement on behalf of the student-athlete and reinstatement
decisions are made by the NCAA."
John Bond, the former Mississippi State quarterback and teammate of
Rogers who told ESPN.com last week that a man seeking money to sign Cam
Newton had approached him, told ESPN.com on Thursday: "My story hasn't
changed. I absolutely talked with Kenny Rogers, and there are phone
records that will show that."
Bond said he's scheduled to meet with the FBI on Tuesday and plans to
turn over his phone records and anything else they ask for at that
point. He said the FBI reached out to his attorney earlier this week
wanting to talk with him about the Newton situation, in particular if
kids were being shopped out to colleges. That meeting was originally
scheduled for Wednesday, but was postponed by the FBI until next
Tuesday.
"Until I speak with the FBI, I'd prefer not to say much more," Bond said.
Last Friday, in an interview with ESPN 103.3 FM in Dallas, Rogers denied having solicited Newton to Mississippi State.
Earlier
this week, ESPN reported two sources who recruit for Mississippi State
said Cecil and Cam Newton, in separate phone conversations, told them
that Cam Newton's college choice would be part of a pay-for-play plan.
Prior
to Newton's commitment to Auburn, one of the recruiters said Cecil
Newton told him it would take "more than a scholarship" to bring his son
to Mississippi State, a request the source said the school would not
meet. Cecil Newton also referred the recruiter to a third person who
would provide more specifics, the source said.
After Newton
committed to Auburn, another source said an emotional Cam Newton phoned
another recruiter to express regret that he wouldn't be going to
Mississippi State, stating that his father, Cecil, had chosen Auburn for
him because "the money was too much."
Mississippi State
compliance officials relayed the alleged conversations to Southeastern
Conference compliance officials in January, according to two other
sources close to the football program. The school said because it didn't
get the information requested to the SEC until July 2010 because of
"time-consuming eligibility issues involving non-football matters in the
winter and spring of 2010."
The NCAA is investigating allegations
surrounding the Newtons in regards to the recruiting process. Cam
Newton, who is having a Heisman-caliber season for No. 2 Auburn,
declined comment earlier this week.
A week ago, ESPN.com reported a
man who said he represented Newton allegedly was soliciting a
six-figure payment to secure his signature on a national letter of
intent. Bond told ESPN.com a teammate of Bond's at Mississippi State in
the early 1980s contacted him soon after Newton's official visit to
Mississippi State during the Ole Miss game in December, and said he was
representing Newton. That man was identified by other sources as Rogers,
who played at Mississippi State from 1982 to '85.
Bond said an NCAA investigator came to Mississippi to meet with him in
early September as well as with Mississippi State officials.
When interviewed by ESPN.com last Thursday at the family's home in Atlanta, Cecil Newton denied any wrongdoing.
Rogers
has a company called Elite Football Preparation, which holds camps in
Alabama, Chicago and Mississippi, and matches football prospects with
colleges.
