If Cam Newton had nothing to do with his father shopping him around as if he were an item on eBay, then he shouldn’t be punished. That’s only fair. But what exactly is the NCAA saying when it deems Newton eligible and slaps his father on the wrist despite coming to a conclusion that rules had been broken?
In case you haven’t heard, Auburn will have its starting quarterback this Saturday for the SEC title game. And when/if the Tigers beat South Carolina, they’ll have him for the national championship as well.
This was all made possible by the NCAA, which ruled that a violation of Newton’s amateur status had occurred but he had nothing to do with it. He is now cleared to play and more than likely, he’ll win the Heisman because of the NCAA’s “findings.”
Newton’s father, Cecil, got the worst of it from the NCAA. He now only has “limited” access to Auburn’s football program during his son’s stay there. That’s right: he shops his son’s athletic skills to the highest bidder and then is told to lay low when he’s caught. When Reggie Bush and his family got caught accepting free housing, suits and cars, the USC program was dealt a two-year bowl ban and the loss of scholarships. When Dez Bryant had dinner with Deion Sanders (and subsequently lied to the NCAA about it), he was deemed ineligible for the rest of the 2009 season.
But Newton’s father tries to cash in on his son’s athletic talents and the only thing that happens to him is that someone will have to let him in the side door when he goes to the Georgia Dome this Saturday.
Again, I don’t think Cam should be punished if Cecil committed the wrongdoing. But what happens the next time a situation like this occurs? What’s stopping another father from shopping his son to two schools? After all, if he gets caught, he just has to make sure that his son had nothing to do with it and he’ll essentially get off without punishment.
The NCAA botched this one. If it wants to play tough with programs like USC and players like Bush and Bryant, then it should have played tough with the Newton’s, too. If Cam were made ineligible for the SEC title game and Auburn were to have been stripped of all its wins this year, then maybe the next father who tried to cash in would think twice about his actions. Maybe he would consider how Newton lost his chance to play for a national championship and win a Heisman and not taken the risk.
Instead, the NCAA just created a huge loophole for the next father with a gifted son.
