This story hit after we shut it down for the night last night, but we’ll go ahead and address it now because, well, because it’s all Cam, all the time right now dammit.
On the same day Mississippi State acknowledged in a statement that the school “was approached with an offer to provide an extra benefit... [d]uring the recruitment of a football prospective student-athlete” -- becoming the fourth person/entity to go on the record confirming a pay-per-play plan was in place -- a television station in Atlanta reports that Cam Newton‘s father admitted to an unnamed source he had sought money in exchange for his son’s talents.A source close to the situation exclusively told Channel 2 Action News investigative reporter Mark Winne that the player’s father, Cecil Newton, has admitted having conversations with an ex-Mississippi State University player about the possibility of under-the-table money if Cam Newton signed to play football at Mississippi State, though he’s steadfastly maintained that no money ever changed hands and said no official at Mississippi State ever made such an offer.
According to Winne’s source, Cecil Newton said his son’s hands are clean, and has made it clear that Cam Newton himself and his mother knew nothing about the money discussions, nor did Auburn University, with whom the Westlake High School grad from College Park eventually signed with out of junior college.
WSB-TV in Atlanta described the source for their report as “someone close to the situation”, and the source acknowledged sympathies on the Newton side of things.
Given the stories that have come out in recent days, the intent behind this new “development” is clear: ensure that Cam Newton‘s hands are clean and place every last morsel of blame at the feet of Cecil Newton, with the hope being that this will be the mitigating factor -- Cam Newton knowing nothing -- that will keep the Auburn quarterback eligible. The mere solicitation by Newton’s father could be a violation of NCAA bylaws; if Cam Newton was unaware of what his father was doing, that may be enough to keep Auburn from being forced to sit down the Heisman front-runner until the NCAA rules on his eligibility.
To be quite honest, this account from the “source” is a brilliant stroke of genius, whether it’s true or not. Just brilliant. This story has very likely blunted the impact made by Kenny Rogers’ interview, Mississippi State’s statement and the myriad other rumors that have exploded over the past couple of days, all with one click of the “publish” button.
Again, brilliant. In fact, given that it appears the father did indeed attempt to profit off his son’s on-field ability, it’s likely the brightest off-field thing anyone connected to the Newton camp has done in the past 12 months or so.