Heard about this last fall but didn't say anything here...

looks like it's officially out there now. Sounds like very bad news for someone.


By Pat Forde, Chris Low and Mark Schlabach ESPN.com
During the height of star quarterback Cameron Newton's recruitment out of junior college last year, a man saying he represented Newton allegedly was soliciting a six-figure payment to secure his signature on a national letter-of-intent, ESPN.com has learned. Former Mississippi State quarterback John Bond told ESPN.com that 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. "He said it would take some cash to get Cam," Bond said. "I called our athletic director, Greg Byrne, and he took it from there. That was pretty much it." Multiple sources told ESPN.com that Mississippi State called the SEC office with Bond's information shortly after he brought it to the attention of the school.

Sources told ESPN.com that the former teammate is Kenny Rogers, who played at Mississippi State from 1982-85. Rogers operates a Chicago-based company called Elite Football Preparation, which holds camps in Chicago, Alabama and Mississippi. A Lexis search for that business lists Kenneth Rogers as the contact and his title as "agent." A Birmingham News story from 2008 said Elite Football Preparation "matches high school athletes with college programs."

Bond said the former teammate told him other schools had already offered $200,000, but that since Newton really liked Mississippi State and already had a relationship with head coach Dan Mullen dating to when both were at Florida, Mississippi State could get him for $180,000. "I have no agenda other than protecting Mississippi State," Bond said. "We've done what we were supposed to do from the very beginning. Mississippi State has done nothing wrong, and I've done nothing wrong. It's been handed off to the NCAA, and it's in their hands now. I don't know what happened at Auburn. I don't know why he went to Auburn. That's not my concern. My concern is Mississippi State and making sure this doesn't cause us any trouble." 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 Thursday at the family's home in Atlanta, Cecil Newton, Cameron's father, denied any wrongdoing.

"If Rogers tried to solicit money from Mississippi State, he did it on his own, without our knowledge," Cecil Newton said.

Cecil Newton said he first met Rogers two years ago, when Cameron Newton left Florida. He said he talked to Rogers on several occasions to find out more about Mississippi State, but never met Rogers until Cameron Newton's official visit to Starkville.

Cecil Newton said the family received a letter from the NCAA "about a month ago" asking for financial statements. He said he submitted bank statements and records for the church where he is pastor, Holy Zion Center of Deliverance in Newnan, Ga., along with other records.

The church has been in the news in Coweta County, Ga., often in the past year. According to stories in The Times-Herald newspaper Cecil Newton's church was in danger of being demolished by order of the Newnan City Council in 2009 for failing to meet the city's building code. One story said Cecil Newton told the council last September that the building would be brought to code "inside of six months." After numerous delays, extensions and compromises from the council, renovation work began last spring and The Times-Herald reported last week that the church now is in compliance with Newnan's building requirements.

"If you've ever seen our church, you'd know we don't have any money," said Cameron Newton's mother, Jackie. "We have nothing." Holy Zion Center of Deliverance is not the only church Cecil Newton is involved in overseeing. Cameron Newton told ESPN.com last month that his dad is a bishop to five churches in Georgia.

"I'm just trying to protect my son's interests, because he's fought very hard to get back where he is," Cecil Newton said. "It's a hell of a fight when people give up on you and think they'll never see you or hear from you again."

NCAA officials declined comment on the allegation involving Newton on Wednesday. "We do not comment on current, pending or potential investigations," said Stacey Osburn, the NCAA's associate director for media and public relations. Julie Roe Lach, the NCAA's new director of enforcement, said it is the association's policy to neither confirm nor deny an investigation.

SEC associate commissioner Greg Sankey, who oversees conference compliance, said the league received "specific information" regarding the Newton allegation in late July of this year.

"When we get information, we share it with the institution when it is involved," Sankey said.

Without specifically addressing the initial call from Mississippi State, which came several months earlier, Sankey said what the SEC originally was told about the allegation was "limited information."

"We don't deal in rumor and innuendo," Sankey said. "We deal in facts."

He said the SEC is not an investigative body, adding that it can share information with NCAA enforcement as needed. He declined to say whether the Newton allegation was shared with the NCAA.

Sankey also would not directly comment on whether the league office considers this an ongoing issue or a closed case.

"We're attentive to a variety of issues at any given time," he said. "We pay attention to a lot."

"We are comfortable that representatives of Mississippi State University's interests conducted themselves appropriately and in compliance with all NCAA by-laws," Mississippi State said in a statement to ESPN.com. "Mississippi State is committed to operating our athletics programs within the rules of the NCAA and Southeastern Conference, and we expect those affiliated with our program to continue to do the same."

Sources said Mississippi State refused to get involved with Rogers, whose association with Chicago-based agent Ian Greengross has come under scrutiny from the NFL Players Association and the NCAA.

NFLPA spokesman Carl Francis told ESPN.com on Thursday that the organization is "in the process of investigating [Greengross and Rogers] as we speak for violations of our rules and regulations."

A voice message left with Greengross by ESPN.com was not immediately returned. Attempts to reach Rogers, who also played for the Miami Dolphins during the 1987 strike, were unsuccessful. The voice mailbox at Elite Football Preparation was full Thursday.

At the time of Rogers' alleged solicitation, Mississippi State was perceived to have the inside track because of Newton's relationship with Mullen, who was the offensive coordinator at Florida when Newton was a backup to Tim Tebow. He later left Florida and went to Blinn College, a two-year school in Brenham, Texas.

After his official visit to Starkville, Newton took visits to Oklahoma on Dec. 11 and Auburn Dec. 18.

On Dec. 31, 2009, Newton publicly committed to Auburn, where this season he has led the Tigers to a 9-0 record and No. 2 ranking in the BCS standings. Along the way, Newton's dazzling running and passing have elevated him to Heisman Trophy favorite status.

"We have been made aware of the allegation. Unfortunately, we cannot comment at this time," Auburn assistant athletic director, media relations Kirk Sampson said. "However, Cam Newton is eligible to play football at Auburn." Multiple media reports this fall have said Cameron Newton preferred going to Mississippi State, but his father preferred Auburn. According to a story in Sports Illustrated last week, Cameron Newton left the final decision to his father, who declared to the family last Dec. 23 that his son would attend Auburn.

Pat Forde, Chris Low and Mark Schlabach are college football writers for ESPN.com.

Name a university that doesn't pay a player or two. This is happening everywhere unfortunately.

I'm not saying but hasn't this been a problem there before. Phil Fulmer has always claimed the reason you can't go after players from Alabama is they spend most of the money at Alabama and Auburn on football and buying football players. Alabama owned Memphis and has the receipts for the players they purchased, Auburn tried everything to buy Tim Couch his family said that he would receive cash weekly form Auburn Boosters wanting him to be a Tiger, so if they paid the NCAA will find out. Remember boys and girls the SEC is Big Boy Football if you don't pay you don't play.

If you could play for anybody in the nation, how much would they have to pay you to play for Mississippi State?

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Originally Posted by sup-rbeast

If you could play for anybody in the nation, how much would they have to pay you to play for Mississippi State?

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Apparently $500,000 to $600,000.

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Originally Posted by heneedsa

I'm not saying but hasn't this been a problem there before. Phil Fulmer has always claimed the reason you can't go after players from Alabama is they spend most of the money at Alabama and Auburn on football and buying football players. Alabama owned Memphis and has the receipts for the players they purchased, Auburn tried everything to buy Tim Couch his family said that he would receive cash weekly form Auburn Boosters wanting him to be a Tiger, so if they paid the NCAA will find out. Remember boys and girls the SEC is Big Boy Football if you don't pay you don't play.

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dont give me that ****, because thats exactly what it is, a big steaming pile of ****.

everyone around this situation has said Auburn did NOTHING WRONG AT ALL.
and why the hell would Alabama have to pay players now? You really think they have a hard time getting kids to come to a national-title contending school and play under one of, if not the best college coach in the nation?

and you talk like Phil Fulmer is this beacon of honesty and dignity. HA! thats hilarious.
if you dont think ole Fat Phil was out there doing whatever he could to take shots at Alabama and implicate them in any way possible, you are crazy. I have the documents to prove that Fatty Phil was working his ****dest to get Bama in trouble.

that might have happened in the late 90's and early 2000's, but Alabama and Auburn both have no need to do something on that large of a scale.

yeah, Alabama cheats, Auburn cheats, but you are extremely naive if you dont think UT, UF, LSU, etc.. cheat just as much

I never said UT or anyone else doesn't cheat, my nephew played high school football in Florence, Alabama. I have two brother-in-laws who live in Alabama, one is a high school game official who has witnessed many hundred dollar hand shakes from the righteous Auburn folks you have so defended. I know for a fact that Auburn paid several thousand dollars to Tim Couch just to try to get him to come there, Oh and by the way how many times has Tennessee's football team been on probation for anything, the world runs on the exchange of information I believe some true and some not true if Cam Newton did nothing it will be found out. But the name calling doesn't change the fact that the football recruiting in Alabama has been in the past "suspect at best".

There's a HUGE difference in "cheating" ($20 handshakes, rides on boats/fishing trips for Julio and Mark) and paying a kid $200,000. I'll say this now and "I told you so" can be said later, unless Auburn has covered their ass incredibly well, they're gonna get bent over on this one. They probably didn't give Kenny Rogers $200,000 (I don't think they dealt with Rogers) for Newton but a smaller amount (still several thousand) of money exchanged hands and is the reason Newton's dad's church that was supposed to be torn down got magically rebuilt.

every outlet I have seen has said Auburn did absolutely nothing wrong and Cam Newton's eligibilty has not been in doubt for one second. I have heard the church story, but supposedly Cecil Newton sent out an email in 2009 saying they could have the churches up to code in 6 months.

Like I said, theres no doubt Auburn cheats, theres no doubt Alabama cheats.
but tehres also no doubt Texas, USC (obv. haha), UT, etc... cheat.

and you mention UT has never had any problems, have you already forgotten Lane Kiffin? Hostess-gate? before that, Phil and the Tutors?

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Originally Posted by Biggin

every outlet I have seen has said Auburn did absolutely nothing wrong and Cam Newton's eligibilty has not been in doubt for one second. I have heard the church story, but supposedly Cecil Newton sent out an email in 2009 saying they could have the churches up to code in 6 months.

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He knew the check was coming. There's a lot more to this that is going to come out and it's not gonna be good.

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Originally Posted by Biggin

and you mention UT has never had any problems, have you already forgotten Lane Kiffin? Hostess-gate? before that, Phil and the Tutors?

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In his defense, he said probation. Hostess-gate is a secondary violation which equals nothing. If you're talking about Linda Bensel Meyers, UT was cleared of any wrongdoing there too. They've been on probation one time in the programs history and that was in the 80's for a phone card type scam they had going on.

I am not picking on Auburn or anyone else, I am not naive enough to think that the only people who break the rules live in state of Alabama, look at how many schools were affected by the agent scandal. It is a proven fact that Alabama and Auburn both did this is the past Alabama's punishment was almost the death penalty in football and seven other schools turned them in besides Tennessee, Phil just worked a little harder than the other seven proving his case. I hope that Auburn has learned it lesson from the past but remember the last time they were undefeated weren't they on probation.

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Originally Posted by heneedsa

seven other schools turned them in besides Tennessee, Phil just worked a little harder than the other seven proving his case.

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The funniest thing about that is the coach that's at Bama now is one of the 7. I've never understood bashing someone who's turning in a cheater either.

ut + Roy Kramer= 0 vols do no wrong,

Logan Young plus Alabama Football = we could afford anyone

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Originally Posted by heneedsa

I am not picking on Auburn or anyone else, I am not naive enough to think that the only people who break the rules live in state of Alabama, look at how many schools were affected by the agent scandal. It is a proven fact that Alabama and Auburn both did this is the past Alabama's punishment was almost the death penalty in football and seven other schools turned them in besides Tennessee, Phil just worked a little harder than the other seven proving his case. I hope that Auburn has learned it lesson from the past but remember the last time they were undefeated weren't they on probation.

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Eric Locke? You act as if UT has never been implicated in a booster-player or agent-player transaction.

how is that relevant to 2010?

and theres a HUGE difference between turning in a school and being the star witness in an NCAA investigation. we all know the lengths Phil went to get Alabama, its not right to play it off as he was just a coach who turned UA in.

and Lung, where did you get UT was cleared in the tutor scandal? They never got probation, but players didnt declare majors, a player was allowed to re-enroll the next semester after flunking out the previous semester, and the player who was on probation for 10 outta 13 semesters. The Bob Gilbert pieces combined with the other lady's accusations make it pretty **** unlikely that UT did nothing wrong.

listen, im not trying to say Alabama has ran the cleanest program ever, but its silly to throw rocks at Alabama now, a program trying to do things the right way, and act like UT has never been involved in any of the same situations Alabama has been busted for.

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Originally Posted by Biggin

and Lung, where did you get UT was cleared in the tutor scandal? They never got probation, but players didnt declare majors, a player was allowed to re-enroll the next semester after flunking out the previous semester, and the player who was on probation for 10 outta 13 semesters. The Bob Gilbert pieces combined with the other lady's accusations make it pretty **** unlikely that UT did nothing wrong.

listen, im not trying to say Alabama has ran the cleanest program ever, but its silly to throw rocks at Alabama now, a program trying to do things the right way, and act like UT has never been involved in any of the same situations Alabama has been busted for.

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If they'd been found doing anything wrong, they'd have been punished. It's not illegal for a player not to decare a major. As for Gilbert and LBM, nothing ever came from either of those two and both were basically laughed off by the NCAA. If I say I saw tutors taking test for Julio and my cousin who is a professor at UT saw a booster handing money to Mark before he got on his yaht after he drove up in is new Mercedes, it doesn't make it true.

You've always been pretty level headed but it's an epidemic with Alabama fans that every nonsensical rumor involving UT is true no matter what no matter if the NCAA sat on campus for years investigating stuff it was all covered up because.... well I don't know why the **** that would happen, but for some reason it did. I'm sure things are done wrong. I'm still scared as **** for the 11 months that Kiffen was there. Who knows when or if anything will come from that. As of now, they've been placed on an NCAA probation once in the programs history almost 30 years and it was a far shade lighter than what Bama's been put on probation for in their lightest probation times. You brought up Eric Locke, that was another secondary violation. The same secondary violation that has happened over 500 times since Stoops has been at Oklahoma, that happened over 50 times last year at UGA, you'd have thought last year that the around 18 that UT got while Kiffen was there were the most in history. Secondary's are common and they happen. Until there's some proof of some wrong doing at UT of any sort of major concern, they're clean. Whether they're clean or a hell of a lot better than Bama at hiding it, they're clean.

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Originally Posted by Biggin

and theres a HUGE difference between turning in a school and being the star witness in an NCAA investigation. we all know the lengths Phil went to get Alabama, its not right to play it off as he was just a coach who turned UA in.

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And I have to get some of this, I hope the hell he couldn't sleep at night because he was calling the NCAA. I still CAN NOT FOR THE LIFE OF ME understand why it makes him a bad guy for doing the right thing. If Dooley hears of Bama, UF, UGA, Auburn, anyone that they play doing something wrong and he doesn't do everything he can to bust their ass for it, I'll never forgive him. I can't believe you're talking **** for him for it. Another confusing thing about all Bama fans. "We were cheating but you're worse because you told on us.".

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Originally Posted by Ironlung

You've always been pretty level headed but it's an epidemic with Alabama fans that every nonsensical rumor involving UT is true no matter what no matter if the NCAA sat on campus for years investigating stuff it was all covered up because.... well I don't know why the **** that would happen, but for some reason it did. I'm sure things are done wrong. I'm still scared as **** for the 11 months that Kiffen was there. Who knows when or if anything will come from that. As of now, they've been placed on an NCAA probation once in the programs history almost 30 years and it was a far shade lighter than what Bama's been put on probation for in their lightest probation times. You brought up Eric Locke, that was another secondary violation. The same secondary violation that has happened over 500 times since Stoops has been at Oklahoma, that happened over 50 times last year at UGA, you'd have thought last year that the around 18 that UT got while Kiffen was there were the most in history. Secondary's are common and they happen. Until there's some proof of some wrong doing at UT of any sort of major concern, they're clean. Whether they're clean or a hell of a lot better than Bama at hiding it, they're clean.

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like UT fans do not do the same exact thing about anything Bama-related? Hell, look at that one guys posts! No matter how true it is, he assumed that Auburn was guilty of something, even tho all the info right now says thats false.
but its pretty funny you jump on me for trying to attack UT, but who brought up Alabama? A UT fan. If you dont think that road goes both ways, your blinders are on. UT fans do. the same thing; its not a strictly-Alabama thing.

i typed out a big long reply, but ill just say this:
Phil Fulmer starting talking to the NCAA investigators and had his first interview about Alabama in March or April of 2000.
Two weeks later, the NCAA investigation into UT academic fraud was closed, without even interviewing Kenny Smith, who said a UT tutor wrote almost all of a paper for him during the 1998 season.

So yeah, I have a hard time believing Fulmer sold Bama out just for cheating and nothing to do with his investigation.

one more point, and yall actually brought this up:
7 other coaches turned Alabama in for cheating, yet only one was used as a confidential informant and a star witness. It just happened to be the one with an ongoing NCAA inquiry into his program.

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Originally Posted by Biggin

but its pretty funny you jump on me for trying to attack UT, but who brought up Alabama? A UT fan.

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When did I do that? I thought we were just talking.

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Originally Posted by Biggin

i typed out a big long reply, but ill just say this:
Phil Fulmer starting talking to the NCAA investigators and had his first interview about Alabama in March or April of 2000.
Two weeks later, the NCAA investigation into UT academic fraud was closed, without even interviewing Kenny Smith, who said a UT tutor wrote almost all of a paper for him during the 1998 season.

So yeah, I have a hard time believing Fulmer sold Bama out just for cheating and nothing to do with his investigation.

one more point, and yall actually brought this up:
7 other coaches turned Alabama in for cheating, yet only one was used as a confidential informant and a star witness. It just happened to be the one with an ongoing NCAA inquiry into his program.

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The great old conspiracy. Everyone's out to get good old moraly sound Bama. Even the NCAA will let a program who's murdering hookers in the back room off the hook just to get Bama. :lol:

It's gonna be like 98 and we're gonna be fighting like cats and dogs again before this thread dies. :lol:

, i didnt mean jump on me like a flame, but jump on me like a teacher would a disruptive kid haha

everybdoy knows the SEC cheats, but our stupid asses could not keep Logan Young corralled, whereas UT keeps a pretty tight chain on Roy's fat ass haha

Roy's dead to UT. He has the plague to them. The stuff I've seen him say on Volquest over the last few years he's not the biggest UT fan anymore either. I saw something about a month or so ago with him saying he was pushing a kid to some other school. There's no love loss between the two.

that was my point, we had to kill Logan Young to get him to stay away, UT was able to get Kramer to stay away just by being mean to him haha

LSUFreek at it again, I love this stuff

http://cdn1.sbnation.com/imported_as...erfulheist.gif

some other breaking Cam news, it came out yesterday that he was supposedly caught cheating three times at Florida and faced possible expulsion.

Now they are just picking on Cam, come on just pass the plate and take up Brother Newton a love offering and let's have some more BBQ, and will let bygones be bygones. What is a couple hundred thousand between friends anyway. The money is tax-deductible.

This is going to get so much worse.....

[ame="http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5786315"]Sources: Cam and Cecil Newton talked of pay-to-play plan with recruiters - ESPN@@AMEPARAM@@http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=5786486@@AMEPARAM@@5786486[/ame]

Two sources who recruit for Mississippi State said that Cecil Newton and his son, quarterback Cam Newton, admitted in separate phone conversations to 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 that 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."

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.
"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.

Earlier 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.

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."

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."

Maybe there is nothing to this and he said what he said to be ridiculous. I was in sales for 14 years and sometimes I would do this(over price an account not wanting it to start with and if they agreed to ridiculous price then fine. You then got the account and got it over value which was really a double bonus). Maybe Newton didn't really want to go to MSU and did this. It would take more than a scholarship to get me to go to Mississippi St. (have you ever been to MSU) It has been down so long that they need a ladder to see first place.

Ex-judge says 2002 Cottrell suit little more than a ‘hoax’ | TideSports.com

I'm not gonna sit here and say anything did or didn't happen...but, it seems these recruiters stood to gain money for landing a recruit..in this case Cam Newton. BUT, the folks involved in this seem to be more closely connected with Mississippi State than anyone else. It could possibly be a case of sour grapes cuz Stoops and Kiffin have both went on record saying money wasn't mentioned when they recruited Cam. I know he's not the most stand up guy, but he's the most dynamic player in college football..and I think it runs all over MSU, its alumni, and its fans..and I really am inclined to believe those are the folks pushing this to the media. Kinda like a ex that can't have ya and then doesn't want anyone else to have ya either.

While its awfully hard to totally dismiss all the allegtions, I do believe MSU has an axe to grind. All of this has came from Starkville, everybody involved saying Cecil asked for money are Miss. State alums.

But its gonna be interesting to see how things play out. the SEC commish said they have not recommended to anything to Auburn about playing him or sitting him.

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Originally Posted by Biggin

everybody involved saying Cecil asked for money are Miss. State alums.

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...and Cecil. CBS announced during the UT game that Cecil has admitted to asking schools for money to be able to sign his son.

so this means Cam is not eligible?
the NCAA rules are that if a person solicits money on your behalf, regardless of if you take it you are ineligble, from what I understand.

i gotta leave and wont be online, but im curious to know the rules surrounding this.

Don't know. They were saying that Cecil didn't say whether or not that Cameron knew he was doing it. Of course from what MSU said he called them and told them he'd rather play there but the decision had been made and it was too much money to turn down.

Still, it's all coming out of Starkville..until something comes from somewhere else there isn't much credibility to it IMO. It's not like Auburn and Mississippi State were the only schools recruiting Cam..and it's awfully strange that MSU is the only school with allegations.

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Originally Posted by sup-rbeast

Still, it's all coming out of Starkville..until something comes from somewhere else there isn't much credibility to it IMO. It's not like Auburn and Mississippi State were the only schools recruiting Cam..and it's awfully strange that MSU is the only school with allegations.

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but the big issue with that is that "you don't throw stones in a glass house". If all these other schools come out and say they were told the same thing and didn't cut ties with the recruitment process right then and there, all they are going to do is bring more attention to their program. Do we really think there is a top program that is totaly on the up and up? I don't. I'm sure these schools are thinking "why stick our noses into this and bring unwanted attention on ourselves".

just my thinking anyway.

Of course it is coming out of starkville. I mean Auburn isn't going to be bringing this up? Where else would it come from? Mississippi St. coaches said that they where told he would come to Mississippi St for $180,000 even though Auburn offered $200,000. That is the story Joe Schad had.

There is only one way for this to go away. How did Cecil Newton get the Money to fix his church? If he didn't take money where did that money come from? Because to me that is the one thing that really makes the guy look guilty.... The money didn't come from Mississippi St. That is pretty clear. Someone either paid him or he got it from somewhere else. Cam went to Auburn and his church got fixed. So tell me how?

The how is by receiving money. That's not saying that Gene Chizik handed Cecil a check for $200k, a booster or someone else could have but someone did. Either way, Auburn is going to end up in a ****storm of trouble.

One other thing, now the FBI is involved and trying to figure out how Cecil got the money to fix his church too.

The FBI is investigating pay-for-play claims levied against Auburn quarterback Cam Newton, TMZ Sports reports.
Federal agents want to speak to John Bond, a former Mississippi State football player, after he claimed someone representing the Heisman hopeful contacted him in 2009 saying it would take $180,000 for Newton to sign with MSU.
An attorney for Bond confirms to TMZ Sports that the FBI has requested a meeting with his client.
This latest blow to Newton comes after an ESPN.com report claims that he and his father each had a separate phone conversation with an MSU recruiter about a pay-for-play arrangement.
According to the ESPN report, one of the recruiters said Cecil Newton told him before Cam Newton committed to Auburn that it would take "more than a scholarship" for his son to attend Mississippi State. An unidentified source told ESPN that another recruiter received a phone call from an emotional Cam Newton after he committed to the Tigers, when he said his father selected Auburn for him because "the money was too much."
ESPN, citing two other unidentified sources close to the football program, also reported Mississippi State compliance officials relayed the alleged conversations to Southeastern Conference compliance officials in January.
FoxSports.com reported Monday that Newton was caught cheating three times while he was at the University of Florida and was to appear for a hearing in front of Florida's Student Committee facing possible expulsion during the spring semester of 2009.
Tigers coach Gene Chizik dismissed the academic cheating 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. The second-ranked Tigers face rival Georgia on Saturday, and that's where Newton insists his focus lies.
Newton transferred from Florida to Blinn Junior College in Brenham, Texas, where he played last season. He declined to discuss the FoxSports.com report, which came on the heels of Bond saying someone claiming to represent the Newton family sought money during his recruitment by the school.
"I'm not going to entertain something that took place not three months, not six months, not a year but two years ago," 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."
Newton has denied doing anything wrong in his recruitment. A person familiar with the situation has told The Associated Press that the university has received no letter of inquiry from the NCAA and that an internal review of phone and e-mail records showed no contact with Kenny Rogers, whom ESPN.com cited as the man who approached Bond.
The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to publicly discuss the matter, said the university also found nothing improper in the personal and church bank records of Newton's father, an Atlanta pastor.
Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs also defended Newton from the latest accusation in a strongly worded statement. He reiterated that the quarterback is eligible.
"These allegations and rumors about Cam Newton are unfortunate and sad because they seem intent on tearing down the reputation of a young man who has done everything we've asked him to do," Jacobs said. "Cam has been and continues to be completely honest with us. Cam is, by all accounts, a great kid."
FoxSports.com reported that Newton turned in another student's paper with his name on it and handed in another paper that was later found to have been purchased off the Internet.
Jacobs said he couldn't talk about Newton's academic records because that would violate privacy laws.
"We will not go down that path or stoop to that level as others have apparently done," he said, adding "emphatically" that he remains eligible.
Newton was arrested at Florida in November 2008 for having a stolen laptop. The charges were dropped last December when he completed a pretrial intervention program for first-time offenders.

I wouldn't site TMZ sports as a very credible news source.... I have heard the FBI a few times but I honestly don't know why they would be involved. I had heard it maybe because his church was a non profit or something like that but I am not sure and I don't think TMZ is either. They seem to like to throw enough stuff against the wall that at least some will stick.

I personally think the whole thing kind of sucks... The kid is an absolutely awesome talent. His game fits the college game and I think him getting teamed up with Malzahn and that offense was the best move for him. So part of me says this is a witch hunt by Mississippi St. because he choose Auburn. Auburn would have been the best fit for the kid and I want to believe he made his choice based on that.

But if you sit back and look at what has been said , To me the one thing is how did the church get fixed? And no one has attempted to answer that and that makes him look guilty. And honestly if you are Cecil Newton that is the first thing I would be trying to explain if I didn't take money from someone connected to Auburn. But he hasn't.....

If he took Money from someone connected to Auburn I think Auburn is going to get hammered. Mississippi St reported this to the SEC/NCAA in Jan. before Newton even signed with Aurburn. You can't tell me the SEC hasn't contacted Auburn and they haven't looked into this. And it all goes back to one simple question. How did the church get fixed? If Cecil can't answer that Auburn fans better be prepared for some trouble IMO....