Cecil Newton

Cam Newton Will Inevitably Return the Heisman Trophy

Auburn University quarterback Cameron Newton has had unquestionably one of the most phenomenal seasons in college football history. Without a doubt, Cam Newton has been the best player on the field this year. Unfortunately, the Heisman Trophy is about more than just being the best player on the field. You also have to demonstrate integrity off the field. Cam simply has not evinced integrity off the field. The NCAA has stated that Cecil Newton, Cam’s father, was found guilty of seeking out money in exchange for Cam’s signing with the team willing to offer the most money. He wanted this money to go into his pocket—not for his son’s education. Cam has repeatedly denied knowing that his father was seeking money in exchange for his attendance at the institution willing to give the most money. Please! He has repeatedly expressed how close he is with his father. Cam said that he was not disappointed with what his father did. What? Are you kidding me? The Heisman Trophy Trust still gave Cameron Newton the Heisman Trophy.

The Heisman Trophy Trust should have given the Heisman Trophy to another student-athlete who would have represented it with decency and integrity. Because of the evidence against Cam and more evidence potentially coming forth, the Heisman Trophy Trust should have learned from the Reggie Bush example that Cam should not be awarded the trophy. With all of the attention on Cam, the evidence that links him to knowledge about his father seeking money from schools on his behalf will come forth and other evidence too. Cam will be declared ineligible!

As a serious supporter of Black male college student-athletes, I would have loved to cherish the moment of him winning the Heisman Trophy, but I am not able to do this. The NCAA should have declared Cam ineligible to play and forfeited all of Auburn’s games this season. I have a history of supporting Black male college student-athletes, and have devoted my life to ameliorating the educational experiences and outcomes of Black male student-athletes. I cannot support Cam’s dishonesty and his off the field actions that dishonor the prestige and integrity of the Heisman Trophy. While people, including my mother, love Cam’s disarming smile and his consistent references to God, I can only wish that his smile and references to God would have been thought of when he was off the field engaging in all kinds of illegal actions.

Cecil Newton, you should be ashamed of yourself! You are supposed to be a man of God. You were not an example for your son.

The Heisman Trophy Trust needs to reform its eligibility rules for a student-athlete to be considered for the Heisman Trophy. The Heisman Trophy Trust cannot simply depend on rulings from the NCAA. With Cam Newton receiving the Heisman trophy on yesterday, the honor and prestige that the trophy symbolizes has been significantly diminished. Cam get ready to return the Heisman Trophy in the days to come!

Antonio Maurice Daniels

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Cameron Newton is a Fraud

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) should have declared Cameron Newton ineligible to participate in NCAA intercollegiate athletics until a full investigation into various allegations about Cameron Newton could have been conducted. Although Cameron Newton has played phenomenally this season, this should not give him any special privileges. The NCAA has found that Cecil Newton, Cameron Newton’s father, did seek money in exchange for his son’s signing with certain schools, but the NCAA contends that Cameron Newton did not know anything about it and neither did Auburn. Yeah right! Cam Newton claims that he did not know that his father was seeking money in exchange for his signing. Yeah right! If the NCAA does not immediately declare Cameron Newton ineligible and take away all of Auburn’s wins this season, then the NCAA will prove without a shadow of doubt that it is a corrupt cartel.

Now, if I would have interviewed Cameron Newton after he won the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Championship against the South Carolina Gamecocks, the interview would have went tremendously different. Trust me—I would not have allowed his use of a hackneyed biblical scripture to prevent me from asking him probing questions. My first question would have been where’s your daddy? My second question would have been did you commit academic fraud on three papers while a student at the University of Florida? If he answers no to that question, I would then ask him why are credible people associated with the University of Florida who oversee disciplinary issues involving students saying that you did? Next, I would ask him do you really expect for the American people to believe that you did not know that your father was seeking money in exchange for you playing at a certain school? I would finally ask him why is it that you always find yourself surrounded in controversies involving illegal and criminal activities? I would end by telling him that the scripture that he used only refers to those who are saved—he cannot be saved with all of those lies he continues to tell. Repent Cameron Newton! The interview he gave after the SEC Championship game would have certainly went very differently if I was the interviewer—that’s for sure. I’m too intelligent, too skilled of a questioner, and too unsettling of a person to allow him to evade those aforementioned questions that most people want real answers to. I would have asked probing follow-ups to those questions. It would have been a post-game interview to remember!

The NCAA has simply been unfair in how it has treated Cameron Newton in comparison with how wrong they treated A.J. Green of the Georgia Bulldogs. Did A.J. Green and/or Georgia not have enough money to please the NCAA? We need to replace the NCAA with a serious governing body that will be a fair agency to oversee intercollegiate athletics. At the end of the day, Auburn is a fraudulent university and Cameron Newton is a fraudulent student, student-athlete, and person. Oh yeah, Cecil Newton is a fraudulent person and pastor.

Antonio Maurice Daniels

University of Wisconsin-Madison