Cam Newton: Why He's Drained Buzz Out of This College Football Season
Cam Newton is back in the news today.
The NCAA ruled that Newton is eligible to play the remainder of the season despite a violation that took place during his recruitment.
The NCAA said there was solicitation, but that Newton didn't know about it so he is eligible. He's been a story all year long, but mostly for scandal.
And that's a shame. Newton didn't ask for this and, if what the NCAA is saying is true, it's not his fault. He's a victim here.
However, this scandal has sucked a lot of the buzz out of the college football season. Here are 10 reasons why.
Any thoughts or comments? Make sure to leave them below.
No. 10: Runaway Heisman Winner
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I don't know about anyone else, but I like my Heisman Trophy races to be close and debate filled.
The only reason people questioned the Heisman voting at all is because of the scandal around Cam Newton. And the ghosts of Reggie Bush hanging over everything.
This scandal broke with story after story making it seem like Newton's eligibility might be in question.
Now that he's been declared eligible by the NCAA, that's out the window. They should ship the Heisman right to Auburn.
No. 9: Drama Overlooked
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This has been one of the crazier years in college football.
Really, that should be the storyline. Not Cam Newton.
Newton is a great story, but no one player should be the whole story.
Now that's not his fault. He didn't ask for it, but the media has swarmed around him.
All the while, we had No. 1 teams being knocked off and some amazing games.
This has been one of the more unpredictable years in some time. I wish more was talked about that than if Cam Newton's dad took money for his son's letter of intent.
No. 8: Overshadowing BCS Flaws
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Sure, Boise State went down in flames on Friday night.
While most of the BCS discussion centered around the Broncos, what about TCU?
The Horned Frogs went undefeated and most likely will not play for the national championship. If this happened to Boise State, there would be an outrage.
There's plenty of people out there who hate the BCS. But most of the talk is centered around Cam Newton.
Something has to be done about the BCS. This was the year to expose those flaws to the world until the Cam Newton saga unfolded.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
No. 7: Pay for Play?
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As people discussed if Cam Newton's father might have asked for money for his letter of intent, the topic of paying college athletes came up.
Now these players are taking money, whether we like it or not, and these schools are exploiting these kids on a weekly basis in every sport. But it's a sobering thing to be talking about in the middle of the season.
We should be celebrating the on-field accomplishments of these athletes, not talking about the bad apples that took money and if we should be paying kids to play.
Who wants a world where schools are bidding for athletes? It's been a topic before, but the Newton drama has made it even more of a hot-button issue.
No. 6: No Comment
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When a player turns out to be the breakout star of the college football season, normally you see him doing a ton of press as his buzz builds.
We haven't had that with Cam Newton for some time now. It's because of this scandal that broke.
The media kept chasing information that wasn't there in some cases In others, like the academic scandal at Florida, it meant nothing.
Auburn rightly shut down Newton from the media. It's helped suck all of the buzz out of the tail end of the season.
We may not hear from Newton until the Heisman ceremony at this rate.
No. 5: Journalists and Scandal
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There are plenty of great sports writers out there that cover college football.
However, a lot of them have looked foolish with this Cam Newton saga.
People tried to chase a story. They've done it using questionable and unnamed sources, and it's been shoddy reporting, at best.
This isn't like Woodward and Bernstein. It's good writers trying to beat each other to the punch and doing sloppy work.
These writers are better than that. Now some of their work will go unnoticed because of this scandal.
It's a shame. But they have no one to blame but themselves.
No. 4: Spurned Lovers
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You know, some people can't wait to get out of high school.
But in reality, you never leave it.
We saw that with Mississippi State and Florida as this Cam Newton thing mushroomed. It's clear that at some level, these two schools were helping drive the stories that came out about Newton in the press.
Florida lost Newton after he transferred, and he left the Bulldogs at the altar after saying he was going to Mississippi State.
To some extent, both schools looked petty and jealous of Auburn and Newton's success. Even if some wrongdoing did take place.
No. 3: Overshadowed Other Stories
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There were a lot of stories this year that seem to have taken a back seat to Cam Newton as ESPN and the rest of the media salivated over it.
What about Oregon? The Ducks had a ton of drama in the offseason with players getting in trouble and the quarterback leaving the school, only for Darron Thomas to step in and guide the Ducks into the national championship picture.
That's a great story, and there's plenty more out there. However, it seems like the media is just locked in on Cam Newton.
That's the problem with our 24/7 news cycle.
No. 2: NCAA's Investigation
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Today, Cam Newton was declared eligible by the NCAA.
While that's great news for Newton and all of the Auburn fans out there, it makes the NCAA look ridiculous.
Look, there's nothing wrong with ruling him eligible. The problem is that they declared that Cecil Newton did solicit money for his son and that there was a violation.
But somehow, since Newton didn't know about it, there is no eligibility issue.
That sets a dangerous precedent going forward, as families can get money from schools but say that the athlete didn't know, and somehow there are no sanctions or anything. It's a bizarre ruling that a lot of people will be talking about going forward.
Get ready. It's going to be another wild ride with the media.
No. 1: Scandal over Competition
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Under normal circumstances, we'd be talking about how Cam Newton has taken Auburn and turned them into national title contenders.
He's played marvelously on the field and is playing at a level that is rarely seen at the collegiate level. We could be set up for a matchup between Cam Newton and the Oregon offense in a thrilling national championship game.
There's been so much great college football this year. But all we can talk about is the dark underbelly of college athletics.
There's been so much attention taken away from what has been a great season for Newton and Auburn that the games have become interludes between talk of scandal.
That's not fair to Newton, to Auburn and its fans and the college football world.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
