Cam Newton: 10 Moves the Heisman Trophy Winner Can Make to Repair His Image
Cam Newton became a lightning rod for debate, controversy and hand-wringing during his monstrous season as the starting quarterback for an Auburn Tigers team competing for a national championship. His statistics and performances speak for themselves in what has been an undefeated season in the rough-and-tumble SEC.
Instead of heaping praise on Newton and marveling at his natural abilities both throwing and running with the football, all the attention has instead shifted to questions of his legitimacy as an "amateur athlete" as laid out within the rules of the NCAA.
Newton's father, Cecil, was accused of engaging in a play-for-pay scheme by offering his son's commitment to Mississippi State University for a six-figure sum, which unfortunately has destroyed his son's image. Cam Newton is now seen as a pariah, a player seen as going to inevitably be stripped of all his accomplishments at Auburn after the NCAA investigates him and his father further.
Fair or not, this is the reality of how the NCAA operates in the face of athletes being barred from receiving anything in terms of money or gifts while playing college ball. And fair or not, Newton's image has taken a hit, making tons of fans joke about how his Heisman Trophy is only on loan and will be heading over to Andrew Luck in five years or so.
So what can Cam and company do to repair his image in the face of all this controversy? We'll try to go through 10 ways for Newton to make people stop focusing on his off-the-field narratives and talk only about his play on the gridiron.
10. Openly Rally Behind His Father
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Newton's dad, Cecil, is the one at the true center of the recent controversy, as he's the one portrayed as lobbying for payment from whichever school Newton committed to play at after his stint at a junior college. This investigation regarding the controversy has focused on Cecil's role, and has not been directly connected to Cam at all, hence the reason he regained eligibility so quickly after he was bizarrely declared ineligible for exactly one day.
Since it's all swirling around Cecil, he chose to not attend the Heisman Trophy ceremony in New York, which was clearly going to be a coronation for his son. Newton expressed disappointment, but took a very tepid approach to discussing his dad's choice.
To me, Cam should come out and openly support his dad and claim innocence until Cecil is proven to be guilty of definitely soliciting money for his son's services. It would show his dedication to his dad and, while it may be risky, it would be a solid move of character to support his dad through thick or, in this case, thin.
9. Assure Auburn's Fans His Choice Wasn't About Money
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Auburn hasn't been this good in quite some time, and you would figure their fans would be ecstatic to have run the table in the SEC and be heading to the BCS National Championship Game in Glendale, AZ in January. Yet a sense of mixed emotions has emerged given all the questions about why Newton ultimately decided to attend Auburn and lead them to the promised land.
Auburn fans seem to feel as though he's a mercenary who may have chased the booster money thrown around by Auburn. So it would behoove Newton to come out and pledge that he chose Auburn for the purest reasons: the chance to win and the chance to be a part of a great football program on the rise in the SEC.
This may get through to fans on the fence at Auburn about whether to truly embrace Newton and could go a long way to making him more likable.
8. Finish the Job in Glendale
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American sports fans are first and foremost interested in championships, and athletes are always given more respect and adulation when they win championships. The SEC championship is a big one in college football given how strong the conference has become, but the national championship gets far more headlines and national attention.
It's a great way for Newton to win over haters and doubters, because on-field accomplishments can transcend controversy like nothing else.
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7. Answer All the Questions
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Newton didn't talk much in the press once all the rumors and allegations started swirling, which was no doubt by design and in order to keep him insulated and able to focus on football. But as the season starts to wind down and he's only got potentially one college game remaining, I think he should be completely open and accessible to the press looking to get some insight on his mindset and situation.
He doesn't have to answer directly to allegations, but simply fielding questions and engaging in conversation about all that's gone on in recent months will do wonders for the perception of his accountability and definitely repair his image in the eyes of the both avid and casual college football fan.
6. Don't Leave Auburn Hanging, Just Go Pro
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It's always a melodrama when a player has a great college season, all expectations are that he's going to turn pro and take a shot at being drafted into the NFL, but then he stretches it out and declares that he's not sure and he has to think about it, and so on and so forth.
While it may look like spurning Auburn by being one-and-done on their campus, it would more likely than not help them in terms of planning for next season if Newton declared his intentions almost immediately after the completion of the Tigers' final game in January.
Then the fans and his teammates would know exactly where things stand heading into the future and won't be left twisting in the wind regarding who will be their quarterback.
5. Keep the Heisman Trophy No Matter What
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It was a farce over the summer when Reggie Bush was asked to give back his Heisman Trophy after all the USC/NCAA investigations were complete and his amateur status was revoked. It would be a farce if, at some future date, the same fate befalls Newton, and I think he should totally avoid it no matter what the Heisman Trust or the NCAA try to say.
Regardless of how he got there, the Heisman Trophy is given for on-field performance, and Newton was far and away the best college football player this year. Scrubbing the history books is comical, and extremely silly, since Newton wasn't barred from playing at the time.
It would be a nice preemptive strike for Newton to throw a casual mention about how it's his trophy for life no matter what, because that's how it should be.
4. If Necessary, Come As Clean As Possible
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It's a given that the NCAA will keep digging into what went down with the Newton family and their decision to have Cam ultimately go to Auburn. He has maintained his innocence and obviously will do so, but as new allegations come out or if the NCAA takes action on anything they may find, Newton just needs to be about as honest as he possibly can be regarding what he knew and what he ultimately did.
Whether it's admitting guilt, just admitting to specifics of the story that might come out, or really anything that needs to be clarified, it would do Newton well to come out and just clearly explain everything. By that point he'll presumably be in the NFL and somewhat removed from college, so speaking the truth will do a lot for his legacy.
3. Forget the Legacy
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So much talk surrounds players' "legacies," what they're remembered for after their playing days are over. A lot of the Newton legacy discussion has been about the controversy that's hounded him this year. To that, I say Newton should totally dispute any legacy talk and how it's affected by his controversy.
Make it solely about his play on the field, which has been nothing short of spectacular during his time at Auburn. That's the only legacy that should matter, and that's what Newton should stress, the fact that regardless of all the talk circling him while on campus, he got the job done for the Tigers week in and week out.
All the rest is noise.
2. Don't Back Down From the NCAA
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The NCAA exploits college athletes, making tons of money for schools and coaches but giving their student athletes nothing but an education and maybe a showcase for the select few who are lucky enough to crack the NFL.
They will no doubt battle after Newton is done with Auburn to try and prove that he violated the amateur status. For Newton, his reputation would be served well by maintaining his innocence and facing down the NCAA with whatever they may try to throw at him in terms of allegations and attempts to strip his honor from his Auburn days.
1.Thrive in the NFL
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The best way for Newton to erase any lingering taint that may follow his time at Auburn is to go pro and carve out a successful career as a quarterback at the highest level. Success in the pros would again be a way for sports fans to be almost forced into forgetting about all the questions that hounded Auburn and Newton.
Success at the pro level would validate the unquestionable skill of Newton, which is frequently being doubted by those that look to tear him down for his college controversy. The haters would become much quieter if Newton became a successful and confident NFL quarterback.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
