Auburn Football: Cam Newton and Tigers Cleared of Major Violations by NCAA

Auburn Football has operated with a hitch in their step for the past year. Now they can flaunt their success with the gait of a justified program. 

ESPN reports NCAA investigators have seen quite enough of the Auburn program, and they have vindicated them of any major violation. The news also paints Cam Newton in a new light. 

The former Auburn standout was nothing short of excellent in his tenure at Auburn. However, there was always the thought that the Tigers and Newton had muddied hands from behind the scenes dealings. 

As far as his stint at Auburn is concerned, there was nothing illegal or major for NCAA investigators to reports. And they are an organization that finds the dirt if any is to be found. 

Auburn head coach Gene Chizik was understandably proud of his team and the rare NCAA spotlight they are enjoying at the moment. Investigations usually drum up violations that demand probations and sanctions. For once, we can congratulate a team on playing clean. 

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As I've said many times, I feel very confident about the way we run this program. I've said many times that we haven't done anything wrong, so quite frankly I moved on a long time ago.

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In a statement cited by the report, the NCAA describes how arduous such an investigation can be: 

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The NCAA enforcement staff is committed to a fair and thorough investigative process. As such, any allegations of major rules violations must meet a burden of proof, which is a higher standard than rampant public speculation online and in the media. 

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Investigators apparently conducted more than 50 interviews and examined documents including bank records, tax filings and phone and email records. 

By the end, they could find no cause to believe Newton ever received pay to play at Auburn. A program that celebrated with the pall of possible wrongdoing in the background is vindicated at last. 

It has become so commonplace to find major programs doing the wrong thing that it's actually refreshing to see that a title was earned as cleanly as any before it. 

Auburn has a rare gift handed to them by the NCAA. They have an unlikely certificate of sorts they can flaunt in front of the nation. It reads, we told you we were clean.

There are not a lot of top-tier programs that can say the same right now.