WHAT...THE...FUCK... Cash sought for Cam Newton

[AWK]

Cash sought for Cam Newton

Fuck

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.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5765214

Fuck My Face...

ALSO...

http://twitter.com/Dan_Rubenstein

http://twitter.com/PeteThamelNYT

God Dammit...

[JR4AU]

Just heard this shit on F'bomb.  Timing huh?  This supposedly happened when?  Before he committed to Auburn obviously, and just not coming out?  What the fuck ever.  Fucking bammers are behind this shit.  Expect to hear it daily between now and the Iron Bowl.  Gotta create a distraction.

[AWK]

Good News...I guess...

@slmandel: Auburn has confirmed that Newton IS eligible to play.

[wesfau2]

Just heard this shit on F'bomb.  Timing huh?  This supposedly happened when?  Before he committed to Auburn obviously, and just not coming out?  What the fuck ever.  Fucking bammers are behind this shit.  Expect to hear it daily between now and the Iron Bowl.  Gotta create a distraction.

BINGO.

NYT?  Puh-fuckin-leeze.

[Ogre]

Just heard this shit on F'bomb.  Timing huh?  This supposedly happened when?  Before he committed to Auburn obviously, and just not coming out?  What the fuck ever.  Fucking bammers are behind this shit.  Expect to hear it daily between now and the Iron Bowl.  Gotta create a distraction.

It's like you're in my head.

Until Auburn or the NCAA rules Cam ineligible to play, I'm taking this shit with a grain of salt.  Now if he is ruled ineligible, then I'll break some shit.

[The Prowler]

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.

So....MSU & OM played in Dec?

[AWK]

So....MSU & OM played in Dec?

Reading Comprehension...He contacted him after the game in December.

[Jumbo]

 

[Ogre]

According to one of the posters that's 'in the know' on Scout:

The answer.
Auburn has known about these allegations since JULY.

We've had Newton's financials and his family's financials since SEPTEMBER.

If there was a ghost of a chance this was true, would we have played the kid?

If this is true, it makes sense. 

[Pell City Tiger]

John Bond was the guy that damn near got MSU's program shut down back in the 80's. The guy has the credibility of a 2 bit whore.

This has bammer mafia written all over it! They are skeert! I hope Gus hangs 70 on them.

[jmar]

According to one of the posters that's 'in the know' on Scout:

If this is true, it makes sense.

So this is somehow connected to Auburn's inability to defend against the pass. I knew there was more to this than meets the eye.

[Ogre]

According to Jason Caldwell at Scout, Auburn has known about this investigation for a while and has turned over their records, in addition to the financial records that were turned over by Cecil Newton.

All of this, and Cam is still eligible to play.  Even practiced today.

I'm with PCT, this has Bammer written all over it.  I say we form a lynch mob and head over to Token's house.

WHO'S COMING WITH ME?!?!?

[Ranger12]

According to one of the posters that's 'in the know' on Scout:

If this is true, it makes sense.

That was what I thought when I first read about this. Why would we have been playing him this whole time if there might be any question of his eligibility? He would have never take a snap during a game if there was anything solid that would tie the Newtons in with putting Rogers up to asking for money and even receiving money. Sounds like to me Rogers was trying to make some money without the Newtons knowing it, and going about it the way he did was pretty damn stupid and would have been hard to keep a secret. No college in their right mind these days would pay a scouting agent for a letter of intent.

[auburnredwing]

Was not there an issue with memphis basketball where they cleared derick rose to play before his freshman season then declare him ineligible after the season? The ncaa is kinda fucked up.

[jmar]

What was the motivation behind the news of this being released today? And what prompted it? There must be some findings somewhere to produce a response out of nowhere for Auburn to respond to such an allegation by John Bond. Has anyone but Bond spoken?

[RWS]

Fucking bammers are behind this shit. 

Seriously? MSU blew this whole thing open, but I'm sure Alabama put them up to it. I don't know if it's true or not, but to just automatically blame us when another program is publically stating they called attention to it is Prowleresqe.

[djsimp]

Well, at first thought, SON OF A BITCH! While I don't think that this is anything to do with Auburn, I know that this shit will be stirring in my mind a whole lot until this thing is put to bed. I really don't think that Miss St is looking at any trouble either. It sounds to me in light of the current shit these certain agents have done, this is gonna be a case where an agent is gonna be made an example. After Bond was contacted, he got the SEC offices involved and then the NCAA. Its obvious that Miss St didn't pay since Newton didn't go there which is why the NCAA contacted Auburn to see if we did. I feel pretty comfortable that we didn't and we're in the clear since Newton was cleared to play. I'm thinking that the NCAA does have some sort of record of the attempted transaction though and they handed it over to the NFL offices. Now the NFL is investigating the issue, they will make an example of EFP. As long as we have taking care of our part of this whole mess, I don't see issue. I do think that both Auburn and Miss St officials now whats going on but can't speak of it right now.

The timing of this shit is what pisses me off, almost like it was planned this way. While I really don't think it is a bammer trap (of course I wouldn't put it past them), I do think its someone at ESPN trying to make a name for themselves. I really hope the team can maintain focus through this shit.

[jmar]

Seriously? MSU blew this whole thing open, but I'm sure Alabama put them up to it. I don't know if it's true or not, but to just automatically blame us when another program is publically stating they called attention to it is Prowleresqe.

Actually Georgia was known to be connected to the post Shug-pre Dye era. You guys are recruiting a transfer QB. Do you know the kid's name?

[JR4AU]

Seriously? MSU blew this whole thing open, but I'm sure Alabama put them up to it. I don't know if it's true or not, but to just automatically blame us when another program is publically stating they called attention to it is Prowleresqe.

MAYBE not behind the allegations...fucking A bet they're behind the timing of this suddenly becoming "news".  Namely FINE-FUCKING-BAUM.

[Token]

I've been told that Finebaum has a packet with all the dealings between Auburn and Cam Newton.  The same packet the NCAA has been looking at since mid summer.