Cam Newton and the Heisman Trophy.. The Barn continues to burn

$CAM NEWTON REGARDING THE HEISMAN TROPHY

From the SEC Constitution

14.01.3.2 Financial Aid.

If at any time before or after matriculation in a member institution a student-athlete or any member of his/her family receives or agrees to receive, directly or indirectly, any aid or assistance beyond or in addition to that permitted by the Bylaws of this Conference (except such aid or assistance as such student-athlete may receive from those persons on whom the student is naturally or legally dependent for support), such student-athlete shall be ineligible for competition in any intercollegiate sport within the Conference for the remainder of his/her college career.



Answer these three questions.

Lets start with an easy one, Is Cecil Newton the father of Cam Newton? Yes

Second, if you ask to receive money are you agreeing to receive the money? Yes

Third, Did Cecil Newton ask Mississippi State? Yes

If you don’t think this is true consider this excerpt and statement from Mississippi State

Bell said he told the NCAA that Rogers sent him a text message outlining a payment schedule, says ESPN.com Bell said the text included a request for $80,000 the day after Cam Newton signed his letter-of-intent with Mississippi State, $50,000 after 30 days after that and another $50,000 30 days later.

"When he asked for it, it was like, 'Bam!' " Bell told ESPN.com. "He told me this kid's dad is going to want money and the next day he sent me a text message. He didn't say anything other than, 'This is what I want and I want it in three installments.' "

"[Cecil Newton] didn't come out and say, 'I want $180,000,' " Bell said. "He inferred it and talked about it, but not directly. Kenny would talk about it in front of him, and [Cecil Newton] never corrected him or said, 'No, that's not what we're doing.' "

-Mississippi State athletic director Scott Stricklin acknowledged in a statement that the school "was approached with an offer to provide an extra benefit" and that the school refused.



Bottom line, Cecil Newton “agree[d] to receive, directly or indirectly, any aid or assistance beyond or in addition to that permitted by the Bylaws of this Conference… such student-athlete shall be ineligible for competition in any intercollegiate sport within the Conference for the remainder of his/her college career.”

Therefore, he is ineligible to play in the SEC. Now how does this affect his NCAA eligibility?

Read this Bylaw

14.01.3 Compliance with Other NCAA and Conference Legislation.

To be eligible to represent an institution in intercollegiate athletics competition, a student-athlete shall be in compliance with all applicable provisions of the constitution and bylaws of the Association and all rules and regulations of the institution and the conference(s), if any, of which the institution is a member. A violation of this bylaw that relates only to a violation of a conference rule shall be considered an institutional violation per Constitution 2.8.1; however, such a violation shall not affect the student-athlete’s eligibility. Specific attention is called to legislation affecting eligibility in the following areas. (Revised: 10/27/06)



It is clear that it isn’t only a violation of a conferene rule. I couldn’t find the rule, the rulebook is 400+ pages, but according to a NCAA spokeswoman, "the solicitation of cash or benefits by a prospective student-athlete or another individual on his or her behalf is not allowed under NCAA rules."



What does this mean?

1) Cam Newton is INELIGIBLE in regards to the NCAA because he is in violation with the SEC rules.

2) Cam Newton cannot receive the Heisman trophy for two reasons

1) Heisman.com “The Heisman Memorial Trophy annually recognizes the outstanding college football player whose performance best exhibits the pursuit of excellence with integrity”

It is clear that there has been a lack in integrity shown in this case.

2) Now, here is the more important one. The ballots state that "In order that there will be no misunderstanding regarding the eligibility of a candidate, the recipient of the award MUST be a bona fide student of an accredited college or university including the United States Academies. The recipients must be in compliance with the bylaws defining an NCAA student athlete."


Because of this, Cam Newton cannot be considered for the Heisman Trophy. I will admit, he has been the most dominant player this year in college football, and its not even close, but the fact that he is INELGIBLE in regards to both the NCAA and SEC should make him INELIGIBLE to receive the award. Even if he does win in, it will get taken away, along with all of Auburn’s victories this past year.