15 years ago Cameron Newton enrolled at Auburn University.

With plenty of time for emotions to cool down and all the information we will ever get available, what is the Rant’s final verdict on whether he and/or Cecil got paid?

My opinion is AU did not pay him. The most logical story I have heard came from someone in the Mississippi St athletic department early in the 2010 season prior to the story breaking. He claimed that Cecil asked MSU and other schools recruiting him for the 180k, but that AU was not heavily involved at that time.

He says Cecil’s approach was stupid. He was way too open about it to the point that it became widely known throughout the SEC that Cam was being shopped and NCAA involvement was inevitable. Other SEC schools, including MSU, backed off recruiting him believing him to not be worth the risk. We are talking about a talented but unproven JUCO player at the time, not the Heisman winner.

Eventually Cecil realizes he screwed up and AU enters the picture late in the recruiting cycle as a last minute option. AU was desperate for talent under Chizik, and while not crazy enough to pay him, decided he was worth having the NCAA asking questions since they were confident they didn’t do anything wrong and could defend his eligibility as long as no one actually paid him and it couldn’t be proven he knew that his Dad was acting as an agent.

AU knew an investigation was likely before the season started which is why they were so prepared when the slow NCAA finally showed up in November.

Basically the entire scandal boiled down to a dumb arse pastor with no idea what he was doing asking way more than anyone was going to pay, getting zero, and eventually banned from watching his own son play or receive the Heisman.