If it is proven Cecil asked for money from Mississippi St., then Pandora's box would be opened. That would, in essence prove that there was an attempt to sell Cam. Since ultimately Cam/Cecil presumably did not accept money from Miss. St. because Miss. St. was unable/unwilling to pay what it took to get his signature - what prompted him to sign with Auburn?
Assuming that WAS true (for the sake of discussion), the NCAA would then have to ask the question; Did they also try to sell Cam's services to Auburn?
Even if they did, that doesn't really prove that Auburn paid Cam. It is possible that Auburn - like Miss. St. - was also unwilling to pay. At that point, Cam/Cecil could have come to the conclusion that their efforts to get money weren't going to work and they should just go with the school that gave him the best chance to make money at the next level - the NFL - albeit a year or so later.
The more I find out about Newton's sordid past prior to coming to Auburn, the more it's clear that Auburn would have been committing suicide if they had offered Newton dirty money. More and more, it looks like a case of overinflated media hype. The parties involved all clammed up, the media wanted more dirt, so they decided to inflate the story as much as possible with a negative slant in an attempt to get Cam/Cecil to come forward with more information and 'set the record straight'.
I'm sure there's more to the story than has been told by the Newton's. However, the details could simply shed more light on their bumbling inability to successfully extort money than anything else.
My guess is, and maybe I'm wrong, if there were actual proof it would've surfaced by now. I keep hearing grumblings about these "tapes". Some sites say it was recorded by MSU, others say the Newtons recorded it to catch State offering money. Some sources say Cam's comment about the "money being too much" refer to his father not feeling comfortable taking the money, others say it refers to the cost of Cecil traveling to the games. Some sources say the Cecil comment about "more than a scholarship" refers to money, some sites say that it refers to a "program that will allow him to grow as a person and an athlete, mentor him so he grows from the stupid mistakes of his past and provide him the best chance to get to the next level."
Every one of those scenarios seem entirely plausible. The truth is I have no damn idea what happened. Honestly, I doubt any of us will ever know what happened in its entirety. You are probably dead-on about the sources clamming up so the media outlets began adding embellishment to make it a story. I just can't believe that Bob Stoops would publicly come out and lie by saying the Newtons never asked him for money and he was never approached by an agent. With Cam having a relationship with Mullen I sincerely doubt the Newtons only asked for money from MSU. Auburn, of course, denies it. Stoops voluntarily said it didn't happen. Hell, even Lane Kiffin released a statement saying when the Vols were recruiting him that no one asked for money. I'd like to know what MSU means by "recruiters" since they are required to only allow coaches to recruit. The more info that gets released it becomes painfully obvious either Mississippi State or Auburn are incredibly guilty and incredibly stupid. Perhaps this is me looking through my orange and blue glasses, but it looks like State has more and more egg on their face by the day.
Who knows. Maybe someone paid him, maybe they didn't. All I know is that as of now the NCAA has all of the documents they've requested and they have not suggested or required Auburn to sit Newton. From an Auburn fan's perspective, that is promising. In the post-Bush era, the NCAA has been swift to say someone should sit. UNC, Dareus, Green, etc. and to date we have gotten no such suggestion. Also, for the record--Auburn does not have a LOI as there have been no accusations that Auburn did anything wrong. Regardless of what happened with Mississippi State, it appears Auburn is safe. It may taint Newton's image but the agent he supposedly worked with has said he has no idea what they're talking about. If Cecil asked for money, hell if Cam asked for money, yes--they look like dicks (am I allowed to say that here?) but ultimately eligibility isn't in question.
There is just one piece of information that I really cannot wrap my head around. IF this is true and Cam Newton made a tear-filled phone call to Mississippi State to apologize for not upholding his commitment, why wouldn't he have called Mullen? The report says he called "a recruiter". His relationship and thus any sense of loyalty would be to Mullen, not State. Also, there was NEVER a commitment. State fans went crazy on message boards saying they had a silent commit and he was going to announce after his last game at Blinn, but his recruiting never stopped. And if State's assertion that they backed off when the request came in for loot, why were they still recruiting him up until the day he signed his LOI? The stuff I just mentioned makes ZERO sense to me.
Oh well, here's to hoping none of it is true
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