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Six Heisman voters will leave Newton off their ballots
Six Heisman Trophy voters are leaving standout player Cam Newton off their ballots this year to avoid having any part in the Auburn quarterback’s inevitable hoisting of the award Saturday night.
Columnist Mike Bianchi of The Orlando Sentinel and Philadelphia-based writer Michael Bradley say Newton’s integrity does not rise to the integral standards established by the Heisman’s mission statement.
Voters Gene Frenette of the Florida Times Union, David Whitley of AOL FanHouse, Kyle Tucker of The Virginian-Pilot and Seth Emerson of the Macon Telegraph expressed similar sentiments in explaining why they did not vote for Newton.
Bianchi also left off Oregon’s LaMichael James, who was arrested in February on a domestic violence charge. The writer cast his vote for Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore. Said Bianchi:
“That’s right, it says the pursuit of excellence with 'INTEGRITY.' And, yet, here we have Cam Newton, a player who left the University of Florida amid allegations of academic fraud and after he was found with a stolen laptop computer and threw it out the window when police arrived; a player whose recruitment is being investigated by the NCAA and the FBI; a player whose father Cecil, according to the NCAA, tried to sell his son’s services to the highest bidder (but, um, Cam supposedly knew nothing about it.).
"If Newton wins the Heisman, the trophy should be recast in honor of Cam’s dad. The guy on top of trophy shouldn’t have his arm out; he should have his hand out.”
Newton, James, Moore and Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck have all been invited to the Heisman Trophy presentation, it was announced Monday evening.
Those four will gather in New York City on Saturday for the trophy presentation.
Sporting News college football writer Matt Hayes voted for Newton, whom the NCAA cleared of wrongdoing last week, but the investigation into his father’s designs for a pay-for-play scheme at Mississippi State continue to be investigated by the NCAA.
The stench is enough to keep Bradley away.
He writes: “My vote this year is a vote for the trophy. It is designed to protect the Heisman and what it means. If doing that deprives Newton of a spot among the award’s list of luminaries, so be it. I just can’t allow the trophy, which has been sullied in the past year by revelations that 2005 winner Reggie Bush had received more than a half-million in cash and prizes from a prospective agent, absorb another body blow. I voted for Bush — twice. But this isn’t about me and whether I felt deceived by Bush’s behavior. This is about whether the Heisman can afford to take another hit without becoming a sad metaphor for the state of college athletics.”
Frenette acknowledges Newton is the nation's best player this year, but he can't overlook the actions of Newton's father.
"I’m sorry, Auburn fans, but after the NCAA confirmed from its investigation this week that Newton’s father, Cecil, solicited his son in a pay-for-play scheme to attend Mississippi State, that’s a game-changer for this voter. I cannot, in good conscience, put Newton on my ballot, though he may still win the Heisman in a runaway," Frenette wrote.
Whitley said his was merely a protest vote, and he questioned whether Cam Newton really was oblivious to what his father was doing.
"Newton is the biggest cinch in Heisman history. This is more a protest vote against double-talk, empty suits and corruption, all of which the NCAA declared eligible in this fiasco," Whitley wrote.
Meanwhile, to no one’s surprise, Newton was named the SEC’s Offensive Player of the Year.
The 6-6, 250-pounder led the conference in rushing with 1,409 yards and scored 20 touchdowns. He also led the SEC in passing efficiency with 67 percent completions, 28 touchdowns and just six interceptions.
He also became just the second player in the history of the NCAA's top division to run AND throw for 20 TDs in a season; the first was Tim Tebow.
"You can't tackle him," Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier marveled after Auburn’s 56-17 victory over South Carolina in the SEC Championship game. "He's almost a one-man show."
This will likely be the first of many awards for Newton. In addition to the Heisman, which is considered a foregone conclusion, he is a finalist for the Davey O'Brien, Maxwell, Manning and Walter Camp awards.
Six Heisman Trophy voters are leaving standout player Cam Newton off their ballots this year to avoid having any part in the Auburn quarterback’s inevitable hoisting of the award Saturday night.
Columnist Mike Bianchi of The Orlando Sentinel and Philadelphia-based writer Michael Bradley say Newton’s integrity does not rise to the integral standards established by the Heisman’s mission statement.
Voters Gene Frenette of the Florida Times Union, David Whitley of AOL FanHouse, Kyle Tucker of The Virginian-Pilot and Seth Emerson of the Macon Telegraph expressed similar sentiments in explaining why they did not vote for Newton.
Bianchi also left off Oregon’s LaMichael James, who was arrested in February on a domestic violence charge. The writer cast his vote for Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore. Said Bianchi:
“That’s right, it says the pursuit of excellence with 'INTEGRITY.' And, yet, here we have Cam Newton, a player who left the University of Florida amid allegations of academic fraud and after he was found with a stolen laptop computer and threw it out the window when police arrived; a player whose recruitment is being investigated by the NCAA and the FBI; a player whose father Cecil, according to the NCAA, tried to sell his son’s services to the highest bidder (but, um, Cam supposedly knew nothing about it.).
"If Newton wins the Heisman, the trophy should be recast in honor of Cam’s dad. The guy on top of trophy shouldn’t have his arm out; he should have his hand out.”
Newton, James, Moore and Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck have all been invited to the Heisman Trophy presentation, it was announced Monday evening.
Those four will gather in New York City on Saturday for the trophy presentation.
Sporting News college football writer Matt Hayes voted for Newton, whom the NCAA cleared of wrongdoing last week, but the investigation into his father’s designs for a pay-for-play scheme at Mississippi State continue to be investigated by the NCAA.
The stench is enough to keep Bradley away.
He writes: “My vote this year is a vote for the trophy. It is designed to protect the Heisman and what it means. If doing that deprives Newton of a spot among the award’s list of luminaries, so be it. I just can’t allow the trophy, which has been sullied in the past year by revelations that 2005 winner Reggie Bush had received more than a half-million in cash and prizes from a prospective agent, absorb another body blow. I voted for Bush — twice. But this isn’t about me and whether I felt deceived by Bush’s behavior. This is about whether the Heisman can afford to take another hit without becoming a sad metaphor for the state of college athletics.”
Frenette acknowledges Newton is the nation's best player this year, but he can't overlook the actions of Newton's father.
"I’m sorry, Auburn fans, but after the NCAA confirmed from its investigation this week that Newton’s father, Cecil, solicited his son in a pay-for-play scheme to attend Mississippi State, that’s a game-changer for this voter. I cannot, in good conscience, put Newton on my ballot, though he may still win the Heisman in a runaway," Frenette wrote.
Whitley said his was merely a protest vote, and he questioned whether Cam Newton really was oblivious to what his father was doing.
"Newton is the biggest cinch in Heisman history. This is more a protest vote against double-talk, empty suits and corruption, all of which the NCAA declared eligible in this fiasco," Whitley wrote.
Meanwhile, to no one’s surprise, Newton was named the SEC’s Offensive Player of the Year.
The 6-6, 250-pounder led the conference in rushing with 1,409 yards and scored 20 touchdowns. He also led the SEC in passing efficiency with 67 percent completions, 28 touchdowns and just six interceptions.
He also became just the second player in the history of the NCAA's top division to run AND throw for 20 TDs in a season; the first was Tim Tebow.
"You can't tackle him," Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier marveled after Auburn’s 56-17 victory over South Carolina in the SEC Championship game. "He's almost a one-man show."
This will likely be the first of many awards for Newton. In addition to the Heisman, which is considered a foregone conclusion, he is a finalist for the Davey O'Brien, Maxwell, Manning and Walter Camp awards.
I hate when people try to act all high and mighty when it comes to situations like this. These are the sorts of people who like to make the story about themselves over the athletes.
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