Reply #24: Thanks era.

[Elwood P Dowd]

Yes, there has been a ton of lies, rumors, spin, and tabloid journalism from ESPN and other sports guys on Cam. A Fox News guy said he was cheating at Florida and booted out because of academics. There is no evidence of this, just some an unsubstantiated rumor. They said his father was shopping him around for $180,000 to various schools. The NCAA only found only one school, Mississippi State, and it was a former MSU player who started the talk about money. There was the ESPN story about Cam telling MSU coaches that "the money was just too much" at Auburn, but then the NCAA found no evidence of this statement or the phone call. It's kind of weird to think Auburn would even consider giving a kid money who was considered a "project" and "gamble" when they signed him. His performances at JUCO were impressive, but his two years at Florida were typical of an immature kid who was not ready for big time football. He was going to be a bench warmer for the third straight year had he returned in 2009. Even during Auburn's 2010 spring practices he was nothing special. He barely beat out Barrett Trotter for the starting job. It wasn't until the middle of the 2010 season that the light finally "came on" with 21-year-old Cam Newton.