The NCAA’s 13-month investigation into Auburn and the eligibility of quarterback Cam Newton hinged on if former Mississippi State player Kenny Rogers should be considered an “agent.”
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| Cam Newton |
According to the documents released by Auburn University to media outlets Friday in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act, the NCAA and Auburn determined that Newton did not have an “agreement for representation” with Rogers, which would be a violation of NCAA bylaw 12.3.1, nor was there any evidence to support that Newton’s father, Cecil, did either.
Auburn also argued that Rogers did not act as an agent since he played for MSU and was a booster working to help his alma mater, as he had done before, steering “prospective student-athletes to Mississippi State,” according to the documents.
This was the key in keeping Newton eligible during the football season.
Since it was determined that Rogers was not acting as Newton’s agent, the quarterback was able to continue playing during Auburn's BCS championship run.
The week of the SEC Championship game, however, Newton was declared ineligible Nov. 30, 2010, but was quickly reinstated the next day (Dec. 1) after it was determined he and Auburn had no knowledge of a pay-for-play scheme between Cecil Newton and Rogers, no money changed hands and that Rogers couldn’t be considered an agent.
The NCAA’s probe, which last more than a year, ultimately proved two things: Cecil Newton conspired with Rogers in an attempt to solicit money — anywhere from $120,000 to $ 180,000, according to the documents — from MSU for the services of the quarterback during his recruitment out of Blinn (Texas) College during 2009; and, secondly, that Auburn and Cam Newton had no knowledge of it.
The NCAA, in a letter to Auburn Director of Athletics Jay Jacobs sent Oct. 11, 2011, cleared Auburn and Newton of any wrongdoing in the recruitment of the quarterback who would go on to be the first overall pick in the NFL Draft last April.
The NCAA’s investigation into Auburn began with a letter from NCAA Associated Director of Enforcement Jackie Thurnes to Jacobs on Oct. 5, 2010, four days before the Tigers played at Kentucky.
In it, the NCAA requested that Auburn provide the enforcement staff with five things:
The NCAA wanted all cell phone and text message records of Newton's from Dec. 1, 2008 to Sept. 1, 2010, along with all emails he sent from his Auburn University email account from Jan. 1, 2010 through Sept. 1 of the same year.
The NCAA also wanted copies of bank records between Dec. 1, 2008-Sept. 1, 2010 from Newton and his parents, along with those from the Holy Zion Center of Deliverance, where Cecil Newton was pastor.
Finally, the NCAA requested phone, text message and email records from Auburn head football coach Gene Chizik, offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn and running backs coach Curtis Luper from Dec. 1, 2008-Sept. 1, 2010.
Auburn compiled with the request before the Oct. 25, 2010 deadline.
The records reveal that there were approximately 275 calls and text between Cecil Newton and Rogers between March 2009 and January 2010. Auburn claims that more than 200 of those contacts were made “before any request for recruiting inducements were made.”
After Cam Newton signed with Auburn on Dec. 31, 2009, the communication between Cecil Newton and Rogers diminished, as there were only 15 contacts between the two after New Year’s Day 2010, according to the documents.
In an interview with Cam Newton, according to the documents, the quarterback said he only knew Rogers as a former MSU player, who provided information about the school to his father.
“(The) only reason my dad was talking to Kenny Rogers was because he graduated from or, or played at Mississippi State and was trying to find out information of why he should let his son go to Mississippi State,” Newton said in the interview.
Documents show that Cecil Newton’s relationship with Rogers went beyond that, however, it was determined that no money ever changed hands between the two and Mississippi State.
Auburn’s position through the entire investigation was that the institution and the player did nothing wrong.
As Auburn wrote in its conclusion to the NCAA: “There is simply no evidence that Newton engaged in impermissible conduct. Consistent with the NCAA's long-standing emphasis on student-athlete welfare, Newton should not be punished for the conduct of others.”
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