PSR Showdown - Would Cam Newton Get Your Vote for the Heisman?

Why Not?

By Chris Mack

Hi.

My name’s Billy Joe Simpson Morris, and I’m a one time Heisman Trophy winner.

Back in the day I could run like a gazelle. A gazelle in shoulder pads, that is. For just over four seconds at a time I was the fastest guy on the planet. I helped lead my team to the 1970-something national championship and went on to have a successful pro career full of endorsements, and even a few movie deals. I even held the NFL’s single season rushing record for a while.

The best part was, I never had to cheat to get what I wanted. No uppers, none of that steroid stuff the linemen were doing, and I never took anything more than a ride home from practice from a booster.

I had it all.

Then it all ended. They said I murdered my ex-wife. And her boyfriend. They said it was gruesome, and there was a big trial in which everyone could see the evidence pointed straight at me. There was motive, there was physical evidence, and a tissue paper-thin alibi.

All of a sudden it was all gone. No more movies, no more endorsements, no more autographs.

I killed two people. And it cost me everything but my freedom for the better part of 14 years.

Everything but my Heisman vote.

So when I sit down to vote this fall, I’m going to vote for Cam Newton, the kid from Auburn. I hope they let him keep his trophy, too.

As long as he didn’t violate any high and mighty NCAA rules about money, or asking for money, or thinking about money, he should be alright.

It would be embarrassing if he’d taken money, or asked for money, or had somebody with money shove some in his family’s face as they tried to make ends meet. Taking that money would be undignified. To let a kid who took money have the Heisman Trophy even though he’s clearly the best player in the game at that time, well that would be a shame.

Then again, it’s not like he killed anybody.

Visit Chris Mack at www.THEChrisMack.com

How Can He?

By Jerry DiPaola

John Heisman never was caught cheating at Brown University.

While at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, he never bought a paper authored by someone else and turned it into the professor as his own.

He never hired an intermediary to extort money from Penn when he decided to transfer from Brown in 1889.

If Auburn quarterback Cam Newton can stand in front of the nation on Dec. 11 and, truthfully, make the same claims—even in the warped context of the 21st century—there is no room for argument:     Newton would clearly deserve to walk through Times Square, head held high, proudly clutching to his chest the trophy named for Heisman.

As it is, no one can be sure if Newton deserves to win the Heisman Trophy.

If charges against Newton are true—or if voters believe them to be so—he should not win the Heisman. It would be unfair to the memory of John Heisman, who developed the basic elements of football, from the “hut” signal at the snap of the ball to the division of the game into four quarters.

By comparison, Newton’s reputation is shrouded in black clouds:

FoxSports.com reported that he was facing expulsion from the University of Florida for academic cheating, including writing his name on someone else’s paper. The website also reported Newton bought a paper off the Internet.

When he was scheduled to appear in front of Florida’s Student Conduct Committee, he fled to Blinn (Texas) Junior College.

ESPN.com has reported that Newton’s father solicited payments approaching $200,000 in exchange for his son’s name on a national letter of intent.

Is all of this true? That’s for NCAA investigators to decide. Meanwhile, if you are a Heisman voter, can you afford to ignore such detailed charges and risk voting for someone who may be forced to vacate the award?

Newton is the best player in the nation, throwing for over 2,000 yards and rushing for more than 1,300.

But the Heisman Trust’s mission statement says the award should recognize “the most outstanding college football player whose performance best exhibits the pursuit of excellence with integrity.”

Read those final two words again.

Then, decide if Cam Newton should win the Heisman Trophy.

Jerry DiPaola covered Penn State football this year for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.