Cam Character Issue?

[rayzor]

I can agree with what you are saying, so don't think I am just 'hating' on him. I think he is a good prospect and I am starting to believe he will be in our discussions once we start to come close to making a decision with the #1.

However it is in my view that the small things show the character of an individual over the large things. Simply because if someone only works hard for the major things in life, complacency and negligence can easily creep in. Once has has 'made it', where is that driving force? He could easily sit back and rest on his achievements, as indicated by how he treats the smaller aspects to life.

Again, not hating, just trying to indicate this guy is not the perfect prospect by any stretch of the imagination. He has genuine questions about how he will handle the pro game, both with his character and his style of playing.

sorry if i am thinking you are older than you are, but were you a finished product at 19 or 20?

i know i was still a dumb kid at that point making plenty of stupid and reckless decisions. that pretty much sums it up for anyone at that point in their lives. the good thing is that people grow up...most of the time. it appears that at blinn college he did just that, or at least got started maturing. he'll need to have positive influences around him for sure or at least get rid of negative people who can bring him down for his maturing, but that is true of anyone.

for me it took flunking out of college the first time at 20 years old and losing everything except my parents and siblings before i got my world turned around. it wasn't until i was about 24 that i really started maturing and about 26 years old that i got my world back on track.

point is, for most people (including pro or soon to be pro athletes), who you are and what you do when you are that young doesn't and shouldn't define who you are.

i'd say he hit bottom at florida and asked for a second chance to prove himself and has done that. he's seen what kind of trouble he can get in if he's not careful and he's also seen what kind of scrutiny he's going to be under from the pay-for-play allegations. the eye of the media is going to be on him big time. he'll be put on a pedestal when he does well, but when he slips up, that same media spotlight that got him on the pedestal will be waiting to bring him down. he's going to be the most high profile guy in this draft and he has to know the pros and cons of that.

what i read about him at blinn college and the lack of trouble that he's had since being at auburn has me feeling that he has gorwn up significantly since his time at florida and that even though he is still a work in progress, he is moving forward in a positive direction with his life and i will give him the benefit of the doubt until he proves otherwise.

[mav1234]

Have his traffic violations followed him to Auburn?

An Auburn student that posted here once relayed a story from when he spoke to Cam. He asked Cam if he ever spoke to his friends from Blinn anymore... Cam said no, though he could call them up any time. He also said what he remembered most from Blinn was painting the stadium... Not winning with the guys, not his coaches, not his friends, but that task. I don't really know what to make of that, and while it's not really an indictment of him in any way, I always found it interesting it was what he remembered.

I agree Cam Newton is still a work in progress, and was even more of one back when he was at Florida. Hopefully he has learned from his mistakes there and is a better person for it.

While we've all done stupid things, very few of us were basically in consideration for being the face of a football franchise just a year or two after those incidents. The fact he is in that consideration at all is a testament to the fact that he has turned his life around to some degree, and I do commend him for that. If he's going to be our next QB, I hope he has really put that stuff behind him.

[SmootsDaddy89]

If Luck did this, would it even be a story?

[mav1234]

Yes, because any Luck "character concerns" would have been as investigated as thoroughly as Cam's... but the fact remains he didn't, as far as we know, have anything even remotely close to the concerns Cam did... and, as the article relates, what Cam did is relatively minor compared to what a lot of college athletes do. Doesn't mean they shouldn't be a consideration tho.

[mav1234]

What the Colts did with Manning and Leaf was much more thorough than anything this article has done, so... it's not just Cam Newton.

[monstercat]

Don't worry. If the Panthers are seriously considering Cam Newton with the 1st overall pick ( and I guarantee you they are), they will be trying to track down anybody and everybody who has ever known Cam, including his coaches, classmates, equipment manager, and grounds keepers, at Florida, Blinn, Auburn, and even his HS.

[teeray]

Have his traffic violations followed him to Auburn?

An Auburn student that posted here once relayed a story from when he spoke to Cam. He asked Cam if he ever spoke to his friends from Blinn anymore... Cam said no, though he could call them up any time. He also said what he remembered most from Blinn was painting the stadium... Not winning with the guys, not his coaches, not his friends, but that task. I don't really know what to make of that, and while it's not really an indictment of him in any way, I always found it interesting it was what he remembered.

I agree Cam Newton is still a work in progress, and was even more of one back when he was at Florida. Hopefully he has learned from his mistakes there and is a better person for it.

While we've all done stupid things, very few of us were basically in consideration for being the face of a football franchise just a year or two after those incidents. The fact he is in that consideration at all is a testament to the fact that he has turned his life around to some degree, and I do commend him for that. If he's going to be our next QB, I hope he has really put that stuff behind him.

Mav you are slowly making your way to our side. I like it!!! Your not there yet but I (and others) have two months to convince you this is our guy!!

[rayzor]

Have his traffic violations followed him to Auburn?

An Auburn student that posted here once relayed a story from when he spoke to Cam. He asked Cam if he ever spoke to his friends from Blinn anymore... Cam said no, though he could call them up any time. He also said what he remembered most from Blinn was painting the stadium... Not winning with the guys, not his coaches, not his friends, but that task. I don't really know what to make of that, and while it's not really an indictment of him in any way, I always found it interesting it was what he remembered.

I agree Cam Newton is still a work in progress, and was even more of one back when he was at Florida. Hopefully he has learned from his mistakes there and is a better person for it.

While we've all done stupid things, very few of us were basically in consideration for being the face of a football franchise just a year or two after those incidents. The fact he is in that consideration at all is a testament to the fact that he has turned his life around to some degree, and I do commend him for that. If he's going to be our next QB, I hope he has really put that stuff behind him.

agreed...and no, it appears that the 12 tickets in 2 years happened while in gainesville florida.

i was incorrect with that. they didn't mention anything about traffic violations after leaving there, although unless it was drunk driving or for reckless driving, i wouldn't care all that much. crap...for a year or so i was getting pulled over on average once a month, though it was probably due more to getting profiled (long haired and bearded hippy driving a 15 year old monte carlo in arkansas and tenn with NC plates did it, i guess). the number of tickets in a short time is somewhat of an issue, but being that it is in the past as well doesn't carry a lot of weight either.

[blackcatgrowl]

I put together the videos and wrote probably 80% of that article, and I find the criticism of Simon and I bringing up his traffic citations in Gainesville puzzling.

Puzzling? You think it's puzzling that people are rejecting a nit-picking of a young man's life, when all he stands to gain here is the CHANCE to play in the NFL, when he obviously has the natural talent to do it?

You think it's puzzling that people are sick and tired of invasions in the private lives of sport figures?

There's nothing puzzling about that to me. SOME things simply do not need to be mentioned or even investigated and brought into the public light. Traffic tickets are one of them.

First off, 12 tickets in two years, a suspended license, being caught driving despite that suspended license, I'm sorry if you don't feel this way but that's worth noting.

No, it's not, it's fuging absurd. Playing in the NFL is not getting a job in management of the boy scouts, or running for a political office, or applying for a church position.

It's playing a god damn sport. Some of the most successful athletes can be really less than angelic people in their personal lives. But we don't care, nor should we care, because they are the best at what they do in the sport, and our system of laws and their respective sports organizations will deal with them however it needs to.

How would you like it if a potential employer made a decision about your future based on traffic tickets when you were in your teens or early 20s? Less than 10% of the population would be employable.

Especially within the context of the cheating scandals at Florida and the stolen laptop, it paints a picture of a young man with a very serious sense of entitlement.

No, it doesn't. It paints a picture of a YOUNG MAN who made some bad decisions about obeying traffic laws for a VERY SHORT period of his life, which has NOTHING to do with cheating on a test (which by the way is completely unsubstantiated rumor, as you yourself said that the University will not disclose student academic records)

That kind of attitude gets players in trouble at the NFL level and if you don't drop it and grow up, it follows you everywhere until you're eventually out of the league.

An attitude that you have asserted he has, which sounds like a complete fabrication to me.

That sense of entitlement is the ONE thing I can agree with from the people that keep comparing Newton to Jamarcus Russell. It's the one thing they MAY share, depending on whether or not Newton has grown up (Russell has not).

Again,this whole "sense of entitlement" is just spin on the kid.

Second, it's rather hilarious that the person criticizing our bringing up the tickets could go on record saying we're overly critical of Newton, when you consider how many other people would read what we wrote and accuse us of shilling for Cam. We love Cam Newton, we believe he's put the issues from his immature days at Florida behind him, and you can't beat his pure passing talent with a stick.

At the end of you article, you SORT OF back him. But you lace it with big question marks.

You want some assertion... well let me assert what I think about your intent in the write up you made...

I honestly believe you are like so many others, who have gotten sucked up into the web of nit-picking the guy apart, but see athletic potential that is very rare. You know he could be something amazing in the NFL, but don't want to come across as too willing to "buck" the trend of comparing him to Jamarcus Russell, so you went at length to put him on trial in your write up.

No matter what good you said of him, it's sullied by the whole off-field discourse of his PAST, which in the end, doesn't matter if he is winning games in the NFL.

[rayzor]

i think you did to the author and the article what you are accusing them of doing to newton. if you read the whole article you would find that it is incredibly favorable of newton and does more to make a legit argument for his drafting than anything else that has been written.

you picked out a few paragraphs of a million word article and based your opinion off of that.

this guy's article is the most enlightening, balanced, and informative article that has been written about newton and helps build a strong case for taking him at #1 overall.

Puzzling? You think it's puzzling that people are rejecting a nit-picking of a young man's life, when all he stands to gain here is the CHANCE to play in the NFL, when he obviously has the natural talent to do it?

You think it's puzzling that people are sick and tired of invasions in the private lives of sport figures?

There's nothing puzzling about that to me. SOME things simply do not need to be mentioned or even investigated and brought into the public light. Traffic tickets are one of them.

No, it's not, it's fuging absurd. Playing in the NFL is not getting a job in management of the boy scouts, or running for a political office, or applying for a church position.

It's playing a god damn sport. Some of the most successful athletes can be really less than angelic people in their personal lives. But we don't care, nor should we care, because they are the best at what they do in the sport, and our system of laws and their respective sports organizations will deal with them however it needs to.

How would you like it if a potential employer made a decision about your future based on traffic tickets when you were in your teens or early 20s? Less than 10% of the population would be employable.

No, it doesn't. It paints a picture of a YOUNG MAN who made some bad decisions about obeying traffic laws for a VERY SHORT period of his life, which has NOTHING to do with cheating on a test (which by the way is completely unsubstantiated rumor, as you yourself said that the University will not disclose student academic records)

An attitude that you have asserted he has, which sounds like a complete fabrication to me.

Again,this whole "sense of entitlement" is just spin on the kid.

At the end of you article, you SORT OF back him. But you lace it with big question marks.

You want some assertion... well let me assert what I think about your intent in the write up you made...

I honestly believe you are like so many others, who have gotten sucked up into the web of nit-picking the guy apart, but see athletic potential that is very rare. You know he could be something amazing in the NFL, but don't want to come across as too willing to "buck" the trend of comparing him to Jamarcus Russell, so you went at length to put him on trial in your write up.

No matter what good you said of him, it's sullied by the whole off-field discourse of his PAST, which in the end, doesn't matter if he is winning games in the NFL.

[mav1234]

Blackcatgrowl, I take it you haven't really heard much about what other potential #1 picks have gone through in the past in terms of scrutiny?

A player's past does matter. It matters because you are investing in the person, and investing in the wrong player can set you back years. Often, our pasts can help define who we are, either through learning from our mistakes, or in some sad cases, repeating them until harsher repercussions come about.

Cam Newton wanted a second chance, and he's getting one... but there is nothing wrong with looking into why he needed one in the first place when you're considering paying him millions.

Plus, as the article points out, far worse things have been found out about college athletes. If this is all they could dig up, doesn't that reflect favorably on him, especially if the behavior really is behind him?

[blackcatgrowl]

i think you did to the author and the article what you are accusing them of doing to newton. if you read the whole article you would find that it is incredibly favorable of newton and does more to make a legit argument for his drafting than anything else that has been written.

you picked out a few paragraphs of a million word article and based your opinion off of that.

this guy's article is the most enlightening, balanced, and informative article that has been written about newton and helps build a strong case for taking him at #1 overall.

I read the article... but the fact he brought up traffic tickets just sets me off, and as I said, makes the whole article meaningless.

Blackcatgrowl, I take it you haven't really heard much about what other potential #1 picks have gone through in the past in terms of scrutiny?

Scrutiny by the GMs and Front Offices MIGHT be at such a high level as to review traffic violations... I don't think the same standard exists for every team.

But please, show me where, in the media or internet, a player's MINOR traffic violations were brought to light before the draft?

Minor means, any non-injury related accident, or non-DUI, traffic stop.

This kind of scrutiny by the media/public is just over the top.

Here's the line of thinking that this kind of scrutiny creates, and why I have a problem with this:

The fact he is in that consideration at all is a testament to the fact that he has turned his life around to some degree

Turned his life around? Really? Turned it around from what? That habitual driving with a suspended license can be a really problem in life I hear. Maybe he should attend a suspended license support group if he hasn't already.

Ridiculous.

[mav1234]

What exactly do you call hiring a PI to follow around prospects, then? Not over the top?

This is not the headline story on ESPN. This is some draft group's own work. They're doing all the research they think an organization thinking of taking him at #1 would do, and that is looking at everything in his past.

If you admit an organization would consider it, why is it so bad if some scout did?

[blackcatgrowl]

What exactly do you call hiring a PI to follow around prospects, then? Not over the top?

This is not the headline story on ESPN. This is some draft group's own work. They're doing all the research they think an organization thinking of taking him at #1 would do, and that is looking at everything in his past.

If you admit an organization would consider it, why is it so bad if some scout did?

First off, what a Front Office does behind closed doors is THEIR business. They don't go public with their findings, even AFTER they draft a rookie or contract a Free Agent. In fact, they often won't even give you openly honest comments on their decision making process, as to not play their hand to other teams.

Secondly, I promise you, there are teams that have higher and lower expectations for prospects as far as character concerns go. To put a blanket statement out there that all GMs and Front Offices review a prospect's traffic record is plainly silly.

Lastly, whatever these two guy's role is in football, they've published something on the net which is now public domain. It's a matter of time before it becomes viral (to anyone curious about Cam) and people are talking about his traffic tickets. The fact it made it to this board proves that.

It all amounts to character assassination of the guy.

Heh... here's someone in the media who see's it too.

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2010/11/attempted_character_assassinat.html

In 26 years in this business, I've never seen anything like it.

Again show me where, in the media or internet, a player's MINOR traffic violations were brought to light before the draft?