Auburn’s Cameron Newton has been the most talked about college football player for the entire season. It started for his play and then for his alleged pay-for-play scandal, in which his dad was found guilty of, but Auburn and the QB had no knowledge of. Through all of this, Cam Newton has done one thing – win football games. The Auburn Tigers are undefeated and ranked #1 in the BCS. The Tigers will play for the BCS Championship against the Oregon Ducks on January 10th.
Cam Newton has been the best college football player in the nation, pretty much by everyone’s standards, except by the standards of the Football Writers Association of America. Let’s take a look at Newton’s accomplishments this season:
- Walter Camp Award: This award “is given annually to the collegiate American football Player of the Year, as decided by a group of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I-A head coaches and sports information directors under the auspices of the Walter Camp Football Foundation.*”
- Maxwell Award: This award “is presented annually to the collegiate American football player judged by a panel of sportscasters, sportswriters, and National Collegiate Athletic Association head coaches and the membership of the Maxwell Football Club to be the best football player in the United States.*”
- Davey O’Brien Award: This award “is presented annually to the collegiate American football player adjudged by the Davey O’Brien Foundation to be the best of all National Collegiate Athletic Association quarterbacks.*”
- Heisman Trophy: This award “is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football.*”
Yes, Cameron Newton is the collegiate American football player of the year, the best football player in the United States, the best of all NCAA quarterbacks, and the most outstanding player in collegiate football, but NOT a first team All-American.
The FWAA stuck it to Cam Newton for his off-the-field issues and its embarrassing. The All-American team loses some credibility in my mind for this. They chose Kellen Moore as the first team QB. He was a great QB and a Heisman finalist, but he finished fourth in the Heisman voting, behind Newton and another QB, Andrew Luck.
* – All quotes from Wikipedia.org
[Photo Credit: Zimbio.com]
