Cam Newton of Recent Reports Doesn't Match Newton They Knew at Blinn College

BRENHAM, Texas -- Cam Newton stole a laptop, reportedly cheated academically, had a dozen traffic violations and his father allegedly wanted six figures from Mississippi State to secure his son's signing.

But the public depiction of the Auburn star quarterback and Heisman Trophy favorite over the past several days doesn't mesh with those who got to know Newton here.

"It's unreal," said Shaun Rutherford, a friend and former teammate of Newton's at Blinn College. "I don't believe any of this stuff that's going on with Cam. I'm just waiting for it to play out so they can get off his back."

Blinn, situated in a small town surrounded by farmland between Houston and Austin, looked to be the perfect place for Newton to rehab his image and his academic record after two uneasy years at Florida. Last call in Brenham, known best for being the home of Blue Bell Ice Cream, is midnight -- 1 a.m. on Saturdays -- and there aren't a whole lot of entertainment options for the junior college's 2,400 students.

"Recruiting is kind of like dating," said Brad Franchione, Blinn's football coach. "If you tell a girl a bunch of stories to get her to go on a date with you, she will find out pretty quickly that you are not honest. We were honest in his recruitment. Cam knew this was his second chance, maybe his last chance."

Franchione said he knew about some of Newton's troubles at Florida, which included possession of a stolen laptop -- charges that were eventually dropped with the completion of a pre-trial diversion program. Other issues -- like his numerous traffic citations, and FoxSports.com's report that Newton turned in another student's paper and purchased another online -- have come to light after reports surfaced last week that Newton's father, Cecil, worked with a former Mississippi State player Kenny Rogers to shop his son's talents.

Cecil Newton allegedly told Rogers "it's not going to be free this time" to sign his son to a letter-of-intent and the elder Newton wanted as much as $180,000 from Mississippi State, Rogers said in an interview on a Dallas radio station on Thursday.

NCAA spokeswoman Stacey Osburn said in an e-mail that "solicitation of cash or benefits by a prospective student-athlete or another individual on his or her behalf is not allowed under NCAA rules," although she declined comment on the investigation into Rogers' claims.

Cecil and Cam Newton each deny they did anything improper.

There's no indication that the 6-foot-6, 250-pound Newton received anything for coming to Blinn -- not that the school would be in any position to pay anyway. National Junior College Athletics Association spokesman Mark Krug added there "is no reason to" open an investigation into Newton's time at Blinn.

While Newton led the Buccaneers to their fourth national title a season ago (and is the central figure in their commemorative poster), the athletic department -- like several others at all levels of college athletics -- has been hamstrung financially.

The football team now plays at an area high school since Blinn was unable to upgrade the on-campus stadium's lights, according to spokesman Jeff Tilley.

Tilley also said while the Bucs -- who lost last week in the state playoffs -- would likely get invitations to bowl games, economic realities will likely restrict Blinn to an in-state contest.

"I go from the University of Florida, where you can get Gatorade at your beck and call, to a place where you have to paint your stadium in order for your program to at least look like it was up to some type of standard," Newton said last month on a conference call with reporters.

Newton, 21, called attending Blinn a "turning point" and used his time at the school "to put everything together." One of the main reasons Newton picked Blinn was the play of Terrance Cain, who was the NJCAA Offensive Player of the Year in 2008 and transferred to Utah.

Newton also avoided any of the same pratfalls that dogged him at Florida, a school he left late in 2008.

There were no arrests listed in court records in Washington County. While the school has yet to respond to FanHouse's open-records request as of Friday evening, school police officials gave no indication that Newton had ever run afoul of the law on campus.

There were also no records of any traffic citations, which is to be expected since Franchione said Newton didn't have a car during his time at Blinn.

From his former teammates and others interviewed around town, Newton rarely attended parties, preferring instead to play video games with his friends.

That's not to say that his time at Blinn was entirely trouble-free. Newton was late to a team meeting and, per team rule, that meant he'd have to sit out the first half of the subsequent game.

"Cam made a mistake," said Franchione, son of former Texas A&M coach Dennis Franchione. "We have a policy and you have to live by it. It's important for the players to know that no matter who you are or how good you are, if you break the policies we have in place, you are going to be treated like everybody else."

Franchione called it "an isolated incident."

Franchione said he was surprised by how few schools pursued Newton, although he acknowledges that most top-level colleges get their pick of top prep talent. Oklahoma, Mississippi State, Auburn and North Carolina all showed interest.

Rogers' attorney, Doug Zeit, told FanHouse that his client never traveled to Bernham to his knowledge and added that there was no indication that Cam Newton knew about the alleged dealings of his father and Rogers.

Franchione openly questions whether such allegations of impropriety would ever have been made if Newton had not become the front-runner for the Heisman and 10-0 Auburn wasn't ranked No. 2 in the Bowl Championship Series rankings.

"When the Lord blesses, the devil digs," Franchione said. "I would venture to say that success has led to some of things that have been said."

The two have not spoken in weeks, although Franchione sent a message through Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn earlier this week.

"I asked him to put his arms around Cam, give him a hug and tell him that was from me," Franchione said. "This is unfortunate what's occurred. My heart is 100 percent behind Cam Newton."