Cam Newton finally went public last night, following the traditional jock catechism of baring his soul in the ESPN confessional.
He came off as poised, mature, sincere, the very archetype of a standup guy and model college student-athlete. In other words, he was well prepped.
Part of why I didn't believe a word he said.
The other part is because when given a chance to deny he told someone connected with Mississippi State that the money at Auburn was just "too much," Newton instead threw a hip fake, saying "I'm not here to talk about any reports."
Wrong answer, Cam. That's precisely what you were there to talk about. By dodging the question, you made all that business about "doing it the right way" sound as hollow as a gourd.
As I've said before here on the Blob, I don't really have all that big a problem with Daddy Newton shopping his kid around. Shoot, the entire college game is about commerce; if it weren't, there wouldn't be a BCS. So in a way, Daddy Newton was being more upfront about the realities of big-ticket college football than anyone else involved in it.
But don't do that, and then pretend you didn't. Just don't.
