“You think (Georgia head football coach) Kirby Smart needs you? You think (Alabama head coach) Nick Saban needs you?” Newton asked before forcefully answering, “You stupid. … I’m excited, this is what I do for a living.Cam Newton took a shot at Auburn football, as well as several other Power Five programs, while speaking to high school prospects on April 12 - claiming that such schools merely “protect themselves” and don’t value individual recruits once they’re on campus.Ĭam Newton gives his high school players great advice on picking a college□□□ “It’s time to play,” Aliotti said, “although I can use about three or four more days of practice. He was finally led away, almost like a man off to prison, by an Oregon press official. He attentively answered every question Wednesday and a few more as he exited the room. “Right now I’m pinching myself because I feel like I’m in a dream every single day I wake up,” he said.Īliotti wakes up in a sweat. A year ago, he was leading Blinn College in Texas to a junior college national title, never imagining what was to happen in a matter of months. “As an offensive lineman, you don’t just protect your quarterback on the field,” said Pugh, Auburn’s center. Now we’re back to Newton and his stiff arm.Īuburn Coach Gene Chizik, during the worst of it, ran brilliant public relations interference, and Auburn players have resolutely rallied around their meal ticket. The investigative arm of the Newton chronicles has clearly abided. “He will definitely win ‘scout team player of the week,’ no matter what happens,” Aliotti quipped. The part of Newton is being played by Daryle Hawkins, a 6-4 redshirt freshman.Īliotti says Hawkins is doing a nice job. No one with an Oregon driver’s license can remotely emulate in practice what Newton is going to bring into Monday’s game. “It’s kind of frightening when you see him,” Matthews said of Newton. Linebacker Casey Matthews, 6-2 and 235, almost had to excuse himself after watching film. “He’s every bit of 6-6 and 250,” Paysinger said of Newton. Yet Paysinger won’t dispute the general parameters of Oregon’s dilemma. “I went to elementary school with her since I was 6 years old.” “That Cam is going run all over me,” he said. “He’s bigger than eight of our defensive starters,” Aliotti said.įew are giving Oregon’s defense much of a chance.ĭucks linebacker Spencer Paysinger said he has a female friend who attends Auburn who has “been talking a bunch of smack lately.” He won the Heisman Trophy, the Davey O’Brien and Maxwell awards, and completed 67.1% of his passes for 2,589 yards and 28 touchdowns with only six interceptions.Ī great year with those passing numbers alone goes off the charts when you add 1,409 rushing yards and 20 more touchdowns. Newton, in probably his one and only year at Auburn, has scorched every grid of the gridiron. “We’ve got to stop Cam Newton first, and work our way out.” “The first thing we have to do is stop Cam Newton, whatever that means,” Aliotti explained. “I’ve been answering that question since Dec. It was, basically, 30 minutes of “What do you want me to say?” The difference is, Aliotti said he wakes up screaming every few hours.Īliotti spent his half-hour on the witness stand in a state of heightened animation, his arms flailing as fast as his words spewed. Newton and Aliotti both slept like babies this week. Newton sat relaxed and refreshed as he answered questions, in stark contrast to Oregon defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti, the man who followed Auburn Elvis into the interview room. Stopping Newton is now Oregon’s enormous problem. “He’s like an 8-year-old trapped in a giant’s body,” Auburn center Ryan Pugh offered Wednesday. “Well,” Newton said, “I know when I was at Florida I was very immature and I was a boy.… I think I have matured and grown into a man.”īy man, we’re talking 6-feet-6 and 250 pounds, playing the quarterback position as few have played it. What about all that trouble at Florida, where you transferred out after a computer caper and insinuations of possible test tampering? “I think the whole process has made me stronger,” Newton said of the controversies that have swirled around his 13-0 season. Reporters have entered a “Cam-fatigue” stage, evidenced by Wednesday’s relatively tame Q & A exchanges. The NCAA, despite a recruiting mystery that may never be resolved, green-lighted Newton to stage that ridiculous comeback win against Alabama, toy with South Carolina in the SEC title game, win the Heisman and face Oregon on Monday in the Bowl Championship Series title game. Newton’s overall pleasantness and cheery demeanor make him a difficult target to incessantly poach.
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