The Growth of the NFL Combine

At 8 o'clock Saturday morning, NFL Network will begin live coverage of the league's scouting combine in Indianapolis.  Millions will be watching looking for their football fix.

Scheduled to work out for scouts on Saturday are kickers, offensive linemen and tight ends.

Up Sunday morning, will be quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers.

On Monday, it will be defensive linemen and linebackers followed Tuesday by defensive backs.

The workouts consist of recent college players running, jumping, lifting weights and catching footballs for the pleasure of NFL teams that may or may not decide to draft them and bestow upon them gobs of signing-bonus money.

All of the workouts each day are expected to last into mid-afternoon. All will be conducted under the watchful eyes of NFL coaches, scouts, personnel gurus and ... you, if you choose.

Like the April draft, it's yet another NFL event that has turned into a giant television production. The NFL believes the combine has such enough TV potential it has locked out ESPN and other broadcasters.

Any year now, we can expect the quarterbacks, running backs, and wide receivers to be divvied up and the entire proceedings to be shifted to prime time.

Covering the combine started in 2004, less than six months after NFL Network's launch. Most of what got on the air was video-taped packages. The following year, NFL Network offered 13 live hours. This time around, plans are for 30 live hours and then lots of analysis.

It's stunning, but it just keeps growing to meet demand," said Eric Weinberger, NFL Network's executive producer. "Viewers have spoken to us and they want more."

In 2010, a record 5.2 million viewers watched a piece or all of the combine. As NFL Network adds subscribers, the number of viewers is expected to grow. Note, too, that more than 700 media credentials were issued this year. That's also a record.


Mocking Cam Newton Gets 'Bama Staffer Fired

(It's a long video, go to the 9:30 mark to listen to the songs in question)

Is the Alabama/Auburn rivalry getting soft?  Alabama has fired an employee who mocked the Auburn quarterback with songs he played over the public address system before their game Friday night at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa.

“Take the Money and Run” and “Son of a Preacher Man” were played throughout the stadium in honor of Cam Newton and his Father who are under investigation by the NCAA for numerous reasons.

This from Alabama public relations director Debbie Lane: “Our processes require that all music and videos played in the stadium prior to and during every game be carefully scripted and approved by a senior administrator in the Athletics Department. The former staff member deviated from the script that had been approved for the game with Auburn, and the University took steps to immediately terminate his contract.”

I would've lost it if he had played Madonna's "Papa Don't Preach" or "Money For Nothing" by Dire Straits. 

FBI Trying to get to Bottom of Cam Newton Case

John Bond and Kenny Rogers, two of the key players in the ongoing Cam Newton saga are meeting with Federal authorities today, as in the FBI.

In reading The Jackson Clarion-Ledger, former Mississippi State quarterback John Bond met with officials this morning and pseudo sports agent Kenny Rogers will tell his story this afternoon.

Bond’s attorney confirmed his client’s meeting with the FBI. The FBI’s involvement in an NCAA scandal, overstepping the NCAAs bounds might be because Cam's father, Cecil Newton might have laundered payments through his tax-exempt church or construction company.

Both the FBI and the NCAA appear to be moving quickly, possible to make a ruling in the next week or so. Auburn has a regular season game remaining with Alabama, and then the SEC Championship Game. Everyone looking at this wants to get a ruling so we don't have a tarnished Heisman, SEC, or BCS Championship.

The SEC may play a part in this as well, since in the SEC bylaws it states:

If at any time before or after matriculation in a member institution a student-athlete or any member of his/her family receives or agrees to receive, directly or indirectly, any aid or assistance beyond or in addition to that permitted by the Bylaws of this Conference (except such aid or assistance as such student-athlete may receive from those persons on whom the student is naturally or legally dependent for support), such student- athlete shall be ineligible for competition in any intercollegiate sport within the Conference for the remainder of his/her college career."

Cecil and Cam Newton at the very least might have violated this bylaw and Cam Newton would be immediately ineligible.

The SEC Commissioner Mike Slive can make a determination on this even though he previously stated that it's in the NCAA's hands.

I think we'll have some more news later this week.

Current Questions in the Cam Newton Saga

I'm not sure where we stand right now in the investigation, but this morning we find out the FBI is now involved, more and more people are starting to talk, some media members are asking for Auburn to sit Newton, and the NCAA appears to be moving now at warp speed.

Here are some questions I have, and if any can be answered, I think we are getting closer to some decision.

1.  Why is the FBI now involved?  Former Mississippi St. player and a source for some of this info, John Bond said he's scheduled to meet with the FBI next Tuesday and plans to turn over phone records and anything else the FBI asks for at that point. He said the FBI reached out to his attorney earlier this week wanting to talk with him about the Newton situation, in particular if kids were being shopped out to colleges with price tags on their head.

2.  What did Kenny Rogers have to say?  Yesterday, Rogers appeared on a Dallas, TX radio station and said in the interview that Cecil Newton told him that it would take “Anywhere between $100,000 and $180,000″ for his son to sign with Mississippi State.  The other quote he mentioned and I think this is a telling quote, he said Cecil Newton told him, "It's not gonna be free this time."

3.  Where did the Cecil Newton, Cam Newton's father get the money to fix his church?  And who fixed his church?  Cecil Newton kept getting extensions to bring his church,  the Holy Zion Center of Deliverance up to code.  Newton claimed the church would be brought to code “within six months” after being classified as a “new construction”.  NBCSports.com asks this question, “Is there a link between Cecil’s recent ability to upgrade his church to the accusations that money was involved with Cam’s college selection?”  For a church that had no money, how were they able to complete the renovations so quickly and under the radar?  Also, even though this work on the church was a large undertaking, it was reported that an unnamed contractor did the necessary work to the church Pro Bono.  Pro Bono, what?  Construction Permits had to have been filed, there has to be a paper trail.  NBCSports.com also mentioned that Cecil Newton may now own part of a construction company.  Make your own determination at this point.

4.  When will this wrap up?  So we all hope.

5.  Should Newton be held out of games at this point?  Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal Constitution thinks so, and others may be soon saying the same thing.  Bradley thinks since it’s an NCAA violation for anyone to seek money or benefits on behalf of a prospect, and there’s now at least the suspicion that Cecil Newton did, he should be held out of action.

6.  Are any of the reported phone conversations taped?  That is a big question, and we may soon get an answer.

 

"Witch Hunt" Against Cam Newton Continues

ESPN is now reporting on its website that Auburn quarterback Cam Newton and his father each had a phone conversation with a Mississippi State recruiter that acknowledged a pay-for-play arrangement for the prized recruit.

One of the recruiters said Cecil Newton told him before Newton committed to Auburn that it would take "more than a scholarship" for his son to attend Mississippi State. An unidentified source told ESPN that another recruiter received a phone call from an emotional Cam Newton after he committed to the Tigers, when he said his father selected Auburn for him because "the money was too much."

Foxsports.com reported Monday that Newton was caught cheating three times and was to appear for a hearing in front of Florida's student committee facing possible expulsion during the spring semester of 2009.

Newton transferred to Blinn Junior College in Brenham, Texas, where he played last season. He declined to discuss the latest report, which came on the heels of former Mississippi State quarterback John Bond saying someone claiming to represent the Newton family sought money during his recruitment by the school.

"I'm not going to entertain something that took place not three months, not six months, not a year but two years ago," Newton said. "I'm not going to sit up here and say anything about it, whether I did or did not do it, because I don't want to beat a dead horse talking about it. It's not going to affect me any way, shape or fashion."

Cecil Newton has called this a "witch hunt" against his son.