In an entertaining interview with Shannon Sharpe on his Club Shay Shay podcast, former Auburn quarterback Cam Newton divulged interesting details about the “pay for play” scandal that rocked his historic Heisman season with the Tigers.
A look back on the 2010 #Heisman Trophy winner, National Champ, and "pay for play" accusations surrounding Cam Newton. Listen on any major platform for podcasts. #CFB #football #ESPN #auburnfootball #podcast #Controversy #cfbplayoff #college #CollegeFootball #nationalchamps pic.twitter.com/7xdD4MHkfl
— SE | College Football Fanatic (@sidelineexpose) February 13, 2022
Newton shed light on the contentious circumstances surrounding his decision to choose Auburn over Mississippi State, revealing how Mississippi State’s head coach at the time, Dan Mullen, harbored resentment towards him for spurning the Bulldogs.
“If you really go back and you know the reports, two sources said that Cam Newton and his father took money to go to Auburn … Those two sources were Dan Mullen and his wife Megan,” Newton said.
“How do we get to that? I’ll tell you. The day I was going to commit to Auburn out of junior college, it was neck and neck – Mississippi State and Auburn. When I went to Auburn, my mental was solely focused on success. I was trying to play catchup (at Florida) … When I went to Auburn, they mentioned that they will have 22 seniors coming back.”
“Mississippi State probably only had three to four. These are all different things as a 20-year-old college player and a 16- or 17-year-old kid. You don’t think that’s a big thing, but it really is. My whole determining factor was that I wanted to go to a school that could get me to a BCS game.”
13 Years ago today, Cam Newton & Auburn took down Oregon in the BCS National Championship 🦅 pic.twitter.com/eU1XRzpNae
— College Football Report (@CFBRep) January 10, 2024
Newton recounted an uncomfortable encounter with Mullen following Auburn’s victory over Mississippi State in Week 2 of the 2010 season, noting the subsequent timing of the NCAA accusations.
Greatest single season performance any college athlete has ever had
— J 🅴 (@CamNewtonFan69) January 3, 2023
“So fast forward to the success going on at Auburn,” Newton continued. “At the end of the game, I looked at him, and I wanted to shake his hand and say, ‘Coach, man, I appreciate you, man, Thank you.’ And it was a little iffy though. We spoke; condolences, man, and good luck for the rest of the year.”
“The report came two weeks after that, and if you remember, it was two sources. It was Dan Mullen and his wife that created all this ruckus. Cam and his dad, they took money.”
Me watching Cam Newton call Dan Mullen out on club Shay Shay pic.twitter.com/fgrA2Tp29R
— Wes (@WesKeyes_CSZ) April 11, 2024
Highlighting Mullen’s past association with Newton during his time as the offensive coordinator at Florida, Newton expressed astonishment at Mullen’s actions and his refusal to play him while he was at Florida.
my honest reaction pic.twitter.com/fI6PBOhQKa
— J 🅴 (@CamNewtonFan69) February 9, 2024
“I was having an out-of-body experience,” Newton said. “I surprised myself with the measure of focus that I had to go through, and still, that’s what brought my family closer. Because even though I know, even though I knew, still to this day, nobody took money from them.”
Cam Newton led Auburn to a Natty with 1 O-lineman that started an NFL game and no one else recording a NFL reception, rush attempt or pass attempt. He’s used to being a one man army, so you are delulu if you thought some guys jumping him was gonna phase him. Hat didn’t even move. pic.twitter.com/i321xmZTyE
— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) February 25, 2024
“That was just a grenade thrown into the crowd [from a] bitter person. He didn’t come to my school. So he had to have [taken] some money to go to that school because we had already had a relationship.”
“But I was thinking to myself, you didn’t play me while I was at Florida. These are all things that I’m saying, like, I’ve seen your true self, right? I didn’t want to get burned twice.”
Dan Mullen recalls telling Urban Meyer that Cam Newton was better than Tim Tebow https://t.co/WgmTxgps1C via @athlonsports @CameronNewton @ClubShayShay @ShannonSharpe @cfbhall @AuburnFootball @AuburnTigers @4thand1show
— Betty Love (@PartridgeLady) April 14, 2024
What are your thoughts on Newton’s side of the story?
Do you believe him that Mullen and his wife were the “two sources?”
While he’s still denying that he accepted money to go to Auburn, many people think that he did … Where do you stand???
#PatPonders Do you believe Cam Newton when he says Dan Mullen and his wife Megan Mullen, fueled media reports that Newton was paid to go to Auburn?
— 3 Man Front (@3ManFront) April 12, 2024