Haden lived with Newton for 1 1/2 years and considers his former roommate his best friend. Haden spoke to the Heisman Trophy hopeful on the phone for an hour on Tuesday night. Haden said Newton, who has been accused of cheating while he was with the Gators, "is not letting this stuff get to him too much. He said, 'Joe, I got a plan and everything is going to work out for the best.'"
Newton and his father have also been accused of asking a Mississippi State recruiter for money to play at that school. Haden believes Newton is only being targeted because he's playing so well this season for the No. 2 Tigers.
MADISON, Miss. — A defiant John Bond stood outside his home Thursday and said he did what he thought was right last December when he told Mississippi State officials that touted football recruit Cam Newton was being shopped for thousands of dollars.
"Without a doubt," said Bond, a former MSU quarterback and coach who is now a vice president for Eutaw Construction Company. "I absolutely did the right thing."
Bond, who confirmed he will meet with the FBI on Tuesday, said he contacted MSU after former teammate Bill Bell called him and said Newton's father had contacted him soliciting money in exchange for his son's signature on a letter of intent.
Bell, a Florida business owner, could not be reached for comment, but he told ESPN.com that Cecil Newton asked for money and that he has been interviewed by the NCAA. Bond said Bell urged him to contact MSU officials.
"He said, 'We've got a problem,' " Bond said. "He said, 'I don't know those guys (MSU officials), you do. Call them and tell them."
Earlier Thursday, Kenny Rogers, another former teammate of Bond who works as a recruiter for an NFL agent, said in a radio interview that Newton's father told him last November it would take $100,000 to $180,000 for the Bulldogs to sign Newton out of Blinn College in Texas.
KENNY ROGERS: Cam Newton's father wanted money
MISSISSIPPI STATE: School says it reported Newton
AUBURN: School tries to look toward Georgia showdown
Rogers' bombshell was another in a series concerning Newton, who this fall has led Auburn to a 10-0 record and emerged as the front-runner to win the Heisman Trophy.
The story broke last week, when Bond said a former teammate had solicited $180,000 on behalf of the Newton family. ESPN.com reported that teammate was Rogers. After denying those claims in a radio interview last Friday, Rogers came clean Thursday, saying Cecil Newton did tell him how much it would take for his son to sign with MSU. Rogers also said that after meeting with Cecil Newton in Starkville last season, he called Bell. Why Bell?
"If somebody's asking for that kind of money, I don't have it," Rogers said in an interview Thursday with ESPN radio out of Dallas. "I just called somebody I was close to, to see if he knew of anybody, or to let him know about it so he could tell somebody else what was going on."
Rogers said he did not meet Cam Newton until last Nov. 27, the day before the Mississippi-Mississippi State game. During a talk with two MSU coaches that night, Cecil Newton appeared to broach the subject of money at the Hilton Garden Inn in Starkville, Rogers said.
"One of the coaches was like, 'No, no, I don't want to hear that,' " Rogers said. Rogers declined to identify the two MSU coaches, and MSU officials would not comment Thursday.
Bond, who played for MSU from 1980 to 1983, has been portrayed as a jilted booster, angry because Newton signed with Auburn. Bond denied that during a brief interview Thursday, pointing out he contacted MSU officials in early December and that Newton signed with Auburn on Dec. 31.
"This has nothing to do with Auburn," Bond said.
Rogers said he has "no idea" whether someone associated with Auburn paid the Newtons for Cam Newton to attend the school.
Also Thursday, Rogers said he never called Bond, but Bond was adamant that after Bell called him and told him what Rogers had said, Rogers also called him. Bond said he would give his phone records to the FBI on Tuesday. "They'll prove me right, and I'm sticking by that," Bond said.
Why does the FBI want to talk to Bond? "They don't want people shopping children around for thousands of dollars," Bond said.
Even if Newton received no money to attend Auburn, soliciting money can be an NCAA violation, jeopardizing Newton's eligibility.
Auburn officials would not comment Thursday. On Wednesday, Tigers coach Gene Chizik said Newton would play Saturday against Georgia.
Speaking in general terms and not on the Newton story, Stacey Osburn of the NCAA responded in an e-mail that "the solicitation of cash or benefits by a prospective student-athlete or another individual on his or her behalf is not allowed under NCAA rules."
Source:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/10/AR2010111004285.html
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/sec/2010-11-12-john-bond-cam-newton_N.htm
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