Cameron Newton

[OldNewby 27]

Newton has stated that he has a firm offer. I imagine that's one reason he's on cloud 9. He will discuss his immediate future with his family and make a decision within a week or so.

[80Tiger 906]

Here is what this says to me. Newton is somewhat of a short term fix and that they don't know if any of the QB's are quite ready come game one. I believe the coaches are very excited about next year with new players and those coming off injury and that if we can get a guy that can really contribute at QB that their expectation are quite high. So... they want to have as many options at QB as possible.

If the coaches believed that we were still a year or two from competing then I don't think they would have an interest in Newton. I believe this says that with the right QB next year they are thinking big.

[aucanucktiger 1,818]

Looks like the classic life-turned around scenario but some things to consider since our college has now offered a scholly to this guy:

On the AU-favorable side: if, as the media story indicates, 5-star typed his name on a blog/e-mail from the stolen computer it's either a strong indication he did NOT know he bought it from the thief (as his father said) or...he's not very bright. Pretty harsh by Meyer if the former's the case.

and not so: just preparing my argument for gators, bammers, etc that will be all over this: was he convicted? did he plead guilty as charged? did he enter a plea agreement to a lesser offense? $1700 is felony level in FL, did he plea down to a misd? AU offers a scholly to a (convicted/pleading) former thief kicked off another SEC team. Everybody deserves a second chance but we'll get (hypocritically) hammered over this one. I have the rap sheet for Spurrier's signees if anybody's interested

[au2004ece 30]

Looks like the classic life-turned around scenario but some things to consider since our college has now offered a scholly to this guy:

On the AU-favorable side: if, as the media story indicates, 5-star typed his name on a blog/e-mail from the stolen computer it's either a strong indication he did NOT know he bought it from the thief (as his father said) or...he's not very bright. Pretty harsh by Meyer if the former's the case.

and not so: just preparing my argument for gators, bammers, etc that will be all over this: was he convicted? did he plead guilty as charged? did he enter a plea agreement to a lesser offense? $1700 is felony level in FL, did he plea down to a misd? AU offers a scholly to a (convicted/pleading) former thief kicked off another SEC team. Everybody deserves a second chance but we'll get (hypocritically) hammered over this one. I have the rap sheet for Spurrier's signees if anybody's interested

I read that the charges were dropped. He did complete pre-trial counseling or remediation or whatever it is called.

[Mikey 16,781]

Everybody deserves a second chance but we'll get (hypocritically) hammered over this one. I have the rap sheet for Spurrier's signees if anybody's interested

Auburn is big on second chances. Pat Dye signed a convicted cocaine dealer named Otis Mounds. Mounds turned in to a solid citizen, if a less than super football player. The benefits came when schoolmates Frank Sanders, Brian Robinson, Chris Shelling, James Bostic, ? Dorsey and all those "Dillard Pipeline" guys came to Auburn because Auburn gave Otis Mounds a chance. Sometimes good deeds DO get rewarded.

[Bottomfeeder 244]

Everybody deserves a second chance but we'll get (hypocritically) hammered over this one. I have the rap sheet for Spurrier's signees if anybody's interested

This is the only hammer I've seen from this young man.

http://www.warblogle.com/videos/mp4/CamNewtonTrucksVol.mp4

[Duder 238]

Everybody deserves a second chance but we'll get (hypocritically) hammered over this one. I have the rap sheet for Spurrier's signees if anybody's interested

Auburn is big on second chances. Pat Dye signed a convicted cocaine dealer named Otis Mounds. Mounds turned in to a solid citizen, if a less than super football player. The benefits came when schoolmates Frank Sanders, Brian Robinson, Chris Shelling, James Bostic, ? Dorsey and all those "Dillard Pipeline" guys came to Auburn because Auburn gave Otis Mounds a chance. Sometimes good deeds DO get rewarded.

Completely off topic now, but wasn't Otis Mounds plagued by injuries? I seem to remember him being a bright spot when healthy and then just disappearing.

[subterranean_jack 112]

Mounds made an impression as a freshman, then was plagued by injury most of his sophomore and junior seasons. He came back and contributed some as a senior.

That one act by Dye significantly contributed to the Ft. Lauderdale pipeline to Auburn. I'd say 12-15 players from the area have come to Auburn over the past 20 years.

[Grumps 3,706]

Now that we have comepletely hi-jacked this thread, does anyone remember, was it Otis Mounds who, in the first game of the season in his freshman year, was paged by the stadium announcer to report to the locker room? I may be mistaken on the player, but the story is that he was going to redshirt but we had a player get injured in the first half of the first game and they decided to let him play. Anyway, the PA announcer says "Will Otis Mounds please report to the locker room" the crowd loved it. Once again, it may have been another highly rated RB, but I think it was Mounds.

[Grumps 3,706]

While I would not necessarily call this a reliable source, here is an article I just found about Mounds:

My link

Anything's possible: Mounds hasn't let life's ups and downs get best of him :

It's convenient the way Otis Mounds' life has been so neatly divided. A series of incidents -- of strange, sometimes dramatic moments -- that have marked the way for the kid from Fort Lauderdale. Moments that many couldn't pull themselves out of, and moments only Mounds could find his way into.

You see, anything and everything is possible with Otis Mounds. "Strange things, funny things, happen to me for whatever reason," says Mounds, 27, sitting under a tree at Mitchell Moore Center after a morning workout with the Florida Bobcats of the Arena Football League.

To compartmentalize Mounds' life:

Spends 10 months at a state correctional institution at the age of 15 for selling cocaine. ... Called out of the stands at halftime by the public address announcer to play his first game at Auburn. ... Spends nearly seven months on the set of Oliver Stone's movie, Any Given Sunday,playing L.L. Cool J's stunt double. Oh, yeah, he's a defensive specialist for the Bobcats.

"It's been a rollercoaster," Mounds says. It's also a life that could have gone seriously wrong at a very young age. After all, Mounds was just a kid when he was convicted and charged as a juvenile for selling cocaine. "I ran back then with an older crowd," Mounds said. "It was my mistake." With the help of teachers and coaches at Dillard High School, Mounds graduated, was named All-County and was regarded as one of the top tailbacks coming out of high school in 1990. But Mounds' past caught up with him, and colleges and recruiters were reluctant to take a chance on a kid who had done time.

All except Pat Dye.

"Otis had worked hard to straighten his life out," Dye said Thursday. "He had the support of everyone at the high school, but he was also a smart kid with the desire to do the right thing. Sometimes you have to give someone an opportunity. "You look at the social climate today, so many young kids come from a tough environment. If someone doesn't have the guts to help them, to show them an environment where they can lead a clean life, they'll just go from one bad situation to the next."

Mounds still remembers Dye's words to the media. "He said, 'I'm signing an honest guy who made a mistake at a young age," Mounds recalls. "He gave me such a breath of fresh air, such an opportunity."

It was his first year at Auburn, a year he was supposed to sit out as a red-shirt, that Mounds made national headlines. He was sitting in the stands, eating popcorn and drinking soda, and watching Auburn play Fullerton State. Suddenly, over the public address system, Mounds heard the following words. "Will Otis Mounds please report to the Auburn locker room." "They went into that game with three tailbacks, but one was hurt," Mounds recalled. "When only one tailback was able to finish the half, that's when they decided to call me."

Mounds spent halftime getting into uniform, and part of the third quarter stretching. Halfway through the third, Mounds entered the game. Auburn beat Fullerton 38-17. Mounds rushed five times for 33 yards.

Mounds, who was switched to defensive back, was not drafted by the NFL. And despite numerous attempts to get a workout with the Dolphins -- "Sometimes I'd go down there for hours at a time to see some of the coaches" -- his resume reads a year in the Canadian Football League and three years with the Bobcats, who play Grand Rapids at the National Car Rental Center at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.

But, as usual, there is something else going on with Otis Mounds. He recently finished 6-1/2 months of the set of Stone's upcoming movie, which follows the fictional Miami Sharks through a season of NFL football. Not only was Mounds part of a core group of 44 players who act as members of the Sharks throughout the movie (a group that also includes Bobcats linemen Eric Miller and Rob Stanavitch), but he also was the stunt double for L.L. Cool J., who plays the team's tailback.

"Eighty-five percent of the movie takes place on the field, so we'd work some days 18, 19 hours," Mounds said of the movie shot at Pro Player Stadium, the Orange Bowl and Texas Stadium. "Some days we'd shoot on the field for 15 or 16 hours, in pads and taped, and then the last three hours we'd go in the locker room to do scenes."

The movie also stars Al Pacino (as the coach), Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz and Bill Bellamy. And, according to Mounds, "Al Pacino is the man. "When he got up to give a speech (in the movie), we really felt like we wanted to go out there and play football."

Mounds, who married his high school sweetheart, Myra, while attending Auburn, has three children. "And I know football will always be a part of my life because I have two boys who love to play the game," he says. But Mounds isn't counting anything out. He's been asked to work on a movie in August with Keanu Reeves, and he also plans to return to Auburn to finish two quarter hours to earn his degree in sports and recreation management.

"I've been fortunate to have people who have pushed me and told me I could make it," Mounds said. "My wife, my high school teachers and coaches, the people at Auburn. I'd still like to play in the NFL if someone would give me a shot. But if it never pans out, I'd be happy right here.

"I'll just accept the challenges."

[auownsua 4]

Now that we have comepletely hi-jacked this thread, does anyone remember, was it Otis Mounds who, in the first game of the season in his freshman year, was paged by the stadium announcer to report to the locker room? I may be mistaken on the player, but the story is that he was going to redshirt but we had a player get injured in the first half of the first game and they decided to let him play. Anyway, the PA announcer says "Will Otis Mounds please report to the locker room" the crowd loved it. Once again, it may have been another highly rated RB, but I think it was Mounds.

I thought it was Henry Love...................he gave up football b/c Dr. said his neck injury could lead to paralysis.

[creed 1,728]

Now that we have comepletely hi-jacked this thread, does anyone remember, was it Otis Mounds who, in the first game of the season in his freshman year, was paged by the stadium announcer to report to the locker room? I may be mistaken on the player, but the story is that he was going to redshirt but we had a player get injured in the first half of the first game and they decided to let him play. Anyway, the PA announcer says "Will Otis Mounds please report to the locker room" the crowd loved it. Once again, it may have been another highly rated RB, but I think it was Mounds.

I thought it was Henry Love...................he gave up football b/c Dr. said his neck injury could lead to paralysis.

I believe you're thinking of Harry Mose.

[Mikey 16,781]

If memory serves, both Mose and Love had to quit because of neck injuries. It was, indeed, Mounds that was summoned from the stands, as per Dr. Tom's excellent article three posts up.

[hbcau 0]

If memory serves, both Mose and Love had to quit because of neck injuries. It was, indeed, Mounds that was summoned from the stands, as per Dr. Tom's excellent article three posts up.

... and we were playing Cal State Fullerton if memory serves.

[rtftiger 40]

Here is what this says to me. Newton is somewhat of a short term fix and that they don't know if any of the QB's are quite ready come game one. I believe the coaches are very excited about next year with new players and those coming off injury and that if we can get a guy that can really contribute at QB that their expectation are quite high. So... they want to have as many options at QB as possible.

If the coaches believed that we were still a year or two from competing then I don't think they would have an interest in Newton. I believe this says that with the right QB next year they are thinking big.

Any qb who doesn't start as a freshman/sophomore is a "short term fix."

[aubie316 76]

Here is what this says to me. Newton is somewhat of a short term fix and that they don't know if any of the QB's are quite ready come game one. I believe the coaches are very excited about next year with new players and those coming off injury and that if we can get a guy that can really contribute at QB that their expectation are quite high. So... they want to have as many options at QB as possible.

If the coaches believed that we were still a year or two from competing then I don't think they would have an interest in Newton. I believe this says that with the right QB next year they are thinking big.

Any qb who doesn't start as a freshman/sophomore is a "short term fix."

Most QB's don't start until their Junior year...Usually they sit behind somebody until their time comes....I think if you start a freshman at QB, then you are asking for trouble!

[japantiger 4,077]

I'm not terribly excited about this. How many Juco transfers do you remember actually making an impact at Auburn? I'm struggling to think of any. Maybe in the line contributed for a year...but usually they take a year to get used to the place and play some their senior year. Can't really think of a skilled player ever coming in and making an impact.

[aumorgan21 0]

I'm not terribly excited about this. How many Juco transfers do you remember actually making an impact at Auburn? I'm struggling to think of any. Maybe in the line contributed for a year...but usually they take a year to get used to the place and play some their senior year. Can't really think of a skilled player ever coming in and making an impact.

I can think of at least one, Rudi Johnson was a JUCO skill player who made a big impact.

[bigsixfive 336]

Chris Todd threw more TD's in one season than any other Auburn QB.

[TigerDevil 3]

What we need is a confident leader at QB.

[Mikey 16,781]

I'm not terribly excited about this. How many Juco transfers do you remember actually making an impact at Auburn? I'm struggling to think of any. Maybe in the line contributed for a year...but usually they take a year to get used to the place and play some their senior year. Can't really think of a skilled player ever coming in and making an impact.

I'll add David Irons. Then currently there are Nick Fairly, Eltoro Freeman, the list goes on but I'll leave a number of them for somebody else.

[tiger88 934]

I'm not terribly excited about this. How many Juco transfers do you remember actually making an impact at Auburn? I'm struggling to think of any. Maybe in the line contributed for a year...but usually they take a year to get used to the place and play some their senior year. Can't really think of a skilled player ever coming in and making an impact.

I can think of at least one, Rudi Johnson was a JUCO skill player who made a big impact.

Wasn't Jimmy Brumbaugh a Juco player.?

[AU4Real 0]

I'm not terribly excited about this. How many Juco transfers do you remember actually making an impact at Auburn? I'm struggling to think of any. Maybe in the line contributed for a year...but usually they take a year to get used to the place and play some their senior year. Can't really think of a skilled player ever coming in and making an impact.

I'll add David Irons. Then currently there are Nick Fairly, Eltoro Freeman, the list goes on but I'll leave a number of them for somebody else.

O. McCaleb - I'll also add in rebuttle to japantiger's post, this isn't the same coaching staff we've had in the past either. Juco's may be looked at with a little more in mind.

[metafour 4,973]

McCalebb wasn't a JUCO player.

[AUloggerhead 2,356]

Chris Todd threw more TD's in one season than any other Auburn QB.

Don't forget Daniel Cobb. He made an impact ... ... nobody specified whether or not every game he played in was a big impact or not. I will give Cobb credit for coming off the bench to help lead AU to victory in the 2001 UF game. That was his biggest win.

I think CGC & staff are doing the right thing by filling up the ranks with JUCO players. The 'quick fix' means getting the scholarship players up to the 85 maximum. In later years, they can cherry pick from the JUCO ranks special needs or an outstanding player. Right now they are not only going after quantity but they're attracting quality talent as well. WDE