AUcan't belinked to any wrongdoing. If all the NCAA ultimately does is determine that Newton was not eligiblethe momenthis dad sought an extra benefit, the only penalty will be forfeiture of the wins. Even thenAU might pursue some reinstatement appeal based on "good faith" if they can show Cam didn't know his dad was an *** hat, and that no benefit was actually received. But at this point, even the NCAA hasn't declared him ineligible, just possibly ineligible until the investigation is concluded.
If even the NCAA, with all their investigative ability and with all they know today, won't sayright now that he is ineligible, then AU will say they couldn't have known back in July. They'll say it was only "sour grapes" allegations that Cam and his dadadamantly denied and it was worth taking the minimal risk. Now, 10 weeks into the season, after the FBI gets involved, people are changing their stories. They will say they acted in good faith up until then and thereis no point in keeping him out now unless they are told he is definitely ineligible since the difference between 10 forfeitures andthe whole seasonis insignificant.
Now, ifit isultimately determined that AU boosters paid for Cam it will get ugly. But those AU 17ers are way more professional about buying players than most andnow they've had at least since July to hide their tracks if they didn't already do it on the front end.
