It’s getting worse before it gets better for Auburn Heisman contender Cam Newton. Already under investigation for the events surrounding his recruitment, Newton’s past at Florida is coming to light -- and it isn't pretty. Newton spent a tumultuous two years at Florida, according to FoxSports.com’s Thayer Evans. It was two years that reportedly involved multiple instances of academic dishonesty in addition to an arrest for the theft of a laptop. Insert your own Jeremiah Masoli joke here.
Newton was arrested for the theft of a laptop from a Florida student’s dorm room in November 2008. He again violated the university’s honor code by putting his name on another student’s paper and turning it in, according to the source. Newton was caught after the instructor asked the real author of the paper why he had not turned in his work, the source said.
It didn’t end there, however. When asked to resubmit the work, the source said Newton handed over a paper purchased on the Internet. The teacher caught attempt No. 2 at cheating, sending Newton to the Florida Student Conduct Committee for his efforts. If nothing else he was persistent.
Instead of facing the consequences for violating the university’s conduct code not once, not twice, but thrice, Newton took his talents to Blinn College before transferring to Auburn and entering the thick of the 2010 Heisman race. With his eligibility in question and an NCAA investigation in full swing, reports about his departure from Florida — and the unflattering circumstances that surrounded it — are about the last thing Newton needed this week.