National Collegiate Athletic Association
Abbreviation	NCAA
Formation	March 31, 1906 (1906-03-31) (IAAUS)[1] 1910 (NCAA)
Legal status	Association
Headquarters	Indianapolis, Indiana
Region served	United States of America and Canada[2]
Membership	1,281 (schools, conferences or other associations)
President	Mark Emmert
Main organ	Executive Committee
Website	ncaa.org (administrative) ncaa.com (sports)

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is an association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. It is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana.

In August 1973, the current three-division setup of Division I, Division II, and Division III was adopted by the NCAA membership in a special convention. Under NCAA rules, Division I and Division II schools can offer scholarships to athletes for playing a sport. Division III schools may not offer any athletic scholarships. Generally, larger schools compete in Division I and smaller schools in II and III. Division I football was further divided into I-A and I-AA in 1978. Subsequently the term "Division I-AAA" was briefly added to delineate Division I schools which do not field a football program at all, but that term is no longer officially used by the NCAA.^[3] In 2006, Divisions I-A and I-AA were respectively renamed the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).

History[link]

This section requires expansion with: history between 1910 and 1980.

Inter-collegiate sports in the US began in 1852 when crews from Harvard and Yale met in a challenge race in the sport of rowing. As rowing remained the pre-eminent sport in the country into the late-1800's, many of the initial debates about collegiate athletic eligibility and purpose were settled through organizations like the Rowing Association of American Colleges and the Intercollegiate Rowing Association. As other sports emerged, notably football and basketball, many of these same concepts and standards were adopted. Football, in particular, began to emerge as a marquee sport, but the rules of the game itself were in constant flux and often had to be adapted for each contest.

The NCAA dates its formation to two White House conferences convened by President Theodore Roosevelt to "encourage reforms" to college football practices in the early 20th century, which had resulted in repeated injuries and deaths and "prompted many college and universities to discontinue the sport."^[1] Following those White House meetings, Chancellor Henry MacCracken of New York University organized a meeting of 13 colleges and universities to initiate changes; at a follow-on meeting, 62 institutions became charter members of the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (IAAUS).^[1] The IAAUS was officially established on March 31, 1906, and took its present name, the NCAA, in 1910.^[1]

Until the 1980s, the association did not offer women's athletics. Instead an organization named the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) governed women's collegiate sports in the United States. By 1982, however, all divisions of the NCAA offered national championship events for women's athletics and most members of the AIAW joined the NCAA.

In 2009, Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, Canada became the NCAA's first non-US member institution.^[4][5]

Headquarters[link]

The current NCAA headquarters office in Indianapolis

The modern era of the NCAA began in July 1952 when its executive director, Kansas City, Missouri native Walter Byers, moved the organization's headquarters from the LaSalle Hotel in Chicago (where its offices were shared by the headquarters of the Big Ten Conference) to the Fairmount Building at 101 West 11th Street in Downtown Kansas City. The move was intended to separate the NCAA from direct influence of any individual conference and to keep it centrally located.

The Fairmount was a block from Municipal Auditorium which had hosted Final Four games in 1940, 1941 and 1942.

After Byers moved to Kansas City, the championships would be held in Municipal in 1953, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1961, 1964.

The Fairmount office consisted of three rooms with no air conditioning. Byers' staff consisted of four people (an assistant, two secretaries and a bookkeeper).^[6]

In 1964 it moved three blocks away to offices in the Midland Theatre.

In 1973 it moved to 6299 Nall at Shawnee Mission Parkway in suburban Mission, Kansas in a $1.2 million building on 3.4 acres (14,000 m²).

In 1989 it moved six miles (10 km) further south into the suburbs to 6201 College Boulevard in Overland Park, Kansas. The new building was on 11.35 acres (45,900 m²) and had 130,000 square feet (12,000 m²) of space.^[7]

The NCAA was dissatisfied with its Johnson County, Kansas suburban location noting that its location on the south edges of the Kansas City suburbs was more than 40 minutes from Kansas City International Airport. They also noted that the suburban location was not drawing visitors to its new visitors' centre.^[8]

In 1997 it asked for bids for a new headquarters.

Various cities competed for a new headquarters with the two finalists being Kansas City and Indianapolis.

Kansas City proposed to relocate the NCAA back downtown near the Crown Center complex and would locate the visitors' centre in Union Station (Kansas City). However Kansas City's main sports venue Kemper Arena was nearly 30 years old.^[8]

Indianapolis argued that it was in fact more central than Kansas City in that two thirds of the members are east of the Mississippi River.^[8]

Further the 50,000-seat RCA Dome far eclipsed the 17,000-seat Kemper.

In 1999 the NCAA moved its 300 member staff to its new headquarters in the White River State Park in a four-story, 140,000-square-foot (13,000 m²) facility on the west edge of downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. Adjacent to the headquarters is the 35,000-square-foot (3,300 m²) NCAA Hall of Champions.^[9]

Structure[link]

The NCAA's legislative structure is broken down into cabinets and committees, consisting of various representatives of its member schools.^{[citation needed]} These may be broken down further into sub-committees. Legislation is then passed on, which oversees all the cabinets and committees, and also includes representatives from the schools, such as athletic directors and faculty advisors. Management Council legislation goes on to the Board of Directors, which consists of school presidents, for final approval. The NCAA staff provides support, acting as guides, liaison, research and public and media relations. The NCAA stands for the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

Sports sanctioned by the NCAA include the following: basketball, baseball (men), softball (women), football (men), cross country, field hockey (women), bowling (women), golf, fencing (coeducational), lacrosse, soccer, gymnastics, rowing (women only), volleyball, ice hockey, water polo, rifle (coeducational), tennis, skiing (coeducational), track and field, swimming and diving, and wrestling (men).

Presidents of NCAA[link]

The NCAA had no full-time administrator until 1951, when Walter Byers was appointed executive director.^[1] In 1998, the title was changed to President.^[10]

• Walter Byers 1951–1988
• Dick Schultz 1988–1993
• Cedric Dempsey 1994–2002^[10]
• Myles Brand 2003–2009^[10][11]
• Jim Isch (interim) 2009–2010^[12]
• Mark A. Emmert 2010–present

Division history[link]

Championships[link]

NCAA National Championship trophies, rings, and watches won by UCLA teams

All sports[link]

The NCAA awards championships in in the following sports:

The NCAA has never sanctioned an official championship in the highest level of football, now known as Division I FBS. Instead, several outside bodies award their own titles; see below.

As of December 2011,^[13] UCLA, Stanford, and University of Southern California have the most NCAA championships; UCLA holds the most, winning a combined 108 team championships in men's and women's sports, with Stanford second, with 103, University of Southern California third with 95, Abilene Christian with 55, and then Oklahoma State with 50.

During the 2008-09 school year, the Pac-10 conference captured 11 NCAA titles, outperforming any other conference. It was followed by the ACC and Big Ten with five championships, and by the Big 12 and SEC conferences with four each.^[14]

The NCAA currently awards 87 national championships yearly; 44 women's, 40 men's, and coed championships for fencing, rifle, and skiing. For every NCAA sanctioned sport other than Division I FBS football, the NCAA awards trophies with gold, silver, and bronze plating for the first, second, and third place teams respectively.^{[citation needed]} In the case of the NCAA basketball tournaments, both semifinalists who did not make the championship game receive bronze plated trophies for third place (prior to 1982 the teams played a "consolation" game to determine third place).^{[citation needed]} Similar trophies are awarded to both semifinalists in the NCAA football tournaments (which are conducted in Division I FCS and both lower divisions), which have never had a third-place game. Winning teams maintain permanent possession of these trophies unless it is later found that they were won via serious rules violations.

Starting with the 2001 season, and again in 2008, the trophies were changed.^{[citation needed]} Starting in the 2007 basketball season, teams that make the Final Four in the Division I tournament receive bronze plated "regional championship" trophies upon winning their Regional Championship. The teams that make the National Championship game receive an additional trophy that is gold plated for the winner and silver plated for the runner-up. Starting in the mid-1990s, the National Champions in men's and women's basketball receive a very elaborate trophy sponsored by Siemens with a black marble base and crystal "neck" with a removable crystal basketball following the presentation of the standard NCAA Championship trophy.

Football Bowl Subdivision[link]

The NCAA does not hold a championship tournament for Division I FBS football. In the past, the "national championship" went to teams that placed first in any of a number of season-ending media polls, most notable the AP Poll of writers and the Coaches Poll. Currently, the Bowl Championship Series—an association of the conferences and independent schools that compete in Division I FBS and four bowl games—has arranged to place the top two teams (based on a formula blending human polls and computer rankings)^[15] into a national title game. The winner of the BCS title game must be ranked first in the final Coaches' Poll and receives the AFCA Coaches' Trophy (presently sponsored by Dr Pepper); since the NCAA awards no national championship for Division I FBS football, this trophy does not say NCAA as other NCAA college sports national championship trophies do. The AP and other organizations are still free to name as national champions other teams than the one that won the BCS championship, although all conferences (and by extension their teams) are contractually agreed to the BCS formula and champion the USA Today Coaches' poll is required to vote the winner of the “BCS National Championship Game” the #1 team in the nation in the final poll. All conferences have sanctioned this practice and championship (with various changes to the present form seen today) for the several contractual periods since 1998.^[16]

Hall of Champions[link]

NCAA 2006 championship banners hang from the ceiling of the NCAA Hall of Champions in Indianapolis

Awards[link]

See also: Academic All-America, Best Female College Athlete ESPY Award,^[17] Best Male College Athlete ESPY Award,^[17] Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, Honda Sports Award, College baseball awards, and Sports Illustrated 2009 all-decade honors (college basketball & football)

See footnote^[18]

The NCAA presents a number of different individual awards, including:

• NCAA Award of Valor (not given every year); selection is based on heroic action occurring in the academic year.
• NCAA Gerald R. Ford Award, honoring an individual who has provided significant leadership as an advocate for intercollegiate athletics.
• NCAA Inspiration Award (not given every year); selection is based on inspirational action.
• NCAA Sportsmanship Award, honoring student-athletes who have demonstrated one or more of the ideals of sportsmanship.
• NCAA Theodore Roosevelt Award, the highest honor that the NCAA confers on an individual.
• NCAA Woman of the Year Award, honoring a senior student-athlete who has distinguished herself throughout her collegiate career in academics, athletics, service and leadership.
• Elite 89 Award, honoring the student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA who has reached the competition at the finals site for each of the NCAA's 89 men's and women's championships (in Divisions I, II, and III).
• Silver Anniversary Awards, honoring six distinguished former student-athletes on the 25th anniversary of their college graduation.
• The Flying Wedge Award, one of the NCAA’s highest honors exemplifying outstanding leadership and service to the NCAA.
• Today's Top VIII Award, honoring eight outstanding senior student-athletes.
• Walter Byers Scholarship, honoring the top male and female scholar-athletes.

In previous years, the NCAA has presented the following awards at its NCAA Honors event: Astronaut Salute, Business Leader Salute, Congressional Medal of Honor Salute, Governor Salute, Olympians Salute, Performing Arts Salute, Presidents Cabinet Salute, Prominent National Media Salute, Special Recognition Awards, U.S. House of Representatives Salute, U.S. Senate Salute.^[19]

Conferences[link]

See also: List of NCAA conferences and List of non-NCAA conferences

Division I conferences[link]

Note: Conferences with automatic entry to the Bowl Championship Series are denoted with an asterisk (*).

Note: Conferences within the Football Bowl Subdivision but not the BCS are denoted with a pound sign (#).

Division I FCS football-only conferences[link]

• Missouri Valley Football Conference
• Pioneer Football League

Division I hockey-only conferences[link]

• Atlantic Hockey
• Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA)
• College Hockey America
• ECAC Hockey
• Hockey East
• Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA)

Division II conferences[link]

See: List of NCAA conferences#Division II

Division III conferences[link]

See: List of NCAA conferences#Division III

Media[link]

The NCAA has current media rights contracts with CBS Sports, CBS College Sports Network, ESPN, ESPN Plus, and Turner Sports for coverage of its 88 championships. According to the official NCAA website,^[20] ESPN and its associated networks have rights to 21 championships, CBS to 67, and Turner Sports to one. The following are the most prominent championships and rightsholders:

• CBS: Men's basketball (NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, with Turner Sports, and NCAA Men's Division II Basketball Tournament), track and field, ice hockey (women's division I)
• ESPN: Women's basketball (all divisions), baseball, softball, ice hockey (men's division I), football (all divisions including Div. I FCS), soccer (division I for both sexes)
• Turner Sports: NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament with CBS

Westwood One has exclusive radio rights to the men's and women's basketball Final Fours to the men's College World Series (baseball). DirecTV has an exclusive package expanding CBS' coverage of the men's basketball tournament.

Video games based on popular NCAA sports such as football and basketball are licensed by Electronic Arts.

Football television controversy[link]

In the late 1940s there were only two colleges in the country with a national TV contract, a considerable source of revenue. In 1951, the NCAA voted to prohibit any live TV broadcast of college football games during the season. No sooner had the NCAA voted to ban television than public outcry forced it to retreat. Instead, the NCAA voted to restrict the number of televised games for each team to stop the slide in gate attendance. Harold Stassen, president of the University of Pennsylvania (Penn), defied the monopoly and signed a $200,000 contract with ABC. Eventually, Penn was forced to back down when the NCAA threatened to expel the Quakers from the association.

By the 1980s, televised college football had become a much larger source of income for the NCAA. If the television contracts the NCAA had with ABC, CBS, and ESPN had remained in effect for the 1984 season, they would have generated US$73.6 million for the Association and its members. In September 1981, the Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma and the University of Georgia Athletic Association filed suit against the NCAA in district court in Oklahoma. The plaintiffs stated that the NCAA's football television plan constituted price fixing, output restraints, boycott, and monopolizing, all of which were illegal under the Sherman Act. The NCAA argued that its pro-competitive and non-commercial justifications for the plan—-protection of live gate, maintenance of competitive balance among NCAA member institutions and creation of a more attractive "product" to compete with other forms of entertainment—-combined to make the plan reasonable.

In September 1982, the district court found in favor of the plaintiffs, ruling that the plan violated antitrust laws. It enjoined the Association from enforcing the contract. The NCAA appealed all the way to the United States Supreme Court, but lost in 1984 in the 7-2 ruling NCAA v. Board of Regents of Univ. of Oklahoma.^[21]

Eligibility[link]

To participate in college athletics in the freshmen year the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) states that students must meet three requirements; graduate from high school, complete the minimum required academic courses, and have qualifying grade-point average (GPA) and SAT or ACT scores.^[22]

The 16 academic credits are four courses in English, two courses in math, two classes in social science, two in natural or physical science, and one additional course in English, math, natural or physical science, or another academic course such as foreign language.^[23]

To meet the requirements for grade point average and SAT scores students the lowest possible GPA a student may be eligible with is a 1.700 with an SAT score of 1400. The lowest SAT score a student may be eligible with is 700 with a GPA of 2.500.^[22]

As of 2011, a high school student may sign a letter of intent to enter and play football for a college only after the first Wednesday in February.^[24] In August 2011, the NCAA announced plans to raise academic requirements for postseason competition, including its two most prominent competitions, football's Bowl Championship Series and the Men's Division I Basketball Championship; the new requirement, which are based on an "academic progress rate" that measures retention and graduation rates, and is calculated on a four-year, rolling basis.^[25] The changes raise the rate from 900 to 930, which represents a 50% graduation rate.^[25]

Rules violations[link]

Member schools pledge to follow the rules promulgated by the NCAA. Creation of a mechanism to enforce the NCAA's legislation occurred in 1952 after careful consideration by the membership.

Allegations of rules violations are referred to the NCAA's investigative staff. A preliminary investigation is initiated to determine if an official inquiry is warranted and to categorize any resultant violations as secondary or major. If several violations are found, the NCAA may determine that the school as a whole has exhibited a "lack of institutional control." The institution involved is notified promptly and may appear in its own behalf before the NCAA Committee on Infractions.

Findings of the Committee on Infractions and the resultant sanctions in major cases are reported to the institution. Sanctions will generally include having the institution placed on "probation" for a period of time, in addition to other penalties. The institution may appeal the findings or sanctions to an appeals committee. After considering written reports and oral presentations by representatives of the Committee on Infractions and the institution, the committee acts on the appeal. Action may include accepting the infractions committee's findings and penalty, altering either, or making its own findings and imposing an appropriate penalty. The current longest running period of sanctions belongs to the University of Alabama (at Tuscaloosa). Sanctions at Alabama cover all major sports and will expire in June 2012 (extending the record for 17 years upon being penalized in 1995).

In cases of particularly egregious misconduct, the NCAA has the power to ban a school from participating in a particular sport, a penalty known as the "Death Penalty". Since 1985, any school that commits major violations during the probationary period can be banned from the sport involved for up to two years. However, when the NCAA opts not to issue a death penalty for a repeat violation, it must explain why it didn't do so. This penalty has only been imposed three times in its modern form, most notably when Southern Methodist University's football team had its 1987 season canceled due to massive rules violations dating back more than a decade. SMU opted not to field a team in 1988 as well due to the aftershocks from the sanctions, and the program has never recovered; it has only two winning seasons and one bowl appearance since then. The devastating effect the death penalty had on SMU has reportedly made the NCAA skittish about issuing another one. Since the SMU case, there are only three instances where the NCAA has seriously considered imposing it against a Division I school; it imposed it against Division II Morehouse College's men's soccer team in 2003 and Division III MacMurray College's men's tennis team in 2005.

Additionally, in particularly egregious cases of rules violations, coaches, athletic directors and athletic support staff can be barred from working for any NCAA member school without permission from the NCAA. This procedure is known as a "show-cause penalty" (not to be confused with an order to show cause in the legal sense).^[26] Theoretically, a school can hire someone with a "show cause" on their record during the time the show cause order is in effect only with permission from the NCAA Infractions Committee. The school assumes the risks and stigma of hiring such a person. It may then end up being sanctioned by the NCAA and the Infractions Committee for their choice, possibly losing athletic scholarships, revenue from schools who would not want to compete with that other school, and the ability for their games to be televised, along with restrictions on recruitment and practicing times. As a result, a show-cause order usually has the effect of blackballing individuals from being hired for the duration of the order.

Currently, Dave Bliss, former basketball coach at Baylor University, has the longest show cause order. As a result of his involvement in serious rules violations, Bliss is effectively banned from coaching at the major college level until the 2015-16 season.

Division I-FBS institutions on probation[link]

The following Division I Football Bowl Subdivision institutions are currently on probation by the NCAA in one or more sports:^{[27][Full citation needed][28]}

Division I-FCS institutions on probation[link]

The following Division I-FCS institutions are currently on probation by the NCAA in one or more sports:^[27]

Division I non-football institutions on probation[link]

The following Division I non-football institutions are currently on probation by the NCAA in one or more sports:^[27]

Division II institutions on probation[link]

The following Division II institutions are currently on probation by the NCAA in one or more sports:^[27]

Division III institutions on probation[link]

The following Division III institutions are currently on probation by the NCAA in one or more sports:^[27]

Subsidiaries[link]

The NCAA runs the officiating software company ArbiterSports, based in Sandy, Utah, a joint venture between two subsidiaries of the NCAA, Arbiter LLC and eOfficials LLC. The NCAA has said their objective is for the venture to help improve the fairness, quality and consistency of officiating across amateur athletics.^[29][30]

Sponsors[link]

• AT&T, Coca-Cola and CapitalOne are NCAA Corporate Champions. Other sponsors are NCAA Corporate Partners.^[31]

Criticisms[link]

This article's Criticism or Controversy section may compromise the article's neutral point of view of the subject. Please integrate the section's contents into the article as a whole, or rewrite the material. (August 2011)

Numerous criticisms have been lodged against the NCAA. These include:

• The creators of South Park in the episode "Crack Baby Athletic Association" (s15e05)[1]
• Several people, notably including former Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly, and NPR's Frank Deford, have criticized the NCAA for its inflexibility.^[32][33]
• Former NCAA President Walter Byers in his book Unsportsmanlike Conduct: Exploiting College Athletes refers to the NCAA's operation by stating that "Today the NCAA Presidents Commission is preoccupied with tightening a few loose bolts in a worn machine, firmly committed to the neo-plantation belief that the enormous proceeds from college games belong to the overseers (administrators) and supervisors (coaches). The plantation workers performing in the arena may only receive those benefits authorized by the overseers."
• Following losing the 1953 case The University of Denver v Nemeth, where it was found that a student and athlete was owed workers' compensation, it has been argued^{[by whom?]} that the NCAA created the term "student-athlete". This was done according to Andrew Zimbalist in his book Unpaid Professionals (1999) to prevent similar future litigation losses.
• In 2007, the case of White et al. v NCAA was brought by former NCAA student-athletes Jason White, Brian Pollack, Jovan Harris and Chris Craig as a class action lawsuit. They argued that the NCAA's current limits on a full scholarship or Grant in Aid was a violation of federal antitrust laws. Their reasoning was that in the absence of such a limit, NCAA member schools would be free to offer any financial aid packages they desired to recruit the student and athlete. The NCAA settled before a ruling by the court, by agreeing to set up the Former Student-Athlete Fund to "assist qualified candidates applying for receipt of career development expenses and/or reimbursement of educational expenses under the terms of the agreement with plaintiffs in a federal antitrust lawsuit." More information about this settlement is available at NCAA^[34]
• The National Collegiate Players Association (NCPA) is a group started by former UCLA football players with the purpose of organizing student-athletes. Their goal is to change NCAA rules they view as unjust. Today, this continues by doing the following:

1. Raising the scholarship amount
2. Holding schools responsible for their players' sports-related medical injuries
3. Increasing graduation rates.^[35]

Other collegiate athletic organizations[link]

The NCAA is the dominant, but not the only, collegiate athletic organization in the United States. Several other such organizations exist.

In the United States[link]

• National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA)
• National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA)
• National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA)
• United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA)
• Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) – disbanded in 1982, after the NCAA began sponsoring championships in women's sports

Foreign intercollegiate/interuniversity equivalents[link]

• British Universities & Colleges Sport
• Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS)
• Canadian Colleges Athletic Association (CCAA)
• National Collegiate Athletic Association (Philippines) (NCAA) and University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) for Philippines (among other leagues)

International governing body[link]

• International University Sports Federation (FISU) (Fédération Internationale du Sport Universitaire)

See also[link]

• Academic Progress Rate
• College athletics
• College rivalries
• Collegiate Club Sports
• Higher education in the United States
• List of college athletic programs by U.S. state
• List of college sports team nicknames
• List of U.S. college mascots
• Prime Time League

References[link]

External links[link]

• NCAA official site
• NCAA administrative website
• NCAA student information website

v t e National Collegiate Athletic Association NCAA Awards Hall of Champions Conferences Division I sports and championships Institutions Athletic directors Baseball (Championship, CWS) Basketball (Men, Women) Women's bowling Boxing Cross country (Men, Women) Fencing (Team, Individual) Women's field hockey Football (FBS / BCS, FCS) Golf (Men, Women) Gymnastics (Men, Women) Ice hockey (Men, Women) Lacrosse (Men, Women) Rifle Rowing (Women's Championship) Skiing Soccer (Men, Women) Softball (Championship, CWS) Swimming and diving (Men, Women) Tennis (Men, Women) Track and field (Men's indoor and outdoor, Women's indoor and outdoor) Volleyball (Men, Women) Water polo (Men, Women) Wrestling (Championship) Division II Institutions Baseball (CWS) Basketball (Men, Women) Football (Championship) Soccer (Men) Softball (CWS) Division III Institutions Baseball (CWS) Basketball (Men, Women) Football (Championship) Soccer (Men) Softball (CWS)

Cam Newton

Newton calling a play against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
No. 1     Carolina Panthers
Quarterback
Personal information
Date of birth: (1989-05-11) May 11, 1989 (age 23)
Place of birth: Savannah, Georgia
Height: 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) Weight: 248 lb (112 kg)
Career information
High school: Westlake High School, Atlanta, Georgia
College: Auburn
NFL Draft: 2011 / Round: 1 / Pick: 1
Debuted in 2011 for the Carolina Panthers
Career history
Carolina Panthers (2011–present)
Roster status: Active
Career highlights and awards
AP Offensive Rookie of the Year (2011) Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year (2011) Sporting News Rookie of the Year (2011) PFWA Offensive Rookie of the Year (2011) Pro Bowl (2011) 3× Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week NFL record for most passing yards by a rookie: 4,051 (2011) NFL single-season record for most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback: 14 (2011) List of his accomplishments AP Player of the Year (2010) Walter Camp Award (2010) Maxwell Award (2010) Davey O'Brien Award (2010) Manning Award (2010) Heisman Trophy (2010) 2× BCS National Championship (2009 , 2011) First-team All-SEC (2010) Consensus All-American (2010)
Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2011
TD-INT 21–17 Passing yards 4,051 Passer rating 84.5 Rushing yards 706 Rushing touchdowns 14 Stats at NFL.com

Cameron Jerrell Newton^[1] (born May 11, 1989^[2]) is an American football quarterback for the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Auburn Tigers and was drafted as the first overall pick by the Panthers in the 2011 NFL Draft. He is the third player to be awarded the Heisman Trophy, win a national championship, and be the first overall pick in the NFL draft all in the same one-year span, joining Leon Hart (1950), and Angelo Bertelli (1944).^[3]

Newton is the son of Cecil Newton, Sr., who was cut as a safety from the pre-season rosters of the 1983^[4] Dallas Cowboys and 1984^[5] Buffalo Bills, and he is the younger brother of Cecil Newton, Jr., a center who currently plays for the Baltimore Ravens.^[6]

Newton was initially a member of the Florida Gators before transferring to Blinn College, where his team won a national junior college football championship. Newton was then recruited by head coach Gene Chizik of Auburn University and transferred once more. He became just the third player in major college football history to both rush and pass for 20 or more touchdowns in a single season. His performance earned him the Heisman Trophy as the most outstanding college football player, and he led Auburn to their second national championship in school history, despite controversy concerning his eligibility. In his NFL debut, Newton became the first rookie quarterback in NFL history to throw for 400 yards in his NFL regular-season opener, breaking Peyton Manning's rookie record.^[7]

Collegiate career[link]

University of Florida[link]

Newton, far left, with Dan Mullen, John Brantley, Tim Tebow, and Bryan Waggener during his freshman season at UF.

In 2007, as a freshman, Newton beat out fellow freshman quarterback John Brantley as the back-up for star quarterback and eventual Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow. He played in five games, passing for 40 yards on 5-of-10 and rushing 16 times for 103 yards and three touchdowns.^[8] In 2008, during his sophomore season, Newton played in the season opener against Hawaii but suffered an ankle injury and decided to take a medical redshirt season.^[9]

On November 21, 2008, Newton was arrested for the alleged theft of a laptop computer from a student at the University of Florida. He was subsequently suspended from the team after the laptop was found to be in his possession.^[10] Campus police "tracked the stolen laptop to the athlete...Newton tossed the computer out his dorm window in a humorously ill-advised attempt to hide it from cops."^[11] All charges against Newton were dropped after he completed a court-approved pre-trial diversion program. "I believe that a person should not be thought of as a bad person because of some senseless mistake that they made," said Newton in 2010. "I think every person should have a second chance. If they blow that second chance, so be it for them."^[12] Newton announced his intention to transfer from Florida three days before the Gators' national championship win over Oklahoma.^[8]

Blinn College[link]

In January 2009, Newton transferred to Blinn College in Brenham, Texas to play for head coach Brad Franchione, son of Dennis Franchione. That fall he led his team to the 2009 NJCAA National Football Championship,^[13] throwing for 2,833 yards with 22 touchdowns and rushing for 655 yards.^[14] He was named a Juco All-America honorable mention and was the most recruited juco quarterback in the country.^[14] Newton was ranked as the number one quarterback from either high school or junior college by Rivals.com and was the only five-star recruit.^[15][16][17] During Newton's recruitment, Oklahoma, Mississippi State and Auburn were his three finalists. He eventually signed with the Tigers.^[18]

Auburn University[link]

Newton started the first game of Auburn's season, a home win over Arkansas State on September 4, 2010. Newton accounted for 5 total offensive touchdowns and over 350 yards of total offense. He was named SEC Offensive Player of the Week following his performance.^[19] Three weeks later Newton had a second break-out game with 5 total touchdowns and over 330 total offensive yards against the South Carolina Gamecocks. "That's a great SEC win against a really, really good football team. I can't be more proud of our guys," Auburn coach Gene Chizik said. "I thought we had a good pace going on," Newton said.^[20]

On October 2, 2010, Newton led Auburn to a 52–3 victory over Louisiana-Monroe. He completed three touchdown passes, one of which went for 94 yards. It was the longest touchdown pass and offensive play in Auburn football history. On October 9, 2010, Newton led Auburn to a 37–34 victory over Kentucky. He passed for 210 yards and rushed for 198 yards including 4 rushing touchdowns. On October 16, 2010, during the Arkansas game, Newton ran for three touchdowns and threw one touchdown pass.^[21] Following these performances, media reports began to list Newton among the top 5 candidates to watch for the Heisman Trophy.^[22][23]

Newton (top) warming up prior to the 2010 Iron Bowl.

On October 23, 2010, Newton led Auburn to a 24–17 victory over the LSU Tigers. He rushed for 217 yards in the game, giving him 1,077 yards for the season, and set the SEC record for yards rushing in a season by a quarterback—a record previously held by Auburn quarterback, Jimmy Sidle, that stood for over 40 years. After this game, Newton became just the second quarterback to rush for over 1,000 yards in the conference's history. He also broke Pat Sullivan's school record for most touchdowns in a single season—a record that has stood since 1971—with 27. Both of these records were broken on the same play: a 49-yard touchdown run in which Newton escaped two tackles, corrected himself with his arm, eluded two additional tackles, and dragged a defender into the endzone for the touchdown. The play was described as Newton's "Heisman moment".^[24][25][26] Auburn received its first #1 overall BCS ranking, and Newton was listed as the overall favorite for the Heisman.^[27]

By halftime of the game against Georgia, Newton became the first SEC player to ever throw for 2,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in a single season.^[28] With the victory, Auburn improved to 11–0 and clinched the SEC West, allowing them to play in the SEC Championship game. Newton led Auburn to a 28–27 victory over Alabama in the Iron Bowl after being down 24–0. The 24-point come-from-behind victory was the largest in the program's 117 year history. He passed for 216 yards with three passing touchdowns and ran for another.

Newton led the Tigers back from a 24-point deficit to defeat rival Alabama.

On December 4, 2010 Newton led the Tigers to an SEC Championship, their first since 2004, by defeating South Carolina 56–17, setting an SEC Championship Game record for most points scored and largest margin of victory. Newton was named the game MVP after scoring a career-best six touchdowns (four passing and two rushing). With his performance, Newton also became the third player in NCAA FBS history to throw and run for 20-plus touchdowns in a single season (along with former Florida teammate Tim Tebow and Colin Kaepernick, who reached the milestone earlier the same day).^[29] Newton was named the 2010 SEC Offensive Player of the Year as well as the 2010 AP Player of the Year. He was also one of four finalists for the 2010 Heisman Trophy, which he won in a landslide victory.^[30][31] He is the third Auburn player to win the Heisman Trophy.

Following the victory in the SEC Championship, Auburn was invited to participate in the school's first BCS National Championship Game. The game took place on January 10, 2011 in Glendale, Arizona, with Auburn playing against the Oregon Ducks.^[32] In a game that Steve Spurrier predicted to score as high as 60–55,^[33] Auburn beat Oregon just 22-19 to win the BCS National Championship. Newton threw for 262 yards, 2 touchdowns, and one interception. He also rushed 22 times for 65 yards, though he lost a fumble that later allowed Oregon to tie the game with limited time remaining. Once Auburn received the ball, Newton drove the Tigers down the field to win the game on Wes Byrum's last-second field goal. Media outlets wrote that Newton was upstaged by teammate Michael Dyer (the game's Offensive MVP) and Auburn's defense, which held the high-powered Oregon ground game to just 75 yards ^[34] On January 13, three days after winning the BCS National Championship, Newton declared for the 2011 NFL Draft, forgoing his senior season.^[35]

Eligibility controversy[link]

Newton receiving a snap in 2010 against the LSU Tigers

Newton spent much of the second half of the 2010 football season embroiled in a controversy regarding allegations that his father, Cecil Newton, had sought substantial sums of money in return for his son playing for a major college football team, in violation of National Collegiate Athletic Association rules.^[37] In early November 2010, several Mississippi State University athletic boosters reported to the media that, during their recruitment of his son out of Blinn College nearly a year earlier, Cecil Newton said that it would take "more than just a scholarship" to secure his son's services. This demand was communicated by booster and former Mississippi State football player Kenny Rogers to fellow boosters and former teammates Bill Bell and John Bond. Rogers said in a Dallas radio interview that Cecil Newton said it would take "anywhere between $100,000 and $180,000" to get his son to transfer to Mississippi State.^[38] Auburn maintained throughout the investigation, which had begun several months before the public was made aware of it,^[39] that they were not involved in any pay-for-play scheme and that Cam Newton was fully eligible to play.

On November 30, Auburn declared Cam Newton ineligible after the NCAA found evidence that Cecil Newton solicited Mississippi State $120,000 to $180,000 in exchange for Cam Newton's athletic service, a violation of amateurism.^[39] Auburn immediately filed to have him reinstated on the basis that Kenny Rogers could not be considered an agent and that Cam Newton was not aware of his father’s illegal activity.^[39] The NCAA eventually sided with Auburn and reinstated Newton the next day on December 1, declaring him eligible for the 2010 SEC Championship Game three days later, stating that there was not sufficient evidence that Cam Newton or anyone from Auburn had any knowledge of Cecil Newton's actions.^[40] Auburn subsequently limited the access Cecil Newton had to the program as result of NCAA findings. Also, due to increased pressure by the media and the NCAA investigation, Cecil Newton announced he would not attend the Heisman Trophy Ceremony.^[41] The NCAA reinstatement did not clear Cecil Newton of any wrongdoing; it did, however, establish Cam Newton's eligibility as a candidate for the Heisman Trophy, which he won in a landslide victory with 2,263 points and 729 first-place votes.^[42]

In October 2011, the NCAA officially closed its 13 month investigation into the recruitment of Cam Newton, unable to substantiate any allegation or speculation of illicit recruiting by Auburn, ^[43][44] and concluded that Cecil Newton only solicited a cash payment from Mississippi State and no other institution attempting to recruit his son.^[39] The investigation, which consisted of over 50 interviews and the reviewing of numerous bank records, IRS documents, telephone records, and e-mail messages, resulted in no findings that would indicate Auburn participated in any pay-for-play scenario in signing Cam Newton.^[45][46] The NCAA said that the allegations failed to "meet a burden of proof, which is a higher standard than rampant public speculation online and in the media" and that the allegations were not "based on credible and persuasive information".^[44][46] The NCAA's Stacey Osburn said "We've done all we can do. We've done all the interviews. We've looked into everything, and there's nothing there. Unless something new comes to light that's credible and we need to look at, it's concluded."^[47]

Awards and honors[link]

• 2010 Heisman Trophy winner
• 2010 Maxwell Award winner
• 2010 Walter Camp Award winner
• 2010 Davey O'Brien Award winner
• 2010 Manning Award winner
• 2010 Associated Press College Football Player of the Year
• 2010 First-team All-American by AFCA, Associated Press, The Sporting News, WCFF, CBS Sports, College Football News, ESPN, Rivals.com, Scout.com and Sports Illustrated
• 2011 Voted "Best Rookie Quarterback 2011" by NFL Analyst Mitch Phillips.

College stats[link]

Professional career[link]

2011 NFL Draft[link]

In late January 2011, Newton began working out with George Whitfield Jr. in San Diego.^[48] Whitfield has worked with other quarterbacks such as Ben Roethlisberger and Akili Smith. On April 28, 2011, Newton was selected with the first overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers.^[49] He was the first reigning Heisman Trophy winner to go first overall since Carson Palmer in 2003. He also was Auburn's fourth No. 1 selection after Tucker Frederickson (1965), Bo Jackson (1986), and Aundray Bruce (1988).

During the 2011 NFL lockout, he spent up to 12 hours a day at the IMG Madden Football Academy in Bradenton, FL, spending up to two hours per day doing one-on-one training with fellow Heisman Trophy winner and ex-Panthers quarterback Chris Weinke.^[50]

Before the draft, Panthers owner Jerry Richardson asked Newton to have a clean-cut appearance after Newton told Richardson he had no tattoos or piercings and was thinking about growing his hair longer.^[51] Although this is similar to a policy the New York Yankees has on all of its players, this gained some controversy on Richardson's part due to the fact that other players (most notably Steve Smith and Jeremy Shockey) had visible tattoos and, in Shockey's case, had longer hair earlier in his career with the New York Giants. Reactions were so strong that some even accused Richardson of racism.^[52] Despite this, Newton agreed to Richardson's dress code policies as a condition of being drafted first overall.

Carolina Panthers (2011–present)[link]

2011 Season: Rookie Season[link]

Newton, on his first career NFL play, hands off to DeAngelo Williams

On July 29, 2011, Newton signed a four-year deal worth over $22 million that is fully guaranteed.^[54] A month later on September 1, 2011, he was named the Panthers' starting quarterback, ahead of Jimmy Clausen and Derek Anderson. In his NFL debut game on September 11, 2011, Newton was 24–37 passing for 422 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception, in a 28–21 road loss to the Arizona Cardinals. With a quarterback rating of 110.4, he also rushed for a touchdown, and became the first rookie to throw for 400+ yards in his first career game. His 422 passing yards broke Peyton Manning's rookie record for most passing yards on opening day.^[55]. Cameron Newton's quarterbacks coach is Mike Shula, former Head football coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide. He currently wears jersey number 1.^[56]

In his second career game, a 30–23 home loss to the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers, Newton broke his own record, set the weekend previously, with 432 yards passing, throwing and rushing for a touchdown.^[57] Newton's 854 passing yards through the first two games of the season, the most in league history by a rookie,^[58] broke the NFL record of 827 set by Kurt Warner in the 2000 season and stood as the most by any quarterback in the first two weeks of the season until New England's Tom Brady broke the mark again later in the day with 940.^[58] He also became the only player to begin his career with consecutive 400-yard passing games^[59] and broke the Carolina Panthers franchise record of 547 yards previously held by Steve Beuerlein.^[60] After Newton's second career game, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers commented "I think someone said in the locker room that I'm kind of glad we played him early in the season because when he figures it out fully, he's going to be even tougher to stop."^[60] Newton's three additional interceptions against the Packers tied him for the most interceptions thrown in the league. His total passing yards over the first three games was 1,012 yards.

The Panthers recorded their first victory of the season against the Jacksonville Jaguars 16–10. Newton threw for 158 yards and 1 touchdown. The Panthers played the Atlanta Falcons, losing 31–17 while passing for 237 yards with no passing touchdowns. Newton increased his team's record to 2-5 with a week 7 win over the Washington Redskins 33-20. He threw for 256 yards and 1 touchdown, completing 18 of his 23 passes. He also rushed for 59 yards and a touchdown, including one run for 25 yards. This performance brought Cam a passer rating of 127.5, his highest yet. With Carolina's win over the Indianapolis Colts, Newton became the fourth rookie quarterback to pass for over 3,000 yards in his first season, joining Peyton Manning, Matt Ryan, and Sam Bradford. Newton set the NFL rushing touchdown record for quarterbacks on December 4, 2011, rushing for his 13th touchdown of the season in the fourth quarter against Tampa Bay. It was his third of the game which resulted in a 38-19 win. In that game, he also caught a 27 yard pass from WR Legedu Naanee, making him a triple threat.^[61] On December 24, 2011 in a 48-16 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Newton threw for 171 yards and 3 TDs and also rushed for 65 yards and a score. In the process, he broke Peyton Manning's record of 3,739 yards passing for a rookie. On January 1, 2012 against the New Orleans Saints, Newton threw for 158 yards and becoming the first rookie QB to throw for 4,000 yards. He finished his rookie season with 4,051 yards. Over the course of the season, when Newton had a turnover, the team was 0-10; when he had no turnovers, the team went 6-0.

On January 22, 2012 Newton was named to be heading to the Pro Bowl after the New York Giants beat the San Fransisco 49ers in the NFC Championship game. Because Eli Manning was one of the three QBs for the NFC to be selected, and with Newton being picked as the NFC alternate later in December, Newton was able to play in the Pro Bowl with Manning headed to the Super Bowl. He finished the Pro Bowl with 186 yards along with 2 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. Newton was named both AP Offensive Rookie of the Year and Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year on February 4, 2012. He became the second straight number one pick to win the AP Rookie of the Year, after Sam Bradford won it the previous season. He was also the first Panther to win the Offensive award, but the second Panthers rookie of the year, following Julius Peppers, the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2002. Cam received his Offensive Rookie of the Year, and Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year awards on the inaugural NFL Honors award show, with 47 of the 50 possible 50 AP votes (the other 3 going to Andy Dalton). He also landed the number 5 and 2 play of the year with his 49 yard TD run against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5), and his TD fumblerooski to Richie Brockel vs. the Houston Texans.

On March 22, 2012, it was revealed that during both of the Panthers' games against the Saints, several Saints defensive players had placed a "bounty" on Newton in hopes of knocking him out of the game.^[62]

NFL career statistics[link]

NFL accomplishments and records[link]

NFL records[link]

Rookie Records[link]

• Most passing yards by a rookie in a game (432), September 18, 2011 vs. Green Bay Packers^[63]
• Most passing yards by a rookie in a season (4,051), 2011
• First rookie in NFL history to pass for more than 400 yards in back to back games, September 11, 2011 vs. Arizona Cardinals and September 18, 2011 vs. Green Bay Packers^[63]
• First rookie in NFL history to throw for 10 touchdowns and run for 10 touchdowns in a season.
• Fourth rookie quarterback to throw for 3,000 yards in a season.
• Third most pass TDs (21) in a rookie season.
• Most total touchdowns by a rookie NFL player: 35 (21 pass, 14 rush).
• Most rushing yards by a rookie quarterback: 706
• Most rushing touchdowns by a rookie quarterback: 14
• Along with Andy Dalton, the two make the first pair of rookie QB's to make the Pro Bowl

Records[link]

• Most passing yards by a quarterback in debut game (422), September 11, 2011 vs. Arizona Cardinals
• Most passing yards by a quarterback in first two games (854), September 11, 2011 vs. Arizona Cardinals and September 18, 2011 vs Green Bay Packers^[64]
• First quarterback in NFL history to pass for more than 400 yards in first career start, September 11, 2011 vs. Arizona Cardinals
• Sixth quarterback to throw for 400+ yards in back to back games
• First quarterback in NFL history to pass for more than 400 yards in first two career starts, September 11, 2011 vs. Arizona Cardinals and September 18, 2011 vs. Green Bay Packers^[63]
• Fastest player to throw for 1,000 yards (at Arizona Cardinals, vs Green Bay Packers, and vs Jacksonville Jaguars).
• First player in NFL history with at least five rushing touchdowns and five passing touchdowns in his first five games^[65]
• Most rushing touchdowns in single season by a quarterback (14), achieved on December 4, 2011 vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
• Second player in NFL history with 20+ pass TDs and 10+ rush TDs in a season, Joining Kordell Stewart ('97).
• First player in NFL history with 4,000+ pass yards and 10+ rush TDs in a season.
• First player in NFL history with 4,000+ pass yards and 500+ rush yards in a season.
• Had a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown in the same game eight times, tying the NFL single-season record - previously. accomplished by Steve Grogan of the New England Patriots in 1976 and Daunte Culpepper of the Minnesota Vikings in 2002.

Carolina Panthers franchise records[link]

• Rookie quarterback records: completions (310), yards (4,051), passing touchdowns (21), completion percentage (60%), passer rating (84.5).
• Franchise rushing record with an average of 5.60 yards per carry.
• Longest offensive scoring play (91) to Brandon LaFell, December 24, 2011 vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
• Second rookie to make Pro Bowl, Steve Smith in '01
• First Panther to win AP Offensive Rookie of the Year.

NFL Accomplishments[link]

• AP Offensive Rookie of the Year
• Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year
• 2012 Pro Bowl
• Sporting News Rookie of the Year
• Offensive Rookie of the Month (1x), September, nominated (4x)
• Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week (3x), Week 4, 15, and 16, nominated (11x)

See also[link]

• 2010 College Football All-America Team
• List of first overall National Football League draft picks
• List of Heisman Trophy winners

References[link]