Cameron Newton Didn't Make a Maistake, He Committed a Crime

Today, Auburn's football program got a new quarterback for the 2010 season. His name is Cameron Newton. However, there is a reason why Newton is at Auburn and not at his former team, the Florida Gators.

About a year ago, while at Florida, Newton stole a lap top from another student and, as a result, was dismissed from the team by Head Coach Urban Meyer. According to reports, when Newton heard the police were coming, he threw the lap top out the window before the police could get to him. When the police questioned him about the theft, he lied to them. Eventually, the charges were dropped, but Newton's days in Gainsville were over.

Newton then enrolled in a junior college, where apparently he has kept his nose clean. With Auburn in need of a quarterback since they aren't confident in what they have on campus, the Tigers signed Newton and he is expected to be the Tigers' signal caller next Fall. I'm all for second chances if the offender has truly repented, regrets what he or she has done, and tries to do what is right from now on. Unfortunately, the only reason he is getting this second chance at a great opportunity is because he is a talented football player. We average Joes would not get that second chance. That's just the way it is.

I was listening to a sports talk show on the way home from work and some of the callers kept saying that Newton made "a mistake". One of the hosts rightly pointed out to the callers that what Cameron Newton did was not a "mistake", but a bad decision. It was wrong doing. Again, I'm all for the young man getting a second chance, but don't call what he did a mistake. A mistake is locking your keys in the car, heating your dinner too long in the oven, or texting while driving and causing an accident (that mistake can be fatal).

What Newton did was willfully deliberate and he knew it was wrong. He knew it was stealing (a crime) and he did it anyway. It was, and I'm not afraid to say it, SIN! Let's stop minimizing sin. Let's stop minimizing evil. What Cameron Newton did was a crime, not a mistake. Let's call it what it is.