Auburn's Newton claims redemption, and a national title.

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Cam Newton walked onto the
field, hours before the game, headphones on,
rocking his head back and forth to an apparently
delicious beat.
Then, he stopped suddenly and bent down. He
touched the grass. It was a quick brush, as if he
were saying: I'm here. It's real. This is it.
Newton arrived on the college football scene and
his greatness was sealed with a Heisman Trophy.
The national championship game against
Oregon? It was more about redemption. It was
personal.
Newton wasn't great in this game won by
Auburn 22-19. No one was. Somewhere, TCU
was shaking its head in disgust. The Horned
Frogs could have taken either one of these teams.
A supposed track meet never happened; instead,
we got a wheelbarrow race. The Oregon offense,
for most of the night, was physically
outmatched. The Auburn defense was in full
beast mode but gave up a late score.
Newton was error prone and sloppy at times,
more War Beagle than War Eagle. He didn't look
like the best player in the country.
But he won. He won. And this night was about
him.
Near the same spot where he reached for terra
firma, after the game, as confetti fell around his
head, and teammates danced nearby, Newton
raised his hands high and smiled. He looked
more relieved than ecstatic. He did a victory lap
and went into the stands.
But it seems nothing comes easy to Newton. He
seriously injured his lower back late in the game.
As he left the field, he grabbed his lower back
with his right hand and walked with a noticeable
limp.
It's unknown how bad the injury is, but it didn't
look good.
Initially, the Auburn staff wanted Newton to get
the back X-rayed immediately, but Newton went
to speak with the media first. Other players
already were on the podium talking when
Newton arrived. After taking a handful of
questions, he went via cart to a different area of
the stadium to have the back examined by
medical personnel.
"I don't want [anyone] to feel sorry for me," he
said, "because throughout this year [no one felt]
sorry for Auburn. We got the last laugh."
His career -- and life -- will go down as one of the
more interesting turnaround stories in college
sports history. Because of a misguided father
with an alleged hand out, Newton's life went
under a microscope. There were the stories
about his past, other unproven accusations, and
he faced a nation of smirks. Since the SEC
sometimes stands for Send Extra Cash, many
assume Newton and his dad were in on the
alleged con together.
The father was convicted by the NCAA. The son
was found guilty by a public whose confidence in
the integrity of the system has been stripped
bare.
This isn't to portray Newton as a victim. We'll
never know his entire role in the sordid affair. But
his story, in many ways, is essentially American.
The allegations. The comeback. The winner. The
champion. If Mike Vick or Eliot Spitzer or Bill
Clinton or Ben Roethlisberger or Brett Favre or
Tiger Woods can be resurrected, why can't
Newton?
"We really appreciate Cam [for what] he went
through the whole season and things that were
being said about him," Auburn's Michael Dyer
said. "He kept his head up and played great
games. He kept us winning. He ran hard tonight.
He came out there and he just played Auburn
football. He is the Auburn man and we learned a
lot. Tonight, I kind of picked it up for him because
I knew he was in pain and hurt and the
frustration. But he still played. He didn't quit. He
didn't have any reason. He [didn't] say, 'My back
hurts so I couldn't do this or that.' He just said
I'm going to suck it up and keep going and he
kept fighting for us. Our whole town and nation,
we really appreciate what Cam Newton does for
us."
Newton finished 20 of 34 for 265 yards and two
scores. He was intercepted once and was sacked
twice. The Oregon defense was able to slow
Newton and that Auburn offense.
In the game, you saw some of Newton's
brilliance. Some throws were very accurate and
his speed is incredible for a player so big. Newton
looks like he could play power forward in the
NBA. He ran around Oregon defenders. He also
ran through them.
You also saw the weaknesses. He missed a wide-
open receiver late in the game on a play that
could have blown the contest wide open.
If Newton returns next season it would be a
miracle, and he will leave as one of the more
prolific players in SEC history. He became only
the 14th player in NCAA history to win the
Heisman and a national championship. He has a
school-record 51 touchdowns.
He'll be remembered as a great player, a
legendary player who found trouble, and escaped
it.
In other words, typical American story.

Source: Http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/14535032/auburns-newton-claims-redemption-and-a-national-title