With all the controversy surrounding Cam Newton and the allegations that he or his father may have accepted money to play college football, a dark storm cloud has been cast over Auburn University.
The NCAA has seen this storm before as this comes in the wake of the Reggie Bush and USC issue.
We have already seen one Heisman recently revoked when Reggie Bush committed NCAA violations.
Newton won the award on the field, but many Heisman voters pulled back and voted for a safe alternative that is less likely to cause embarrassment similar to what has unfolded during the Bush investigation.
It seems as though the NCAA is coming down more and more on programs for committing violations. Players appear to be talking to or taking money from agents more frequently in spite of NCAA rules. Adding fuel to this combustible mixture is the fact that desperate coaches might feel compelled to try anything imaginable to get top players to commit to their program.
Local sports fans have been lucky in that regard.
For the past 45 years, Penn State fans haven't had to worry about their coach paying players or paying a player's father. Instead, Joe Paterno coached future fathers, then recruited and coached their sons by doing it the right way all along.
Nevertheless, running a football team today is complicated, and even Penn State has had its fair share of players who have had off-the-field run-ins with the law. Today's teens may be tougher to control off the field, but what Paterno has done on the field in his many decades as coach has been unparalleled.
In the recent wake of Paterno's 400th victory, there haven't been any accusations coming out about Paterno paid Kerry Collins or John Cappelletti, Penn State's only Heisman trophy winner.
You haven't heard any accusations because you won't find any. Instead of asking for thousands of dollars, Cappelletti played for his dying brother and ultimately won college football's most prestigious award.
Maybe we need to recognize that college football is turning into a business where coaches are willing to do whatever it takes to win, and with big money and big media deals, clean programs may be harder to find in the future.
Therefore, unethical coaches will agree to pay recruits whatever they have to, if the player's talent might lead them to the promised land.
Paterno has managed to lead a clean, winning and prestigious program without having to pay recruits, but the road has not been an easy one.
Instead of illegal payouts, Penn State football players are paid with pride and the tradition that Paterno has built in his 45 years of head coach.
It's been a long coaching career for Paterno but every season for 45 years he has been doing it the right way, and that's why, even with a less than stellar record this season, Penn State has maintained its integrity over the years.
Hallahan is a student at Penn State Altoona.
