By Ryne Hancock
SouthernPigskin.com

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A long time ago, yours truly had an up close and personal look at a story of redemption.

One of my friends, Marqueys Brown, who is now playing basketball at Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi, nearly four years ago was released from prison after serving six years.

Brown, as he once told me, was recruited prior to his sentence by schools such as Mississippi State, only to watch those opportunies slip away.

At Crichton College in the 2008-09 season, Brown’s highlight dunks made Crichton home games interesting and not only that, gained him a cult following.

While it was a one-year deal for the school, which disbanded athletics after that academic year, his journey from prison to college student as well as member of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity was nonetheless an amazing story of redemption.

Much like Brown four years ago, no one outside of Auburn, Alabama knew who Cam Newton was before the 2010 season.

The only thing people knew was his theft of a laptop at Florida, where he was on the same depth chart as Tim Tebow.

After Florida, Newton resurfaced in Texas at a junior college, and as they say, the rest is history.

Cam’s story from disgraced Florida football player to folk hero is the stuff that is fodder for movie scripts.

And folks such as myself have found ourselves enjoying the ride.

Whether it was his breakout performance against Mississippi State or the one that gave him the Heisman when he led the Tigers to a win over Alabama in the Iron Bowl, Newton has made this season one to remember for SEC fans.

While no one knows the true story in how Newton came to the Plains, regardless of what happens in the BCS title game Monday night, the Year of Cam will etched in Southern football lore.

After all, doesn’t everyone love a comeback story?