| 04 August 2010
When news broke a few weeks ago that former Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli might end up playing at Ole Miss,
I half-heartedly joked on Twitter:
“Can’t lie: On the 1-10 Excitement Scale, I’m at about a 347 thinking about Jeremiah Masoli playing QB in the SEC at Ole Miss.”
Looking back though, that really might have been an understatement.
Last year Masoli turned Chip Kelly’s offense on its head at Oregon. The guy didn’t just run a no-huddle, read option attack, he was playing fast-break football. He was must see TV. When it came to the “eye test,” Masoli passed with flying colors: He was easily one of the 2-3 most exciting players in college football.
So to say that I was a 347 on the excitement scale, doesn’t really do justice to how I was feeling a few weeks ago. It was more than that.
It was the cast of Jersey Shore at an open bar level of excitement. It was a puppy off the leash in the backyard level of excitement. It was a Brett Favre’s Vikings teammates when he shows up at camp in two weeks, level of excitement. Masoli against Alabama, LSU or Auburn? Forget must-see TV, Ole Miss could charge $49.95 to watch their games on TV and I’d be the first one in line with my credit card.
Well on Sunday, I got my wish. Masoli met with Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt, and it was officially announced that he’d join the team as a walk-on. Now on campus, he’ll compete with last year’s back-up Nathan Stanley for the starting job. Truthfully, I expect that “competition,” to be about as one sided as a wing eating contest between C.C. Sabathia and my 10-year-old nephew. Masoli will be under center on Labor Day weekend.
Of course as I spent my weekend arguing with people about the validity of Masoli’s impact at Ole Miss and on the SEC (Personally, I think they’re now an eight win team, and potentially could finish second in the West), the rest of the college football world was in their own debate: Should Masoli have been given this second chance? And what does it say about Houston Nutt for taking the kid?
I’m sure that by now, most of you reading this know Masoli’s back story. But if not, here’s a breakdown as quickly as I can give it:
Masoli was a star quarterback at Oregon. He led them to a Pac-10 title last year. He was Superman in pads. This offseason he was arrested for burglary. He went to court and pled guilty. He was suspended for the entire 2010 season, but allowed to remain with the team. He got busted a few weeks later for having pot in the glove compartment of his car. He was kicked off the team. He was homeless. He now has a home at Ole Miss.
Easy enough right? The guy’s a thug, right? Doesn’t deserve to be on a college campus at all, let alone playing football right?
Sure, if things were that easy. But they never are. And that’s hardly 100 percent of the story.
Last week Sports Illustrated writer Michael McKnight did an incredible piece on Masoli, that if you haven’t read yet, you need to. Go ahead, just click here, I won’t get mad (Just come back to this column when you’re done). It’s one of the best pieces of journalism I’ve read all year. He tells Masoli’s story, fact checks, corroborates his sources and spins it all into a great profile, and one that completely changed my view on the kid.
For those of you not interested in reading, let me as quickly as possible give you a breakdown.
Again, this is McKnight’s handiwork and I’m in no way trying to take credit for it as my own.
Here goes:
- On the night of the burglary, Masoli and his cousin pulled up to a bar, looking for a spot to hang. They see former Oregon wide receiver Garrett Embry sitting outside. By all accounts Embry and Masoli aren’t close, phone records verify they haven’t been in contact that night, or in the weeks leading up to that night. Embry asks Masoli if he wants to come check out a party. He says yes, and tells his cousin to check out the bar. They’ll meet back up a few minutes later and figure out where to stay for the night (Side note: As somebody who was in college fairly recently, and happened to know a bunch of athletes, this to me reeks of “Which place has more girls.” Anyway, back to the story).
- Embry takes Masoli to a frat house, a frat house that Embry had been at earlier with some different players. They’re there for just a few minutes. According to Masoli’s account (Embry refused to speak to SI), they walk upstairs, where Embry disappears into a room and emerges with a small digital projector. Sensing he’s in trouble, Masoli starts to leave, Embry next to him. Before they get to the door, they’re met on the stairs by one of the residents of the frat house, who notices Embry with the projector in his hand. He doesn’t notice anything on Masoli. Both Masoli and Embry exit the house, with Masoli walking back to the bar to meet his cousin, and Embry walking in a different direction. The kid whose projector was stolen chases down Embry and gets it back. Only Masoli and Embry actually know what went down in that house in those few minutes. Later in the night we find out that two computers and an electric guitar are missing as well.
- According to McKnight’s report, a few days later Masoli is walking back from class when his cousin calls and tells him the police are looking for him. Masoli gets quick over the phone legal advice, in which a lawyer tells him to give a statement to police. He tells the police he had nothing to do with the robbery and wasn’t even at the frat house. He later tells Oregon coach Chip Kelly the same story. Those are obviously lies (Masoli now admits that much). Police proceed to check Masoli’s car, apartment and the dumpster surrounding his apartment, and find none of the stolen merchandise. Police never check Embry for the same.
- Fast-forward a few weeks where police apparently have enough evidence to press charges. No one- including Masoli’s lawyers- are quite sure what the evidence is, since apparently in Oregon the D.A. doesn’t have to disclose this (As someone who has seen the My Cousin Vinny approximately 8,500 times, this fact was shocking to me). The D.A. offers Masoli a plea deal. If he pleads guilty, he’ll get a year’s probation and pay a fine. If he pleads innocent and is found guilty, he’ll have to go to jail for 2-4 years. He pleads guilty. He is suspended from the football team for the 2010 season, although he’s still allowed to practice with the team.
- After the trial is over, more information comes out. Apparently, another Oregon player met up with Embry and a few others later that night. Masoli's name is never mentioned among the players. At some point, the other player saw Embry get out of the car with two computers and an electric guitar- the other merchandise reported stolen- and run into an apartment. Masoli finds out about this new eyewitness account. With the trial over, he pleads with Embry to tell Kelly the truth. Embry decides not to do it.
- In June Masoli is busted with pot in his car. He has a zero tolerance policy with Chip Kelly. He’s kicked off the team.
Just for the sake of this article, let's quickly rehash Masoli’s version of the story, with eyewitness accounts: Masoli denies ever stealing anything. A handful of eyewitnesses don’t ever see him with any of the stolen goods. Two separate eyewitnesses (the kid in the stairwell, the other player) see Embry with every single piece of merchandise reported stolen. Police check Masoli’s apartment and come up empty.
So with that, here’s my question: I understand that by pleading guilty in the court of law, Masoli is in fact guilty. But in real life, what exactly is he guilty of, other than being an idiot and falling into the same trap a million other college kids do: Hanging out with the wrong people and being in the wrong place at the wrong time? After hearing his side of the story, is he really not worth taking a second chance on?
Now please understand, I’m not trying to admonish Masoli’s behavior here. And I admit to taking a leap of faith by believing every word he said in the SI piece (Then again, all accounts were corroborated by multiple sources).
At the same time though, let me play devil’s advocate.
For starters, let’s look at why Masoli was even at the party with Embry to begin with. The kid had been kicked off Oregon’s team, and was clearly a bad influence. I’m sure many of you would also point out that simply by being in Embry’s presence, Masoli is guilty by association. Good point.
But here’s the thing: I was in college fairly recently. During that time I attended roughly 9,275 house parties, frat parties, keg parties, sorority formals, open bars, and happy hours. Seriously, the booze I drank in college took a solid five years off my life. I wish I was kidding.
At the same time, I didn’t go to every single one of those parties with my best friends, or even with people I totally knew or trusted. I wish I could say that I used better judgment, but I didn’t. A lot of times I rolled through parties or bars with friends of friends, acquaintances, and people I barely knew from class. A lot of times I got in the door simply by saying “I know so and so.” Luckily, in none of those instances did anyone get me in any real trouble. But could they have? I’d say so. Could someone I barely knew have swiped something in the blink of an eye without me even noticing, or giving me time to think it through and react properly? Yep. I guess in that regard I’m lucky.
(Side note: For everyone who’s getting all hot and bothered about Masoli only getting into Ole Miss because he’s an athlete, let’s look at it the other way.
If he was Jeremiah Masoli the architecture major (Instead of Jeremiah Masoli star quarterback) and was at that party, and walked in the opposite direction of Embry upon leaving the house, he simply disappears into the night and is never heard from again. The kid whose projector is stolen gets it back, but there’s no way he can identify some random dude who just happened to be at his party. Like a million other college kids, Masoli was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but ends 
up with no skin off his back because of it.
Instead, the kid chases down Embry, gets his projector back and Embry disappears into the night. The kid then calls the cops and reports that Masoli- the most recognizable guy on campus- was involved in a robbery. Masoli ends up being the one with his apartment searched, while police never bother to follow up with Embry.
In this case, Masoli’s celebrity actually hurt him more than anything)
Onto everything else:
Masoli lied to police investigators and to his own coach, which in the eyes of some is the worst part of everything. I get that, I really do.
At the same time, the kid saw his football career, and his life flashing before his eyes. Forget getting suspended, forget getting kicked off the team, what if he ended up in jail? How was he supposed to know? I’m not saying that Masoli lying to Kelly was right, but at the same time I can’t say that as a 21-year-old I would have handled things much differently. To me, this is a really extreme example of a teenager getting caught with beer in his room and saying he was “holding it for a friend.” Masoli wasn’t knowingly trying to bone over his coach, but save his own ass. Like the teenager, he failed.
Finally, let’s talk about the guilty plea, which is truthfully the hole in my argument. If Masoli is an admitted burglar, it’s hard to defend the kid. Then again remember, if he pleaded guilty he got a year’s probation. If he pleaded innocent and was found guilty (Without knowing the evidence) it was a mandatory 2-4 years in prison. Hmm…One year’s probation vs. 2-4 years in lock up? Even if you’re 128 percent certain you’re innocent, is that a risk you’d be willing to take? I’m not sure I would.
Again, I’m not trying to let Masoli off the hook with a literal, “Get out of jail free card here.” To some extent he saw a robbery happen and did nothing. He lied to his coaches and police. He pled guilty, despite now asking for your belief in his innocence.
But if you really look closely at what happened, and do it through the eyes of a 21-year-old, everything starts to fall in place a little easier. He isn’t a thug or irredeemable, but a young kid who made mistakes like all of us. Whether he deserves a second chance at Ole Miss is up to you.
Speaking of Ole Miss, boy, oh boy are some people coming down hard on them. Whether you find sympathy in Masoli’s story or not, somebody was going to take a chance on the kid, and the Rebels did. Now Houston Nutt is paying the price with a lot of people coming down on him.
Then again, can we stop being hypocritical and start being real?
Because truthfully, we can sit here and talk about ethics and morals, and right from wrong, but let’s get one thing straight: This is the SEC. This is big boy’s football. There are no five year plans. It’s win today or go find a new job tomorrow. Hell, look at LSU. Les Miles won a National Championship three years ago, yet he’s on the hot seat coming into 2010. Who cares about morals, when there are football games to win?
And that was Nutt’s conundrum. He was heading into the season without a proven quarterback, in a cannibalistic league where teams eat their young. Not to mention that the deep sea of talent Ed Orgeron left him with three years ago is shrinking like the polar ice caps. Meanwhile Alabama is gonna be stacked. Arkansas is gonna score a billion points a game. Auburn and Mississippi State will be improved. Did Nutt really have a choice?
Because as much as fans want to stand atop Mt. Pius and criticize Nutt, if their team was in the same situation, I'm pretty sure they’d want their coach to take the chance too. And oh, by the way, for all the talk about Masoli, people seem to be forgetting that the new quarterback at Auburn- Cam Newton- was kicked out of Florida for being loosely involved in a laptop theft. Newton too pleads his innocence and claims he was at the wrong place at the wrong time. He very well could have been. But how is that any different?
Of course none of that is really important, since all that matters in college football is wins. As much as fans talk a big talk, they’d rather go 8-4 with a troubled quarterback than 4-8 with a saint under center (Unless Tim Tebow somehow got an extra year of eligibility. Then things might be different).
Besides, what’s the drawback for Nutt really? If Masoli flops Ole Miss was going to be lousy anyway. If Masoli plays well, nobody will be talking about any of this by the middle of September, unless it’s in some fluffy “Wow, Jeremiah Masoli is a totally different person,” piece.
So in the end, while it’s not the stuff of a Hallmark holiday movie, I don’t blame Ole Miss one bit. Not for taking a chance on a kid who seemed to have earned one.
To be honest, none of it really matters now, as Masoli has moved on and is at Ole Miss, getting ready to compete for the quarterback job. Whether he becomes their savior, just a one year stop gap, or a big-time flop remains to be seen.
Now if you’ll excuse me I’ve got to run.
Masoli’s first game at Ole Miss is a month from today, and I’ve got to set my TIVO. I don’t want to miss a second.
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