Former City College quarterback pleads guilty to burglary charges

By William Chamberlin
The Guardsman

Former City College quarterback Jeremiah Masoli pleaded guilty at a Lane County Circuit Court on March 12 to second-degree burglary in the Jan. 25 theft of two laptops and a guitar from a University of Oregon fraternity.

The Daly City native, who is currently on scholarship at Oregon and entering his senior year, took the plea offered him that drops the felony charge to a misdemeanor and keeps him out of jail. He was given 12 months probation and 140 hours of community service.

Oregon wide receiver Garret Embry was charged with Masoli for the same incident and the two will pay $5,000 in restitution.

Oregon head football coach Chip Kelly announced just hours after the sentencing that Masoli
would be suspended for the entirety of the 2010 season. The punishment is one of the strongest a player can receive.

“The actions that our players take when they are in the community, not on the field or in the classroom, are just as important to us,” Kelly said at a news conference held by the Oregon football program.

“We feel we have taken the steps necessary to make sure this does not happen with these young men again,” he said.

Oregon’s football program has had to deal with a slew of recent legal problems concerning its players as of late.Sophomore LaMichael James, who set a PAC-10 rushing record with more than 1,500 yards last season, was recently charged in a domestic dispute with menacing, assault and strangulation. He pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor charge of harassment and will be suspended from the season opener.

Kicker Rob Beard has also pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor harassment charge and will a miss the season opener. After attending Serra High School in San Mateo, where Masoli was a three-sport star, and graduating from St. Louis High School in Hawaii, he led City College to a JC Grid-Wire’s National Championship in 2007. Masoli was also named the 2007 northern California offensive player of the year.

The championship was City College’s fifth in nine seasons, and Masoli’s performance caught the interest of Oregon recruiters because of his athleticism and dual-threat abilities. The following
May, Masoli signed with Oregon after only one season with the Rams.

“Masoli was a fabulous player with great leadership abilities,” City College head football coach George Rush said. “I have nothing but good things to say about him.”

Rush also commented on the discipline handed down to Masoli by Kelly.“He’s caught in a double jeopardy,” he said. “How many times do you get punished for the same thing?”

This season would have been Masoli’s third and final with Oregon. Under the terms of his suspension though, he will retain eligibility and be able to play in the 2011 season.

His name had filled blogs and Web sites like ESPN.com and CBSSports.com as a pre-season candidate for the 2010 Heisman trophy race. The Heisman trophy is the highest individual honor a college football player can receive.

The impact this will have on Masoli’s football career remains unseen. For the 2010 season however, Masoli himself will be unseen.