Masoli Is Coming Clean As He Heads To Ole Miss

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A source has told an AP reporter that troubled former Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli has accepted an invitation from Houston Nutt to visit Ole Miss this weekend.  Supposedly, Masoli decided to make the visit early this morning.

The Northeast Mississippi Journal says that Masoli could be touring The Grove and meeting with UM officials as early as today.

On the PR side of things, Masoli and the PR firm his family has hired have launched a website — jeremiahmasoli.com – to apologize and explain his past illegal actions.  On the site he says:

“I made a few very poor decisions in the past year, and I apologize to my family, friends and fans for them.  But I am not the person who has been portrayed in many media stories.

“I am not a thief nor a thug.  The people who know me best know that is the truth.”

Still, Oregon coach Chip Kelly knows Masoli well… and he tossed him from his football team.  Also, while the media does go into feeding frenzy mode with regularity, most of the stories regarding Masoli have dealt simply with these facts:

2010 — Charged with burglary in connection to two stolen laptops and a stolen guitar from an Oregon frat house.

2010 — Cited for possession of marijuana and driving with a suspended license.  Technically, his plea agreement in this deal could be viewed as a probation violation.  We’ll see if folks in Oregon choose to act on that.

There have also been reports that Masoli was involved in multiple strong-armed robbery cases as a juvenile, but those claims are brought into question by Michael McKnight of SI.com who tries to tell “the untold story behind Jeremiah Masoli’s past, downfall at Oregon.”

Now Masoli says in that article that he never stole anything from the fraternity house.  He admits to being in the house, but he throws the thefts at the feet of former Duck teammate Garret Embry who also pleaded guilty to the charges.

At first, Masoli did NOT admit to being at the frat house at all.  He told his Oregon coach that he was not present.  He told police the same thing.  So his current flip-flop might call into question the rest of Masoli’s truthfulness.

No doubt the website and Masoli’s claims of innocence — which may well be true — are well-timed and well-orchestrated.  That shouldn’t surprise anyone.  And there’s nothing wrong with it, either.  Masoli’s mother has in the past contacted this website (as well as others) to request that the word “arrested” be replaced by the terms “charged” and “cited” when referencing her son’s troubles.  The Masolis are clearly working hard to push their side of the story.  Because of that, there will be a natural negative reaction and some folks will dismiss the families’ actions as “spin.”  But if I got into trouble, I’m sure my Mama would still have my back, too.

Getting back to Masoli’s odds of landing in Oxford for more than just a visit — the Oregon graduate will still need to be accepted into a Mississippi grad program and receive an NCAA waiver if he’s to play for the Rebels this fall.  The Jackson Clarion-Ledger reports that he has already applied to the school in hopes of earning a master’s degree in parks and recreation management.  (Sidenote — No offense to the Parks and Rec students out there, but are there really enough parks in the country for darn near every school to churn out folks in this major each year?  Really?  Parks and Rec?)

Finally, regarding Masoli’s potential impact on the field Tony Barnhart of The AJC writes that his presence at Ole Miss could be a game-changer in the SEC West.  As we have noted on several occasions, Masoli even as just a Wild Rebel quarterback should make Ole Miss a lot more dangerous on offense.