At the risk of sounding like a cynic, it wasn’t hard to see all of this coming.

The downfall of Jeremiah Masoli, that is.

The Oregon quarterback was kicked off the team on Wednesday after police cited him earlier in the week for possession of marijuana, driving with a suspended license, and failure to stop at a driveway or sidewalk.

Of course, this citation comes just three months after Masoli pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of second-degree burglary for stealing two laptops and a guitar from a university frat house in late January with teammate Garrett Embry. Ducks head coach Chip Kelly had only suspended him for the 2010 season at that point, but now Masoli’s football career, at least at the University of Oregon, is now over.

Should anyone be surprised that this was the outcome of his Oregon career? Even before he arrived in Eugene, Masoli was expelled from Serra High in San Mateo, California in 2005 for muscling people for money outside of malls and at bus stops. He spent a stint in a juvenile detention center after pleading guilty to robbery, yet still had the opportunity to play college football.

And play he did. He was spectacular last season while leading the Ducks to a Pac-10 title and a trip to the Rose Bowl. He finished the 2009 season by throwing for 2,147 yards and 15 touchdowns, all while rushing for 668 yards and 13 scores. He was so good that he was the front-runner to win the Heisman heading into the 2010 season, but that of course was before he and Embry decided to take their little voyage to the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house in January. They must have thought they were entitled to the frat members’ possessions after Ohio State kicked their asses in the Rose Bowl.

It’s not like Masoli wasn’t given a second chance. Or a third. Oregon took the risk when he transferred from a small community college in San Francisco in 2008 that he would behave. They assumed his troubles were behind him and that he could mature at a big program with more responsibility on his shoulders. He didn’t behave though, and was suspended. But as long as he kept his nose clean and didn’t screw up again, he would have the opportunity to play football again beyond the 2010 season.

But apparently marijuana was more important and so was acting like an idiot behind the wheel of his car. Now his football career is over with at Oregon – if not forever. He may resurface at another small school, but the NFL isn’t big on repeat offenders, no matter how much talent they have.

It’s well aware that history often repeats itself.

Photo from fOTOGLIF