Former UM QB kicked off team
By FRITZ NEIGHBOR of the Missoulian
He has a budding car accessory business, he's closing in on two degrees, but Jason Washington is no longer playing football for the University of Montana Grizzlies.
The senior-to-be, who started four games at quarterback for the Griz in 2005, said he's been kicked off the team by fifth-year coach Bobby Hauck. He will keep his scholarship through the coming school year.
Hauck, who is loath to talk about team discipline, said the decision was made at the end of spring semester. Beyond that he had little comment.
“I'm just not even going to get into it,” Hauck said. “That's team stuff, and I don't handle it publicly.”
Washington came to UM from Bowling Green in the spring of 2005. He started at QB - the first African-American to do so for the Griz - that fall before his right shoulder was dislocated late in a 24-19 win over Weber State.
He played late in UM's 23-0 win at Northern Arizona later that season, reinjured the shoulder and hasn't played since. Washington sat out the 2006 season after surgery, and then was moved to receiver for 2007 spring drills. A hamstring injury sidelined him then.
Washington said he was removed from the team after allegedly missing a training room treatment and then two weekend conditioning workouts that were scheduled because he missed treatment. Make no mistake, the former quarterback is not happy about it.
“The only reason I was kicked off the team was - and I quote Bobby's word - I was ‘defiant,' ” Washington said. “I was like, ‘Defiant? What's your definition of defiant?'
“He said, ‘Not doing what I say.' ”
Washington said he had concerns about going beyond the NCAA limit of eight hours per week for offseason training, that the treatments were voluntary, that he did not in fact miss a treatment, and that his hamstring injury precluded him from the conditioning drills.
“He kicked me off the team for not showing up for a punishment workout on Saturday and Sunday at 6 a.m.,” Washington said. “I didn't agree with it, I had a pulled hamstring at the time. When am I supposed to do it? I can't practice, and you're going to make me run?”
Hauck strongly denied taking Washington over the eight-hour offseason workout limit. Beyond that, he said, the decision was done.
“Like I said, team discipline is not addressed publicly,” he added. “Jason's a good guy. He'll be very successful, I hope.”
Washington has been a presence in the community, starting a Griz Make-a-Wish Foundation aimed at getting ailing children a chance to see Griz games last fall, and giving a local speech on Martin Luther King Day in February.
Before that, he was 3-1 as the Grizzlies' starting QB. The loss was at Pac-10 power Oregon.
“I don't (care), Joe Montana would've lost to Oregon,” he said. “They weren't the prettiest wins. I'm the first to admit that. The offense was struggling.
“But at the same time, we lost three or four senior receivers, and Jon Talmage was the only holdover. I was new, it was a new system - I mean, the (Rob) Phenicie system is not the easiest to learn.”
Washington completed 54 percent (53 for 9
of his passes for 535 yards and four touchdowns in 2005. He had two interceptions.
College athletes have been known to lose their athletic scholarships and leave the team. Former UM basketball player Eric Van Vliet is one example. Washington keeps his scholarship, but he wanted to be part of the team, even if he couldn't remain at quarterback like he wanted.
“Being a fifth-year senior I don't see why I wasn't at least given the opportunity in spring ball to compete for the job,” he said. “If I was terrible, I'd have been the first to say, ‘Coach, this isn't working out.'
“Last November during the season when I was rehabbing, I was so excited and enthused about the opportunity in the coming spring.”
Washington plans to take a class this summer, 12-15 credits this fall and 12 more next spring to finish degrees in sociology and business management. He already has an automobile accessories business, 406 Motoring, which he opened two months ago. All indications are business is booming.
“I just kind of saw a niche that wasn't here in Missoula that's really heavy in California and even Ohio, or bigger cities like Seattle,” he said.
The business was not a factor in his dismissal. As long as he doesn't use his name or UM football to advertise the business, it is not an NCAA violation. Of course, that is moot now.
“Maybe God has a different path for me,” Washington said. “The business has been great. I don't know. That is life. You would like to see things go different, but - it's not my team.”
Reporter Fritz Neighbor can be reached at 523-5247 or at
[email protected]
