LB dismissed from Arizona for use of filmed racist language can't join Colorado after assault arrest
Santino Marchiol will not be walking on at Colorado.
The former Texas A&M linebacker who accused the Aggies football program of NCAA violations and the former Arizona linebacker who was dismissed from the team within days of joining because of his use of a racial slur in a video was arrested for domestic violence in June.
That arrest has prevented him from being able to walk on with the Buffaloes.
“Santino was never enrolled as a CU Boulder student,” a Colorado school statement said. “He was invited to be a walk-on for the football team this fall. Coach [Mel] Tucker has since rescinded that invitation.”
Marchiol was arrested on June 24 in Pueblo, Colorado. From the Denver Post:
According to Pueblo police records, Marchiol was arrested at about 3:30 p.m. on June 24 and booked on suspicion of second-degree assault bodily injury, a felony. Marchiol faces two misdemeanor assault charges, court records indicated, as well as a violation for contempt of a court protection order. He was released on bail June 25.
Marchiol said an A&M assistant gave him cash
Marchiol was a redshirt freshman at Texas A&M in 2017. That was Kevin Sumlin’s last year with the team. After Sumlin was fired, he was replaced by former Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher.
Marchiol told USA Today in August of 2018 that linebackers coach Bradley Dale Peveto had pulled him aside and given him $700 in two installments. He also said that A&M was holding practices when it wasn’t supposed to and that he was forced to play through an injury.
He decided to transfer to Arizona to join Sumlin and sought a waiver from the NCAA to be immediately eligible.
Marchiol dismissed from Arizona after video surfaced
Less than a week after Marchiol’s allegations were published, he was off the team at Arizona for a completely different reason. After Marchiol had made his allegations public, a video surfaced of him and a woman watching practice film. In it, he uses the word “monkey” to refer to players.
Marchiol had hired well-known attorney Tom Mars — who was just hired by the NCAA to be an investigator — to help him get immediate eligibility at Arizona. In a statement after the video became public, Mars said that he was heartbroken and “what can be heard on the highlights video doesn’t reflect the values or beliefs of the young man that I’ve come to know.”
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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.
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