Rey Maualuga

An All-American middle linebacker from USC was chosen in the second round of the NFL draft, questions about his ability to perform at the next level apparently knocking him out of the big-money first round. Rey Maualuga? No. Reverse the tape to 2005. That's when every team passed on Lofa Tatupu in the first round. The Seattle Seahawks finally took the two-year Trojans starter in the second round with the 45th pick in what turned out to be one of the biggest steals in recent draft history.

Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Rey Maualuga pleaded guilty to drunk driving Tuesday in Covington, Ky., and received a suspended sentence. The rookie linebacker from USC was arrested Friday after police said he hit a parking meter and two parked cars in northern Kentucky. He was charged with drunk and careless driving, and a court hearing was scheduled for Feb. 25. He changed his plea to guilty on the drunk-driving charge Tuesday and received a suspended seven-day jail sentence.

After a while, USC linebacker Rey Maualuga stopped watching the NFL draft. "Friends would text me and I'd feel the phone vibrate," Maualuga said in a phone interview Saturday from his home in Eureka, Calif. "I thought, 'It's cool, I'm getting picked.' Then I'd say, 'Dang.' " Brian Cushing, Clay Matthews and Maualuga were expected to become the first trio of players from the same unit to be picked in the first round.

After spending a week answering questions about their confidence, toughness and that embarrassing loss to Stanford, USC's players welcomed Saturday's open date. None, perhaps, more than middle linebacker Chris Galippo . While others among the Trojans' struggling front seven have been sidelined because of injuries or sat out plays because of rotations at their positions, Galippo has been on the field for nearly every meaningful snap this season. That, of course, includes recent blowout losses against Oregon and Stanford, games in which the Trojans gave up a combined 716 rushing yards and 102 points.

USC linebacker Rey Maualuga is a hitter not a hittee, so it's somewhat appropriate that the weight of this reality has not fully struck him: Life as he knows it is about to change. "I guess it really hasn't sunk in yet that tomorrow will be my last day as a college athlete," Maualuga said in a phone interview Thursday from his home in Eureka, Calif. "It's strange to think it's over." Over, and just beginning.

The questions still follow him. He's dressing for practice in preparation for the Cincinnati Bengals' final exhibition game against the Indianapolis Colts, and he's nearly 2,000 miles from home, where the criticisms first began. But those unkind evaluations still trail behind. Perhaps former USC All-America linebacker Rey Maualuga thought those queries had evaporated. Maybe he thought that since he had begun showing his potential with Cincinnati, the team that took him in the middle of the second round of the NFL draft, he wouldn't have to ponder the negative analyses of anonymous scouts any more.

So now Joe McKnight misspoke. Dwayne Jarrett mis-stayed at a luxury apartment. Reggie Bush mis-rented a house. Rey Maualuga mis-owned the police. Isn't it time to consider calling USC a champion a mis-take? MICHAEL NAUDIN Alta Loma

Concerned with the bubble reputation, Bill Plaschke [Nov. 13] criticizes Pete Carroll for not benching Rey Maualuga, the USC freshman linebacker under investigation for assault. Carroll, he writes, ought to maintain his concern with "values." According to Pete, he is concerned with "family" values, not public ones. That is, he does what he thinks best for his players, including a teenager whose father is dying from cancer and the kid's teammates. Plaschke, though, is a sports editorialist who knows only what he reads in the paper, as supplied by real reporters like Gary Klein.

Linebacker Rey Maualuga was announced Wednesday night as USC's most valuable player during the team's annual awards banquet at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza hotel. Maualuga, a senior from Eureka, also has been selected to several All-American teams, was the Pacific 10 Conference defensive player of the year and won the Bednarik Award.

While USC's offense adapts to a new quarterback calling plays this season, a transition in the defense's huddle also might be completed by the Sept. 2 opener at Arkansas. Senior Oscar Lua started 11 games at middle linebacker in 2005, sophomore Rey Maualuga none. But Maualuga continued to work mainly with the first-team defense during Thursday night's scrimmage at the Coliseum. Coach Pete Carroll said a decision has not been made about a starter.

Television cameras will follow the ball when 12th-ranked USC plays at Arizona State, but Saturday's game might be one in which interior-line play actually qualifies as highlight material. USC's offense will go against an aggressive Sun Devil front seven that has helped make Arizona State the Pacific 10 Conference's top-ranked defense. Freshman Vontaze Burfict , who originally committed to USC, starts at middle linebacker for a unit that gives up only 296 yards a game. The Sun Devils, however, also lead the conference in penalties and penalty yardage.

With Rey Maualuga and three other linebackers having moved on to the NFL, Chris Galippo said before the season that he was eager to once again have the responsibility, "of either making plays or possibly losing a game," on his shoulders. Galippo, of course, was not solely responsible for the Trojans' defensive collapse against Oregon. But USC's defensive signal-caller and the rest of the linebacker corps struggled mightily during a 47-20 defeat in which the Trojans' defense gave up 613 yards.

The questions still follow him. He's dressing for practice in preparation for the Cincinnati Bengals' final exhibition game against the Indianapolis Colts, and he's nearly 2,000 miles from home, where the criticisms first began. But those unkind evaluations still trail behind. Perhaps former USC All-America linebacker Rey Maualuga thought those queries had evaporated. Maybe he thought that since he had begun showing his potential with Cincinnati, the team that took him in the middle of the second round of the NFL draft, he wouldn't have to ponder the negative analyses of anonymous scouts any more.

USC middle linebacker Chris Galippo is in his third season with the Trojans, but it seems as if it's been longer. The former Anaheim Servite High star endured two back surgeries, a bout with mononucleosis and caddying for Rey Maualuga while waiting for his chance to start. That opportunity finally comes today when the Trojans play their opener against San Jose State at the Coliseum. "It's the first time in a long time that I've had the responsibility of either making plays or possibly losing a game on my shoulders," Galippo said this week.

An All-American middle linebacker from USC was chosen in the second round of the NFL draft, questions about his ability to perform at the next level apparently knocking him out of the big-money first round. Rey Maualuga? No. Reverse the tape to 2005. That's when every team passed on Lofa Tatupu in the first round. The Seattle Seahawks finally took the two-year Trojans starter in the second round with the 45th pick in what turned out to be one of the biggest steals in recent draft history.

After a while, USC linebacker Rey Maualuga stopped watching the NFL draft. "Friends would text me and I'd feel the phone vibrate," Maualuga said in a phone interview Saturday from his home in Eureka, Calif. "I thought, 'It's cool, I'm getting picked.' Then I'd say, 'Dang.' " Brian Cushing, Clay Matthews and Maualuga were expected to become the first trio of players from the same unit to be picked in the first round.

USC linebacker Rey Maualuga, who could face criminal charges stemming from an incident in which he allegedly punched a man at a party this week, said Thursday that he had embarrassed himself, his family and teammates. "What I did, or what happened, that's not me at all," said Maualuga, a freshman who has been demoted to the scout team and is unlikely to play Saturday against Stanford. Maualuga, 18, was arrested and booked on suspicion of misdemeanor battery early Tuesday morning.

Several images from UCLA's upset victory over USC two years ago are painfully etched in Trojans fans' memories. Bruins quarterback Patrick Cowan scrambling for long first-quarter gains. Linebacker Eric McNeal tipping and then intercepting a fourth-quarter pass. The final score, 13-9, glowing on the Rose Bowl scoreboard.

USC linebacker Rey Maualuga is a hitter not a hittee, so it's somewhat appropriate that the weight of this reality has not fully struck him: Life as he knows it is about to change. "I guess it really hasn't sunk in yet that tomorrow will be my last day as a college athlete," Maualuga said in a phone interview Thursday from his home in Eureka, Calif. "It's strange to think it's over." Over, and just beginning.

Linebacker Rey Maualuga was announced Wednesday night as USC's most valuable player during the team's annual awards banquet at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza hotel. Maualuga, a senior from Eureka, also has been selected to several All-American teams, was the Pacific 10 Conference defensive player of the year and won the Bednarik Award.