Editor’s note: In the final 50 days before Chip Kelly and the Ducks return to the field to defend their status as Pac-12 Champions, the Emerald sports desk will take a look back at one Oregon alum each day whose jersey number corresponds to the amount of days left before the season opener against Arkansas State.
From the years 2000-2002, the Oregon defense – often overlooked by fans remembering the historic 2001 season – was led by the dynamic linebacker duo of Kevin Mitchell (39) and David Moretti, arguably two of the best linebackers to come through Oregon football in a generation.
Moretti came to Eugene by way of Chabot Junior College, and made his name during Oregon’s run to a Pac-10 title in 2001, forming an impenetrable wall along with fellow linebackers Kevin Mitchell and Wesley Mallard. The three were featured on billboards around Eugene with the word “mayhem” during the 2001 season. Moretti registered 92 tackles during that year’s campaign while making plays with his right hand wrapped like a club for a good part of the season.
“They are like three old veterans,” Chris Tetterton, a defensive tackle on the 2001 team, said to the Emerald. “I trust them the whole time we’re out there.”
In 2002, Mitchell and Moretti returned to anchor an Oregon team that saw it’s hopes of back-to-back Pac-10 titles vanish, losing five of their last six regular season games to finish at 7-5. Moretti’s production did not wane however, as he led the team with 121 tackles and earned second team All-Conference recognition.
After his Oregon career ended in 2002, Moretti moved on to the NFL where he had stints with the Cleveland Browns and Kansas City Chiefs, along with a stint in NFL Europe.