Blount to be a Duck again?

It was the punch that everyone saw. You saw it on SportsCenter. You saw it on YouTube. You might have even had a friend email it to you. You were absolutely in awe of what had happened. Yet, there's a chance that the guy that threw the punch will be back playing this season.

This is what I'm referring to if you haven't seen this already.



Oregon Ducks running back LeGarrette Blount took a shot Boise State's Byron Hout after an exchange following the Broncos 19-8 win over the Ducks on September 3. What makes this "shot" more apalling is that the NCAA had members of each team participate in an pregame handshake as a show of sportsmanship. Blount was one of the particpants in this ceremony.

Today Ducks head coach Chip Kelly is addressing the media after today's practice regarding Blount's status. I'm sure this press conference will be highly attended. I will give Kelly credit on this aspect: Blount has been attending class and participating practices as a member of the scout team. Keeping Blount involved was the best thing to do. This way, Kelly was showing Blount that he wasn't going to let this incident (and there's been another) ruin Blount's life.

When this first occurred, I mentioned on a post from September 4th that Blount had previously been reprimanded and suspended for "failure to fulfill team obligations" in February. Apparently Blount was not holding up his end of the bargain as far as winter workouts were concerned. Some will say that Blount had already been given a second chance and that the Ducks program should have washed their collective hands of him. First, the suspension and then the punch.

It looks like that may not be the case. Kelly has had a "plan" in place to potentially reinstate Blount prior to the end of this year. But Blount has been receiving advice from some very prominent individuals including Tony Dungy, Kermit Washington, and Harry Edwards. Kelly might not have the pull to get Blount on the proper track, but these guys do.

We know of Dungy's working with Michael Vick and that in itself should raise some eyebrows. Washington is the perfect person to help Blount because he's been exactly in Blount's shoes. On December 9, 1977, Washington threw a punch at Rudy Tomjanovich during an on-court altercation. Washington received a 60 day suspension for his part and Tomjanovich received $3.2 million.

Edwards, I think, is the key. His focus has been on African-American athletes and their experiences. Edwards is also a prime advocate of African-Americans being involved in sports management. In an interview with Time from March 6, 1989, Edwards delivers a most thought provoking statement:

"We must teach our children to dream with their eyes open," he said. "The chances of your becoming a Jerry Rice or a Magic Johnson are so slim as to be negligible. Black kids must learn to distribute their energies in a way that's going to make them productive, contributing citizens in an increasingly high-technology society."

Edwards has also served in a consulting role for the San Francisco 49ers and the Golden State Warriors. His primary role was to recruit African-American talent for positions within the front office of those organizations. He still is greatly admired and since the early 70's has been greatly involved in the sociology of sports.

The main force behind Blount's reinstatement has been those attending the Ducks games. "Free Blount" T-shirts were seen at the Ducks last home game.

In baseball it's three strikes and you're out. What about football?

Football has four downs. Blount's on third and long.

Oregon tailback LeGarrette Blount: Caught on Tape

Update: Oregon announced that Blount has been suspended for the season. At one time, Blount was being touted as a dark horse Heisman candidate. While I was watching ESPN, Robert Flores said the one NFL individual told him that Blount went from being a second or third round pick to undrafted. No hopes of Heisman and the chances of an NFL career are truly slim.

Everyone's probably seen it. This is a full version (along with highlights) of the events that transpired after the Oregon-Boise State game last evening. The principals involved are LeGarrette Blount of Oregon and Byron Hout of Boise Sate.



The most bizarre and ironic part of this story is what transpired before the game. Someone in their wisdom found it necessary to have a pre-game ceremonial handshake as a gesture of good sportmanship. Blount was one of the participants.

If you watched the full 3 minutes, you noticed that Hout appears to slap Blount on his shoulder pad and say something in Blount's direction. It's almost as if Hout was taunting Blount. Then, the infamous punch was thrown. A punch all of the world would know see and remember.

What degree of blame does Hout have in this dreaded incident? He does bear some. Very little, but some. A grade school teacher once taught me that not only are there sore losers, but sore winners as well. That appears to be the case with Hout. But Blount showed the ultimate display of being a sore loser.

Blount's future as an Oregon Duck remains clouded. Blount was suspended in February for "failure to fulfill team obligations". Those team obligations were reportedly winter workouts. Not a big deal considering last night's developments.

Oregon athletic director Mike Bellotti said he would confer with Pac-10 officials before making a decision. Oregon's new head coach Chip Kelly had this statement after the events:

"There's no place in college football for that," Kelly said. "…This [Boise State] is a heckuva football team. It shouldn't be marred by something after the fact. They beat us, and to react poorly after the game is not what we're all about. I just told the kids in the locker room that we have to learn how to play with emotion, not let emotion play with us. When you go out and get beat in a football game, you go out and shake that guy's hand and you go in the locker room and prepare for your next opponent. That stuff has no place in our program and won't have any place in our program."

And what does Blount have to say of his actions?

"I should have handled that situation a lot better than I did," Blount said. "I apologize. We will never have a game like this again. … The game as it went on, just got more frustrating and more frustrating for me in general. I shouldn't have said anything. I shouldn't have done anything."

The game was extremely frustrating for Blount: 8 carries for -5 yards. Not a stat line any running back would be proud of having. But Blount might not get another chance to handle a similar situation "a lot better". While his apology will most likely be accepted, his actions will be what everyone remembers.

And his actions could lead to his dismissal from Oregon's football program.