When Oregon football player LeGarrette Blount chin-checked Boise State player Byron Hout (after Hout struck Blount to get his attention and then trash talked him a little following Thursday night’s game) I thought the suspension would be stiff. At first I thought … four or five games … some people I know talked me off the ledge and thought it might be a little less … two to three games. We were all wrong … VERY WRONG! The furor this mess created as the video was replayed over and over again on ESPN, other media outlets and YouTube probably did Blount no favors as Oregon elected to suspend him for the remainder of the season.
From ESPN:
EUGENE, Ore. — A day after Oregon’s college football season opened, it ended for running back LeGarrette Blount.
Blount was suspended for all remaining games on Friday for punching Boise State defensive end Byron Hout in the jaw following the 16th-ranked Ducks’ 19-8 loss to the 14th-ranked Broncos the night before.
Because he is a senior, Blount’s playing days in Eugene are over.
Oregon’s first-year coach, Chip Kelly, told a sobbing Blount about his decision after reviewing tape of the altercation.
Celebrating the victory on the Broncos’ trademark blue turf, Hout yelled in Blount’s face and tapped him on the shoulder pad. Before Boise State coach Chris Petersen could pull Hout away, Blount landed a right to Hout’s jaw, knocking him to his knees.
I can’t argue with that suspension. Blount did it to himself by losing his cool due to the words of a trash-talking opponent.
Now, it appears Blount’s college football career might be a wrap.
I know it’s wildly popular for people to pile onto Blount and get their shots in on this young man. What he did was a horrible mistake in judgement and there is no question he needed to be punished for the punch and for the reaction as he was leaving the stadium. But, there are some other things I do wonder about: (1) What responsibility does Boise State or whomever have for reportedly replaying the video of the punch on the stadium scoreboard and firing up the crowd as the Oregon players were leaving the field and (2) will Hout receive any significant discipline for his role in starting the fracas on the field (not suggesting a suspension, but he needs to be held accountable for getting something like that started on a weekend when the American Football Coaches Association was emphasizing sportsmanship among teams).
Just a few additional thoughts to think about.
