Oregon coach Chip Kelly has had a change of heart, saying today that he might allow running back LeGarrette Blount to play this season even though he previously announced that Blount was suspended for the entire year for punching a Boise State player following the season opener.
Blount is one of Oregon's most talented players, so if he plays again this season it will certainly help Oregon win more games. But Kelly insisted at a press conference Friday that he wasn't motivated by anything other than a desire to do what experts told him was the best thing for Blount:
"After speaking with a number of nationally renowned professionals in the field, which included Dr. Harry Edwards and Tony Dungy, I came to the conclusion that leaving the door open for LeGarrette's potential return as an active player was the best solution," Kelly said.Blount has continued to go to class and practice with the team, and Kelly says that if he continues to follow all team rules, he can play again starting on November 7 against Stanford. If he's back against Stanford, that would constitute a seven-game suspension -- still a stiff sentence, but one that gives Blount a chance to have a meaningful impact on the Oregon team this season. If he's a model citizen for the next month, that's a chance he deserves.
"He has a rigid set of conditions he must live up to and there are certainly no guarantees in place. This merely provides him the opportunity for my reconsideration in the future should he meet those demands."
Comments (Page 1 of 2)
ducks are schmucks
ducks are schmucks
he was provoked in the first place---what happened to the guy who started it ??
provoked? A player said something to him. PLEASE tell us what the other player said that deserved being sucker punched. Let me guess .... you think no trash talk happens on a playing field, right? Let me guess .... you're not white, right?
He was physically provoked too - it was a quick shove - didn't look too hard of a shove, but it was there.
Let him play, the BS guy got nothing.
Whatever. I don't care. The NFL really needs another Chad Johnson, Tank Johnson, Plaxico Burris, or a litany of other thugs that reside there. This guy's a bum, pure and simple, and he will almost certainly remain a bum. I don't care.
Ooooh big talk Mr. Ed..... And NOBODY cares about what you have to say....
"But Kelly insisted at a press conference Friday that he wasn't motivated by anything other than a desire to do what experts told him was the best thing for Blount" ++++++++++ Well, of course letting Blout play would be the best thing for Blout! Duh! The best thing for Oregon, college football, and future football prima donnas would to stick with his suspension and let it bew known that there really is a ZERO tolerance for that ghetto sh** in college athletics.
The University of Oregon? What a bunch of hypocrites. The guy did worse than slug an opposing player on national television, he turned on his own teammates, shoved security and law enforcement personnel and tried to go after fans in the stands. If the UofO considers that is acceptable behavior, we really need to see that the Pac 10 and NCAA think. What a despicable self-serving decision. Once again winning overcomes sportsmanship. Shame. Shame. Shame!
he got what he deserved, people give lip service in sports but you don't strike someone out of it. Good lesson but let him play.
Obviously the coach and the University have no more integrity than the thug football player has. Once there appeared to be a shot at the Rose Bowl, the discipline and the integrity went out the window. Shame on all of them. Pathetic.
Since Blount was kicked out, I have seen 10 or more people get punched by their opponent, and none were dramatized like the one that the media blew out. If it would not have been televised, no one would have gave a cr*p.
Wow!!! Whatever happen to giving a kid another chance? I'm not going to make this a B/W thing but come on the guy lost his sh--!! WTF!!! Ghetto sh-t really Mr. Ed!!! I didn't agree with him sucker puching the guy but let's be real this is football and if you talk trash after the game you're going to get blasted..
Michigan player got a 1 game suspension for a "punch". Seven games is alot even in the NFL! Let him play and if he f*cks up again send him packing!
all i have to say is blount was walking back to the locker room and that guy talked chit to him plus he hit blount on his shoulder pads,pals i call that disrespect, i myself would have taken the same action as blount did,i would not allow someone disrespect me like that guy did plus you dont disrespect my school and that is what the dude did,blount wasnt looking for him he was looking for blount,and as i said he hit blount, oooo one more thing i am not black.
He's had enough punishment IMO.
I wonder if the same consideration would be given if Blount were white?
Take a toke off a joint your gone - blast someone in the face - oh, you deserve a second chance - both crimes under present law
I would hope that the guy from Boise that he sucker punch would file assault charges against Blount. This was not just a heat of the moment thing. The play was over and he waited till the guy wasn’t looking and sucker punched him. Not to mention the fact that he went after everyone else as he was being removed from the field. This guy is nothing but trouble and has not place in College sports. If the coach is stupid enough to put him back on the field, I hope the College or the NCAA will step in.