HolyCoast: How to Get Suspended for the Season
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Saturday, September 05, 2009

How to Get Suspended for the Season

Here's how not to end your college athletic career:
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.

Blount also had to be restrained by police from fans heckling him on the way to the locker room.

Later he apologized saying, "It was just something that I shouldn't have done. I lost my head."

Still, Kelly was taken aback when he saw the punch on tape.

"That's not what we're all about. That's not what we coach. That's not what we stand for and it's unacceptable," he said.

Blount's suspension includes bowl games. He will remain on scholarship, however, and will continue to practice with the team.

"He is taking this very hard," Kelly said, choking up. "He understands he made a mistake and he has to pay for the mistake. But we're not going to throw LeGarrette Blount out on the street."

Kelly said he hoped Blount's ultimate legacy "won't be a YouTube clip of what happened to him on September 3rd in Boise, Idaho."
Spoke too soon:
My guess is he'll pass on the rest of his senior year and will end up in the pros somewhere. They like that thug stuff.

1 comment:

Nightingale said...

I wonder what they'd find if they did some post-altercation drug testing? That guy was totally out of control.

Also, wasn't that what they call a "sucker punch?" Not very sporting.