Saturday, September 05, 2009

Saturday 09/05 (LeGarrette) Quickie

Two words: Game. Day.

Light post this morning, but I wanted to offer a quick take on LaGarrette Blount's suspension for the rest of the season. In short:

How kneejerk, inappropriate and draconian. And wrong.

Without digging into the mechanics of precisely what he did -- punching the other guy (possibly provoked) and it doesn't even seem like his engagement with Boise fans factored into the suspension -- let's consider the most important mitigating circumstance:

He seemed to grasp, almost instantly, that what he did was wrong -- and that he was sorry.

His apology made the game story -- when was the last time a player had an incident like that and almost immediately apologizes, recognizing the severity of the problem.

In short, he showed remorse -- almost instantly.

It feels like that wasn't even taken into consideration.

Oregon coaches and administrators like to talk about this being a "teachable" moment for Blount -- how about teaching that instant remorse can mitigate an emotional (and stupid and intolerable) mistake.

It is the adults in this situation who have compounded Blount's original mistake with another mistake -- one that I would argue is even more severe and inappropriate.

-- D.S.

(As for Blount's NFL future: Yes, he might have slipped from the 2nd round, but NFL scouts are pretty bottom-line, and if the guy has the talent, they will overlook almost any problem. He won't not be the 2nd-best RB in the country -- per McShay -- a few months from now. The only question is whether Blount drops out of school to focus on NFL draft prep full-time; I wouldn't blame him. Again: Forced out of college football by the "adults" in the room, they make a bad situation worse.

6 comments:

Ja Doe said...

Since picking chalk in week 1 is just too easy, are there any lines that stand out as egregious that you'd be picking against?

To me, Cal at -21 stands out. We're talking about perennial underachiever Cal here.

Tyler said...

I think that the 49ers will draft him. Coach Singletary "wants winners. [He] wants people who want to win!" And how will they do that? "We go out, we hit people in the mouth."

Sounds like Blount took the advice a little too literally.

Qwagmire said...

A bit over the top example, but instant remorse for popping a cap in someones head still means the death penalty.

You must be responsible for your actions. This was not his first run in with the school, he was suspended most of last year. He didnt keep himself in shape during that suspension.

I bet that factored into it as much as anything.

Biff said...

Dan, hope you had a chance to watch the BYU/OU game last night.

I was there, and first want to say that Oklahoma fans are the classiest bunch of fans I've ever seen. Very complementary in defeat. They never used the excuse of Bradford's injury. When I said that I hope he gets better soon, their typical reaction was, "Well, we do too... but you guys were doing pretty good even with him in."

Yes. Look at the score, and the stats when Bradford went out. Tie game. BYU had 240+ yards passing already, and Bradford had 90+ yards. BYU had already given up three turnovers, and given OK some very short fields to work with.

Please don't fall into the ESPN "story" that OK "lost" this game. BYU earned it from the beginning...

Unknown said...

He should drop outta school and try and get into the UFL.

Peter said...

'Possibly provoked'?

Really, don't go out on a limb there. I mean, it's not like there is video showing the physical and verbal taunting or anything. What else do you need, fingerprints?