Source: Chip Kelly could reinstate LeGarrette Blount

[JLEW1818]

Oregon coach Chip Kelly will address LeGarrette Blount's status on Friday morning, the school said Thursday.

he suspended running back will have an opportunity to be reinstated to the program later this season, provided he continues to follow a plan set in place after the first game, a source told ESPN on Thursday.

Blount has been suspended since he punched Boise State defensive end Byron Hout after Oregon's season-opening loss to the Broncos. On Thursday, the Oregon campus newspaper published a letter of apology from Blount.

Blount has been participating in Oregon practice as a member of the scout team and has been attending classes.

Kelly had previously said reinstatement was not an option. But Blount has impressed many people he's spoken with as part of the plan. Among those people are Tony Dungy, Jon Gruden, Kermit Washington and noted sociologist and scholar Harry Edwards, a professor emeritus at Cal-Berkeley.

Blount has recently become a father. A person familiar with Kelly's plan said the resinstatement would not come immediately and likely not before Oregon's bye week on Oct. 17.

It is also believed that Oregon athletic director Mike Bellotti and school president Richard Lariviere are on board with the possibility for reinstatement, though its not known to what extent the Pac-10 has been involved.

Joe Schad is a college football reporter for ESPN.


http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4524682

[SbOrOiNaEnR]

How much do you want to bet this wouldn't even have come up if Oregon wasn't ranked and competitng for the Pac-10 title?

Paging Oregon's Integrity, party of 0.

[JLEW1818]

yup!

[Boomer.....]

Weak.

Sauce.

[rawlingsHOH]

I thought the initial suspension mas made way too quickly.

There was a lot of pressure on that coach, with the game opening the season on ESPN, in front of a huge audience. By the next morning they had already announced he was done for the year.

I think there was a little rush to judgement there.

I don't know much about the kid, but hopefully he makes the best with his potential reinstatement.

[batonrougesooner]

I'm all for second chances.

If the people close to him feel he's made appropriate changes, he should be allowed to play.

[badger]

The fact that Boise State didn't punish their mouthy prick shows that the punishment wasn't fair... but personally, I have no problem with an Oregon player making a spectacle of himself - it made the university look bad, it made the team look bad - because as far as I'm concerned, this is back karma payment for them getting a W in the column for the blown call of a few years ago.

So Oregon, let your puncher back on the team if you can risk having him lose his temper again. However, if you want to save a little bit of face and not worry about a PR nightmare, apply him for a medical redshirt. Get him counseling for his anger issues and try to have him return next season.

[Jello Biafra]

i have a serious issue with this...not only did he knock out glass joe, but he went into the stands after fans...bullshiite, bush league WWE type schtuff and he needs to be going to jail for a few days for his actions.

[sooneron]

I think the punishment was a little severe, but I remember hearing that Blount was MIA a few weeks back. WTF?

Oregon needs him for the usc game. It's shocking that this is being addressed all of a sudden. :rolleyes:

[badger]

If he was an OU player, I wouldn't want him back. But, since he's a UO player, I hope that when he comes back, he decks the Pac 10 replay ref this time instead of some nameless Boise State player that we'll never see or hear fro again.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

I told a friend I thought they would after demolishing Cal...

Then again, after OU reinstated Dusty, I can't throw stones at Oregon

[Jello Biafra]

all of the other stuff CAN and should be xcused and can be forgiven. going into the stands is uncalled for. seriosuly. big difference between dusty and this incident.

[starrca23]

I don't blame Boise for not suspending that kid. That happens all the time. I would bet that Blount had been talking smack the whole game anyway.

I also agree with Jello: If his coach hadn't been there, he would have been in jail after going into the stands. There are some serious immaturity and anger issues there that couldn't have possibly been fixed in one month. All this teaches is that if you give a good apology you can do whatever you want.

On a different note: He was slow and out of shape in that game. Another sign of immaturity. There would be better off without him.

[illinisooner]

Right, we can't sit here and be all high and mighty about this when Stoops let Dusty back on the team a few years back for beating the crap out of his buddy. But let's face it, if that game was just your average 6 PM kickoff on the first Saturday of the season, televised live on FSN regionally, there would NOT have been that much of an outcry and Blount probably would have been suspended until conference play started. I have no issues with him being reinstated, but I do have issues with how Oregon handled this.

[badger]

all of the other stuff CAN and should be xcused and can be forgiven. going into the stands is uncalled for. seriosuly. big difference between dusty and this incident.

The video of Dusty fighting with his friend was never replayed on ESPN 50 bajillion times and giggled at on Youtube 100 gazillion times... because as far as we know, there was no video. That's the major difference between the DD situation and the Blount situation --- one was witnessed by the public and the other wasn't.

I wish UO all of the losing in the world... no offense to my Duck fan relatives (yes, they are lost in the 60s).

[stoops the eternal pimp]

IMO, who witnessed it means nothing...Again, everybody has their own perspective on things..but

Did Blount put somebody in the hospital?

[JLEW1818]

IMO, who witnessed it means nothing...Again, everybody has their own perspective on things..but

Did Blount put somebody in the hospital?

if he would have hit CK... yes!

:pop:

[sooner518]

The video of Dusty fighting with his friend was never replayed on ESPN 50 bajillion times and giggled at on Youtube 100 gazillion times... because as far as we know, there was no video. That's the major difference between the DD situation and the Blount situation --- one was witnessed by the public and the other wasn't.
.

why is that relevant? an action is the same action if 1 person saw it or 1 million people saw it.

i personally thought suspending him for the whole season was harsh and a knee-jerk reaction. i dont have a problem with him getting a 2nd chance, but this situation would have been better had they not been so rash in their original judgment.

[Dan Thompson]

Kelly must have been thinking something like this:

Kelly -"We are doing pretty good, maybe we can beat USC and win the PAC-10 if I reinstate Blount"

I hope they beat USC.

[badger]

why is that relevant? an action is the same action if 1 person saw it or 1 million people saw it.

It might not matter to God and some people, but I think it shapes public opinion more if people see it themselves... and as such, I think UO would make a big mistake re-instating a guy who tried to attack a crowd of BS fans after punching an opposing player this soon after... which is why I highly endorse UO making fools of themselves.

[Collier11]

we dont know what has happened behind the scenes, if the work he has done has caused them to change their minds then so be it. Im sure it has alot to do with winning but we wouldnt argue too much if it was our guy

[sooner518]

It might not matter to God and some people, but I think it shapes public opinion more if people see it themselves... and as such, I think UO would make a big mistake re-instating a guy who tried to attack a crowd of BS fans after punching an opposing player this soon after... which is why I highly endorse UO making fools of themselves.

I can agree that it defintiely had a larger impact on the public perception. however I tend to think that the coach and admin should make their decision based on the actions and not necessarily the public perception. i know im being idealisitic here :D

[stoops the eternal pimp]

Most of the public opinion can be easily swayed...A heart warming story from ESPN talking about him becoming a dad or turning his stupid act into "overcoming an obstacle" will change PO...

I had a NFL scout tell me that Blount became "untouchable" after that incident, that no NFL team would want him...A week later, this same scout said he was back on the board and would be a late round pickup, "a real bargain."....Now that the incident isn't replayed every 10 seconds, opinions have already changed...

I was one that stated he should be out for the year...But if Oregon lets him back in the program, I think we are in a glass house throwing stones if we think its terrible they do so.

[badger]

I can agree that it defintiely had a larger impact on the public perception. however I tend to think that the coach and admin should make their decision based on the actions and not necessarily the public perception. i know im being idealisitic here :D

Again, I hope UO looks really stupid and bad, so I'm not offering the greatest advice here in this situation :D

I don't think they can avoid the court of public opinion on this, because...

1- Oregon already looks bad this season. Loss aside, it was an embarrassing incident for them to have the entire country laughing at them.

2- They have a first-year head coach. What a way to start your legacy, eh? Your SI coverboy QB is playing terribly, your captain running back punched someone after the game and the Nike founder is breathing down the back of your neck demanding better football!

3- Oregon actually has a shot at the Rose Bowl. With the USC loss and starting the Pac 10 conference schedule off right, this is their best chance since Dennis Dixon's ACL tear versus Zona (Mikey's best win as a HC to-date, IMHO).

It is a very difficult decision... and I hope they make the wrong one :D

[JLEW1818]

word is Obama has something to do with it... let criminals play!


;)

[Collier11]

HALF WHITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[DrZaius]

huh

[I Am Right]

Pac-10 Refs said, "after further video review the play stands as called, 1st down Oregon."

[stoops the eternal pimp]

c11 and jlew are extrapolated

[sooner59]

I am all for second chances as well, but this just bothers me this early in the season after he skipped out for a few weeks. Its obvious they are talking about it this early in the season because they want him back to better their season. And didn't Dusty Dev. set out an entire season and come back the next season......not midseason? I know this kid can't do this, but I was just trying to distinguish the two cases.

[Collier11]

The diff is that Dusty got drunk and nearly beat his friend to death, regardless of the fact that his buddy apparently started it. This thug at Oregon sucker punched a guy after he had been taunted, still a bad deal but to me the worst part was the way he acted afterwards.

Like we said though, who knows what has gone on behind the scenes

[TopDawg]

Kelly had previously said reinstatement was not an option. But Blount has impressed many people he's spoken with as part of the plan. Among those people are Tony Dungy, Jon Gruden, Kermit Washington and noted sociologist and scholar Harry Edwards, a professor emeritus at Cal-Berkeley.

If Tony Dungy's on board with the reinstatement, that would weigh heavily in my perception of it. The article doesn't really say that he is or isn't in favor of it, just that he's been impressed with his attitude since the suspension, but it looks like Blount's been making some significant progress.

To me, this doesn't seem like it's all about winning the Pac-10. With Blount, Oregon was embarrassed on the road in their opener. Since his suspension, they've put together arguably the best resume in the nation. It's not like they were competitive with him and then fell back without him. Quite the opposite.

[ouduckhunter]

How much do you want to bet this wouldn't even have come up if Oregon wasn't ranked and competitng for the Pac-10 title?

Paging Oregon's Integrity, party of 0.

Ditto!

We were at that game, and he was out of control! The first week following the incident the rumors around here were that Blount hadn't made it to class let alone practice. Guess that changed!

Knowing and hating Oregon football as we do, we predicted the day after the game that he would be back! His potential comeback is the headline article in the sports section of The Oregonian. There's also a snarky column by the sports commentary reporter criticizing Oregon for potentially reversing their decision on Blount. I predict that if he does come back, he will continue to be a blight upon the program, and Oregon will implode down the stretch as is their norm!

Boomer!

[SoonerPr8r]

Hmm who didn't see this coming? I know I did.

[swardboy]

I think a major problem, if he's reinstated, is that opposing fans will be merciless in badgering Blount. Could be very distracting to the team as a whole.

[badger]

opposing fans will be merciless in badgering Blount.

They already were :D

[Sooner70]

This is where I'm thankful for Bob Stoops, although he's curt & impatient with the media sometimes. I don't think Stoops would ever put himself in this spot. Kelly looks kinda stupid for backpeddling on this. I think Stoops woulda initially disciplined the player, but left his options open....something like "....suspended indefinitely"...'course there may be school administrator politics at play here.

To me, all the discussion about the nature and circumstances of the offense are secondary. This coach placed his credibility on the line when he made the initial pronouncement, and now his waffling is making him look bad. He should follow thru with what he said he'd do.

This is gonna cause him problems.....because his disciplinary pronouncements have no bite if he reinstates the guy. He mighta had some behind the scenes administrative pressure that caused him to do what he did, but it looks bad on him. Only way he can come out of this with any semblance of credibiity is call a press conferece and talk about "how wrong" he was in that initial annoucement and why.