Well, it’s finally over.
More than two months since he was initially suspended for the season, disgraced running back LeGarrette Blount will dress down for Saturday’s home football game against the Arizona State Sun Devils.
The announcement was made Monday morning in a press release sent out by the Oregon Athletic Department. Also in the release, Blount made a brief statement saying that he’s ready to make amends.
“I’m grateful to Coach (Chip) Kelly that he cares enough to offer me this second chance,” Blount said. “Now it is up to me to prove to people that their lasting impressions of me are not what they saw in Boise.”
As for the timing of the reinstatement, Kelly was short with the media in why he chose this week as opposed to last week prior to the Stanford game.
“He filled every part of the ladder we had in place for him,” Kelly said.
He went on to say that it was a matter of student records and did not disclose the exact benchmarks that Blount met. However, Blount’s efforts were enough for Kelly to forward his recommendation for reinstatement Sunday night to athletic director Mike Bellotti, who sent the recommendation to University President Richard Lariviere and Pacific-10 Commissioner Larry Scott.
According to Kelly, Blount apologized to the team yet again for his transgressions on Sept. 3 when he punched Boise State player Byron Hout in the jaw and for his subsequent tirade with Boise State fans.
He then suited up in a white jersey with the offense for Monday’s practice and took repetitions as the fifth string running back behind LaMichael James, Kenjon Barner, Andre Crenshaw and Remene Alston.
“We took him along real slow,” running backs coach Gary Campbell said. “He only had a couple of plays through the day. He was a little bit rusty on those, and I think it’s going to come back to him slowly.”
After practice, players were bombarded with questions from the media about the impact of having Blount available will have, but for the most part they were just happy to see that he’s getting another shot.
“It’s good, it’s really a sight for sore eyes,” quarterback Jeremiah Masoli said. “LeGarrette brings a lot to the table.”
Masoli added that it’s a relief that the saga is finally over.
“It’s always good to close that kind of chapter and get that behind us,” Masoli said. “It was already behind us as a team, but to have him out here in a white jersey really brings it to a close … he’s been the same guy since day one. He’s become a better person for what happened, but out on the field he looks the same and he’s going to be a big impact player.”
Now the focus is how will Oregon incorporate Blount into the offense. With the emergence of LaMichael James as one of the best backs in the conference, the need for Blount has lessened. James is 11th in the nation in rushing with an average of 115 yards per game, and he became the first Duck freshman ever to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a season.
“We haven’t even talked about where LeGarrette will fit in,” Kelly said at his press conference. “LaMichael James is our running back.”
Campbell added that it will be up to Blount if he is going to work himself into a position to carry the ball at all.
“It’s going to be up to him to see how he practices and how much of the offense he has retained,” Campbell said. He did mention, however, that some short yardage situations are a possibility if he deems it necessary.
“If a short yardage situation would arise where I thought we needed his size, then yeah, we would probably put him in there for that,” Campbell said.
Masoli is a little bit more skeptical. He didn’t say one way or the other what would happen when Blount makes his first appearance.
“I’m not trying to think about it just because I don’t know what it’s going to be like,” Masoli said. “Who knows? It could be the best thing ever or the worst thing ever. We’ll see.”
One thing is for sure: Blount won’t touch the ball often against Arizona State. A few days of practice is too short of a time to work into being a prominent member of the offense, and the Ducks are more focused on winning than getting him more reps. They lost 51-42 to Stanford on Saturday, and if they still want the Pac-10 title, there can’t be any more slip-ups.
“We still control our own destiny,” defensive back T.J. Ward said. “We win out and we are still going to the Rose Bowl and we’ll still have a good season. We’re just focused on Arizona State, and we can’t lose another one.”
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A chance for redemption
Daily Emerald
November 8, 2009
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