One Final Thought on LeGarrette Blount

I’ve been traveling all day, so I haven’t had a chance to comment yet on the news of Oregon running back LeGarrette Blount’s season-long suspension.

The suspension effectively ends his career, as he was a senior.

It’s an ignominious conclusion to his career. The stat line is absolutely horrific.

Eight carries for negative five yards.

And one sucker punch to an opponent after the game.

As I wrote here, what Blount did was reprehensible and unconscionable. You simply cannot do that.

But as ESPN’s Ted Miller wrote, let’s hope that Blount can learn from this.

There’s no question in my mind that this incident will cost Blount. He went from a possible day one draft pick to potentially being an undrafted free agent.

I doubt that he has lost the opportunity for an NFL career because of this punch.

The road to making it to the league has become much harder for him, though. The only film for the scouts to look at is the entirety of the 2008 season and this one sad night in 2009.

Yet if you have talent, someone will take a chance on you.

This will not be the last time we hear about LeGarrette Blount.

Let’s hope that in the future, we are only hearing about his positive exploits on the field.

Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com

College Rooney Rule: Let’s clarify something

As part of my daily routine at work, I was checking out CollegeFootballNews.com’s Daily Roundtable series.

Today’s discussion was interesting, as the question was “Should college football have an official Rooney Rule, the NFL rule that requires teams to interview minority head coaching candidates?”

The answer I have is: yes, to a degree.

Before engaging in further discussion on this point, remember that the general point of the rule is to simply interview minority candidates. There is no implication that the minority candidate has to be the one hired.

I think that the issue that some people have is the problem a lot of people have with affirmative action programs; they presume that increasing the candidate pool means that they have to hire that person.

But what the Rooney Rule and a true affirmative action program sets up is an interview. That is all.

There is no mandate that the minority candidate has to be hired to fulfill some sort of quota system.

The best man will, and should, get the job. It just serves as a reminder that the best man may not always look the way he has traditionally looked.

While the Auburn hire of Gene Chizik is curious (at best, IMHO), at least Turner Gill was in the candidate pool. Now, if he wasn’t good enough to get the job, then that’s fine. Auburn found the coach that was the best fit.

I’d be more concerned if he didn’t even get the call to come down to the Plains.

Don’t Call It a Comeback: Brett Favre Considering Joining The Vikings.

Maybe Brett Favre missed his calling in life.

 

I’m thinking that Favre would have made a helluva professional boxer.

 

He already has the concept of coming out of retirement for one more bout down to a science.

 

If the reports on ESPN.com are true, we might get to witness the sight of Brett Favre taking snaps with Adrian Peterson in the backfield.

 

Ed Werder is reporting that there is allegedly a clandestine meeting set up for later this week between Favre and Vikings head coach Brad Childress to see if Favre would be willing to renounce his retirement and try to win that elusive second Super Bowl title.

 

My initial thought is: Not again.

 

Look, I can kind of understand Favre wanting to play again. Last season’s comeback drama had a great start, but tailed off at the end and fell flat on its face.

 

So when that happens, of course you green light (or in this case, purple light) a sequel. Redemption knows no boundaries. Grudges don’t know boundaries, either.

 

What better way for Favre to ride off into the sunset on that lawnmower of his than to go head to head with his former employer two times this season – with a playoff spot on the line, no less?

The Vikings have a good defense, a solid offensive line, and an outstanding running game with Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor as a dynamic one-two punch. Favre truly would just have to be a game manager in this situation. He wouldn’t have to play the hero’s role.

 

Although we all know that he would not be able to help himself. That’s just who Brett Favre is. He will always be the gunslinger – even when the old six-shooter is broken (as it was at the end of last season).

 

I’ve never been one to rant and rave about iconic sports figures “tarnishing their legacy” by playing for another team or teams at the end of their careers searching for a ring. I get that.

But this? This is spite. Pure and simple.

 

This is someone – a grown ass man – that cannot let go of how he was replaced.

Was it a messy ending in Green Bay? Absolutely. But this almost mercenary streak that he is displaying for the second year in a row seems…sad to me.

 

I can only imagine what that little kid that wore the Brett Favre jersey all of those years must be thinking now.

NFL Sport Channel Latest

• Just How Far Would You Go?
• Sorry Rex, But It Isn’t Happening
• Super Bowl Predictions: Five Stat-Free Reasons Why the Eagles Will Reach The Super Bowl
• Seahawks Attempt to Turn Corner With Heavy Pursuit of Pete Carroll
• Bill Cowher Unlikely to Coach in 2010