Everyone saw the ridiculous events of Thursday night on the blue carpet, and there’s been a lot of talk about the aftermath. Many sportswriters think that Oregon coach Chip Kelly’s decision to let LeGarrette Blount continue practicing with the team is inappropriate, or even harmful to the team. After all, the argument goes, the guy punched another player on the field of play and went after a fan. He had to be restrained by police. Guys who do things like that, they say, have no place in sports.
But let’s be honest. Football is a violent sport. It involves a defense physically knocking its opponents to the ground against their will over and over again. The hits come hard, and serious injuries are commonplace. Add to that the tremendous pressure involved in college football. Many of these players aren’t the sharpest men at their universities and have no other realistic career prospects. Coaches’ jobs depend on extracting great performance from these players. In short, these guys care tremendously about what happens in the games. The game is literally their lives, and they take it very seriously. Plus, they’re trained to be violent on the field. It’s not easy to be an animal during play and a gentleman as soon as the whistle blows. Humans aren’t wired that way.
So then there’s Blount, after having an awful game. A Boise State player taunts him, and he snaps, punching the Boise State player and going after a fan. It was a mistake, as Blount himself said shortly afterward. That leaves us with a question: should one mistake be enough to ruin Blount’s career? If Chip Kelly had kicked Blount off the team, Blount would be stuck with nowhere to work out in preparation for the NFL combine, with no structure, no gym, no peers going through the same thing, etc. His football career would be over.
To be clear, I’m not saying that anyone should feel sorry for this guy or that what he did was excusable. I’m simply saying that one-and-done isn’t a realistic or a proper way to deal with problems like this. If the guy learns from his mistake and never repeats it, why shouldn’t he be allowed to play at the next level if he’s good enough? Bottom line: If I made a mistake, I’d want a chance to redeem myself; I wouldn’t want to be kicked to the curb and forgotten for two ill-advised minutes out of my 20+ years of life. Chip Kelly made the right choice here. He gave out a severe penalty for a severe disciplinary violation—but he didn’t needlessly ruin a young man’s life.
