Will LeGarrette Blount be reinstated by Oregon?

Update: (11:19 pm PST) Several reports are out that head football coach Chip Kelly will address the situation tomorrow (Friday, October 2nd) after the team’s practice approximately 11:00 am PST.

There are also several media outlets reporting “sources” saying perhaps there was a plan in place that would allow Blount to be reinstated following certain conditions.

Blount, who became a father recently, has been in contact with various mentors including Michael Vick mentor and confidant Tony Dungy and former NBA player Kermit Washington among others. It was Washington who was suspended for 60 days for punching Rudy Tomjanovich during a fight that happened on-court on December 9, 1977.

Joe Schad from ESPN writes:

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.

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Oregon Ducks running back LeGarrette Blount may be getting a (deserved?) second chance at college football as head coach Chip Kelly reconsiders the season long suspension.

On the heels of LeGarrette Blount’s letter of apology comes news from various outlets, including  John Hunt of the Oregonian, that on Friday Oregon head football coach Chip Kelly will discuss the issue of Blount and his status with the team.

Joe Schad, National College Football Reporter for ESPN, is tweeting on his twitter page that Blount could be reinstated in “in three to five weeks.”

Blount was suspended from all remaining football games after he punched Boise State’s Byron Hout after the Broncos beat Oregon on a nationally televised ESPN Thursday night game to start the season. Blount was allowed to remain on the team, however, and practice providing he kept up with his academics like any other student athlete.

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 LeGarrette Blount issues letter of apology to campus community

The Oregon Daily Emerald published a letter to the editor today that came from UO student athlete LeGarrette Blount. Blount is the now infamous Oregon Ducks running back who cold-cocked Byron Hout after the Boise State game.

In the letter Blount apologizes for his actions and lets it be known he does not “expect to be given a second chance to be a positive and responsible member of the football program.”

Blount also discusses how being a student athlete should be taken as a privilege and not taken for granted.

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 Oregon RB LeGarrette Blount suspended for remainder of season

Oregon senior running back LeGarrette Blount has been suspended for the remainder of the 2009 season following his actions after the conclusion of last night’s 19-8 loss to the Boise St. Broncos.

With the game over, and while the two teams were exchanging handshakes and exiting the field, Boise St. defensive end Byron Hout said something to Blount and slapped Blount’s shoulder pads. Blount then turned around and punched Hout on the jaw sending him to the ground. As if that weren’t enough LeGarrette Blount then started tussling (and actually threw a punch at) with a teammate who appeared to be pulling Blount away from the situation.

With coach Scott Frost escorting him to the locker room, Blount then heard some taunting from Bronco fans which set him off once again. It took several coaches, security, and police officers to restrain him and get him into the locker room.

During today’s press conference Oregon head coach Chip Kelly announced Blount will remain part of the team, but he will not be allowed to play in any of the remaining games. Coach Kelly also said the lesson his team should learn from this is, “the game of football is played with emotion, but you can’t let emotion play with you.”

We’d like to hear your thoughts on the suspension.

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