Will LeGarrette Blount be reinstated by Oregon?

October 1, 2009 at 9:15 pm
Written by Dennis Greenfield

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.