Quick Friday Editorial: LeGarrette Blount and the Ruskell Code

by abender20 on Sep 4, 2009 3:48 PM PDT Comment 15 comments

A week and a half ago, John brought up an open thread for the public lusting after college running backs. Not only were we all looking at backs that caught our fancy, but:

So to head off every thread devolving into fantasy GMing and rosterbation, here's a few 2010 prospects, passed through the Ruskell sieve, to enjoy on this autumn day of August.

Blount was brought up fairly quickly, but he was almost immediately dismissed by a certain someone for his track record, which was dubious enough to wilt under the heat of the Ruskell Code. The point of this isn't to toot John's horn, although the timing is hilarious. Unless you don't own a television, computer (demonstrably false), or newspaper subscription, then you probably know that LeGarrette Blount punched a Boise State player on the field after last night's loss for the Ducks. He has now been suspended for the entirety of the year, ending his career at Oregon and possibly his career as a football player.

Each year around draft time, there's usually a bit of teeth-gnashing about the players that Tim Ruskell doesn't bother drafting, namely those with any bit of red flaggery in their background. Sure, not every college kid who urinates on a parked car will go all Maurice Clarett and start their own mobile militia. We forget, however, just the magnitude of the investment in these players. Blount came into the season with a scholarship and likely the majority of carries for an Oregon team trying to contend for a Pac 10 Title. Investing a good deal of their trust in a particular player, Oregon was let down.

Just as the level of competition ratchets up with the jump to the NFL, so too does the magnitude of the investment in players. Rosters are smaller and salaries are immense. When thinking about draft-worthy players, we tend to consider the inherent risk of failure to develop or the risk of serious injury. We need to remember to add in the risk of immature or unstable character . It's nice to marvel at the potential of players like Blount, but last night we saw the bottom face of that sort of coin flip.

0 recs | Comment 15 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

I suspect...

a Bernard Scott like drop in draft stock, maybe there are better examples. However, I understand he’s still on scholarship, will practice w/ the team, and go to class. How does/could this affect his eligibility?

Nice writeup, btw. Nice to see stopping by again, abender20.

Early prospect watch: RB C.J. Spiller, QB Jevan Snead, OT Ciron Black, DT Gerald McCoy, S Eric Berry, DT Ndamukong Suh, CB Ras-I Dowling 6'2, 200, RB Jonathan Dwyer

by Misfit74 on Sep 4, 2009 3:53 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I'd honestly be surprised if he's drafted at all.

by abender20 on Sep 4, 2009 4:00 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hey, the Raiduhs have picks in every round

so I doubt he slips out of the draft altogether.

by The Ancient Mariner on Sep 4, 2009 4:22 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

He could spar with Cable.

by John Morgan on Sep 4, 2009 4:25 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Lol

by rex92 on Sep 5, 2009 10:59 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Blount's 1 year suspension was too harsh methinks

Blount was reacting upon emotion not only because of the high profile loss but his frustrating performance.

I’m not saying I condone that behavior, but the dude was obviously asking for it with his remarks after the game when emotions are high. You’ve already won the game; don’t be a douche about it.

by aerozeppelin on Sep 4, 2009 6:43 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Kinda, but as a policy matter

he left Oregon with little choice but to swing the hammer. If it were just the punch and then some woofing it would have been a game or two. But dude went completely bananas. There’s taking a swing in a moment of anger, but this was totally outsized to anything that had happened to provoke him—and of course it happened on national TV. We’ve all seen athletes get frustrated and just lose it for a second, but it’s for a second. Dude could not be settled down by his coaches or teammates. That’s a lack of control you just cannot have.

I would not be surprised at all if the coach and AD consulted the players on this.

The good thing was that they didn’t strip his scholly, and by staying attached to the program he has at least the vague possibility of rehabbing his reputation.

"Those who fear disorder more than injustice inevitably produce more of both." -- Rev. William Coffin

by dcrockett17 on Sep 4, 2009 7:15 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Supposedly the NCAA Commish was at the game?

by Groundhog on Sep 4, 2009 8:53 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I was at Martin Stadium in Pullman ...

when Reggie Williams made it farther into the croud going after students in the stands than Blount did last night at Bronco Stadium. He didn’t get a single minute of suspension.

And does anybody realize that in hockey this kind of action gets you five minutes in the box. And in the MLB you’d get a five game (out of 164) for running sixty feet and assaulting an oponent? And those guys are considered professionals, men.

No condoning of Blount’s actions, but he’s being used as a patsy here. Sad day for a 21 year old kid.

by Jo-Jo on Sep 5, 2009 12:13 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

If a baseball player decked a guy on the opposing team while the opposition were in their high-five line,

he would be in serious trouble.

by abender20 on Sep 5, 2009 7:40 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

That does not portray what Blount did at all.

He didn’t seek out a player that was congradulating his own teammates after the win.

In baseball it would look more like this:

I hit a walk-off homerun off of Roger Clemens and as I round third base and he’s on his way to the dugout I slap him on the ass and say “Nice pitch Asshole.” How do you think the Rocket would respond to that?

by Jo-Jo on Sep 5, 2009 12:06 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

What matters is that Blount is a student allowed to play football

not a professional paid to play football. The penalty seems perfectly reasonable in that context. If a cheerleader punched out another cheerleader, he/she would be expelled.

by John Morgan on Sep 5, 2009 12:15 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

There's a difference between jawing at someone for taunting you and punching them in the face.

Self-control is a large portion of maturity, and Blount could have easily a.) walked away b.) turned around and told him to stuff it and then walked away or c.) punched him in the face.

Which of those three options looks like the one you want your starting running back to choose?

by abender20 on Sep 5, 2009 7:43 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Blout made a mistake and displayed a clear lack of maturity

But the kid certainly deserves a second shot. What the team should really do is to give the player counseling and anger management to help control his emotions and at the same time suspend him for a couple of games, not completely end his football career.

Let’s see what would happen if he did this in the NFL? Haynesworth got five games for stomping a dude on the head with spiked cleats, narrowly missing his eye. To put that in perspective, Blout would get no more than a 3 game suspension.

by aerozeppelin on Sep 5, 2009 11:06 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I like that Ruskell values character

Wish he round one picks had worked out better. But it is nice to have solid, hard working, team focused individuals on the team who give it their all.

by ASeahawkfan on Sep 5, 2009 10:04 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs