If I hear one more ESPN or FSN (fox sports news) analyst attempt to make an excuse for why LeGarrette Blount punched an opponent I will stop watching both stations. I played in an elite Juniors division in hockey and had 3 full rides to college... That is not acceptable in any elite league of any sport, if its NCAA or NFL. I would never react that way to an opponent, not to mention he was ON A FULL RIDE TO OREGON for the past 3 years.
I completely respect Oregon's decision to suspend him for the season. It gives the pac 10 a little bit of respect... since Oregon lost most of that for us in the game.
I agree with you Jake. Although I haven't heard anyone making excuses for him. The consensus seems to be that the punishment was sufficient. Don't worry, he'll get what he deserves, he may have just thrown away his NFL career. A lot of analysts are already saying he'll go undrafted.
If he hadn't of gone and tried to attack the fans, then the punishment would have been severe. I still think it's a little tough, not that I'm condoning what he did. He was provoked by the lineman on Boise. I mean, a good majority of us on here have played a sport at a high level whether it be hockey, soccer, basketball football, or whatever and personally, there has been numerous times where after a tough loss and the other team is acting like d!cks where you would love to go knock someone out. Granted probably none of us ever acted on those feelings but still, if we had the chance, we would. He did it on a national stage. I think the full season is a bit extreme but I'm certainly not going to sit here and say that he doesn't deserve it.
John, I understand where you're coming from, but I can't agree with that "boys will be boys" sort of attitude. That isn't much consolation to a guy like Rudy Tomjanovich who is lucky to be alive after Kermit Washington sucker punched him years ago, or Marcus Williams whose CAREER WAS ENDED by one punch from Bill Romanowski.
These are pro athletes with strong, explosive bodies. And they aren't wearing padded gloves, headgear, or mouthpieces, and there ain't no referee. I wouldn't feel bad if Blount was charged with assault or something. The provoking is a weak excuse at best. Trash talk is going on during virtually every play of every game. There are offensive/defensive lineman who like to talk trash to the guy they line up against, on every single play. On top of that, Blount himself asked for it cause HE was running his mouth leading up to the game.