A Duck Fan's Lament: LeGarrette Blount Must Go After Oregon-Boise State Fiasco

When the game ended, I thought it was the worst feeling I had ever had as a sports fan.

Then it got worse.

By the time you read this, I have no doubt it will be a YouTube sensation, so I won’t bother going over what happened. Just go there and search for “Oregon,” “Boise State,” “LeGarrette Blount,” and “punch.”

Go ahead, I’ll wait.

I am embarrassed as a fan.

Ducks fans, I don’t want to see a bunch of flames about how “he was goaded.” A Bronco bumped Blount as he was exiting the field, and that set him off, but there is no excuse for physically assaulting another person simply because you are insulted.

There is also no excuse for having to be dragged off the field by security and your teammates raving and looking for a fight, no matter how obnoxious the fan taunting you was.

I have been embarrassed by happenings at the Oregon athletic department before: dismissals, the lack of action after Luke Bellotti was arrested for drunk driving, Dante Rosario kicking a Cal player in the head and not being punished, you name it.

These are the kinds of things that happen to every college football team and I never like, especially when it happens to my team.

But this was so public, so egregious, and showed such a lack of maturity that I simply feel like all my Ducks paraphernalia needs a good washing.

I think an official, written, signed apology from Blount, head coach Chip Kelly, athletic director Mike Bellotti, and the current president of the University of Oregon should be delivered to Boise State University and the player attacked. I think public apologies by all these parties should be spoken with the microphones on and cameras rolling.

I also believe LeGarrette Blount should be kicked off the football team.

If the player he attacked chooses to press charges, I think the law should be enforced without bias.

That said, I do not think Blount should be judged too harshly as a human being. LeGarrette Blount, the human being, acted egregiously and maliciously. LeGarrette Blount, the human being, made what might be the biggest mistake of his life.

I think LeGarrette Blount, the human being, should face consequences for his actions—in this case, severe consequences to match his severe actions.

But I also think that LeGarrette Blount, the human being, should be allowed to face the consequences of his actions and learn from them. I believe he should not be punished for all time and branded a bad person because of one awful decision.

I think LeGarrette Blount, the human being, can grow from this. But I think that LeGarrette Blount, the football player, should be finished.

Please, don’t let this thread become a flame war between Ducks fans shouting, “They started it!” and Boise State fans shouting, “You’re all punks!” That kind of childishness is just what led to the University of Oregon football team being embarrassed in a way that goes far deeper than what the scoreboard reads when the game is over.

After tonight, I’m not in the mood for any more shenanigans.