Two months ago, LeGarrette Blount, one of the least stable personalities in any NFL locker room, walked off the field pouting of his playing time with time left in a game and said, “I quit.” It’s probably the only time the Pittsburgh Steelers were happy about anything Blount said or did because they were ready to dump the guy anyway and waived him the next day.
“I feel like things happen for a reason,” Blount said.
And that would be?
“I’m here.”
There are moves only certain teams can make. New England is one of those teams. If Cleveland or Oakland or certainly the New York Jets signed Blount off the street, he probably becomes another afterthought of this NFL season. But when the Patriots signed him, it figured something weird would happen.
Like this: The often troubled running back ran for two touchdowns in his first game, gave quarterback Tom Brady the viable option the offense needed in the running game and rushed for 148 yards and three touchdowns in the NFC title win over Indianapolis.
“I don’t know anything about Pittsburgh,” New England coach Bill Belichick said, which is Belichick-speak for, “I don’t want to talk about what happened in Pittsburgh.”
“He obviously performed very well for us last (season). We were in communication with him through the whole free-agency process. We wanted him back; he wanted to come back. In the end, it was a contractual decision. When he was available, we were excited to get him back.”
Blount fits the prototype of the strong, physical back that can key most power running games. But the body has been attached to a $2 head. He has burned bridges and exasperated most coaches he has played for. New England and Belichick have been exceptions.
When Blount played at Oregon, he was suspended by two head coaches (Mike Bellotti and Chip Kelly) in two years, played only three games his senior season and became a YouTube sensation/villain for sucker-punching a Boise State player in the face after a game. He was undrafted in 2010, in part because of perceptions that he was lazy and a malcontent. Tennessee signed him, then waived him. Tampa Bay picked him up, and he rushed for more than 1,000 yards his rookie season. But he quickly fell out of favor with coaches and teammates.
It got so bad in Tampa that coach Raheem Morris took Blount’s accumulated fines ($15,000) and paid for a car service to pick up the player every morning and drive him to practice less than three miles away.
The Buccaneers canceled the car service after a few weeks. The next day, Blount was late.
He was gone from Tampa Bay after 2012. He played with New England last season with moderate success. Then he left for Pittsburgh in free agency. Things quickly unraveled. He and Le’Veon Bell were arrested for marijuana an hour before a team flight to Philadelphia for an exhibition.
(Bell also was cited for DUI, prompting him to utter this gem: “I didn’t know you could get a DUI for being high.”)
Bell eventually became the go-to back for the Steelers and by the time of the Nov. 17 game against Tennessee, both sides had it with each other. Bell rushed for 204 yards. Blount didn’t get a carry. He left the field before the game was over, quickly dressed and attempted to leave the stadium before being prompted to come back by a team employee.
He was released the next day. Some teammates told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette they wanted Blount gone the week before, one referring to him as “a cancer.”
Blount on Pittsburgh: “I made some really good, close friends.”
No matter. Belichick quickly signed him — so quick that it fueled conspiracy theories the player had orchestrated his exit from from Pittsburgh.
I asked Blount if that was true. He smiled, paused and then softly said, “No.”
I asked Blount if he had any regrets about anything he had done in his career.
Response: “Nah.”
Any lessons along the way in this roller-coaster career?
“Be persistent and continue to push forward for your dreams. Obviously, I’m going to be living one of my dreams in a few days. Things just don’t work out the way they’re supposed to all the time. It’s the business part of the game.”
Blount said he and Belichick “are really close. I appreciate the fact that he has enough confidence in me. I want to be here as long as I can be. … I’m excited that they gave me another chance to come back and be a part of what’s going on. I don’t feel like I had anything to prove, but I just wanted to show people that I could still run the football.”
The Patriots have a much better chance to defeat Seattle with Blount than without him. This probably doesn’t work for any other coach or with any other team — and that will be confirmed when eventually Blount is playing somewhere else.
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