Carp’s Call

Daniel Carp
Sports Editor

The 2009 college football season was barely one game old when its very first controversy erupted. The fourteenth ranked Boise State Broncos had recently completed its commanding 19-8 victory over the sixteenth ranked Oregon Ducks when shockwaves poured down through the college football world. In a postgame altercation, Oregon’s star running back LeGarrette Blount threw an unwarranted sucker punch at Broncos defensive end Byron Hout, squarely connecting with Hout’s jaw and knocking him to the ground. Chaos ensued on the field, as Blount was quickly restrained by his teammates and escorted toward the tunnel. When it seemed as though the dust was settling Blount attempted to break free of his teammates grasp. The enraged 6’2”, 246 lb. Blount was trying to charge at fans in the stands when Boise State faithful began to yell at him for throwing punches at one of their players. After Blount’s rage was quashed, Oregon University had no choice but to suspend their star running back for the remainder of this season. As a senior, Blount will never again don an Oregon Duck uniform, and although he was projected to be a second round NFL draft pick next April, his professional football career is now in serious jeopardy.
This proverbial shot heard around the college football world caused me to think about the world in which we live. In the übercapitalist endorsement dominated sports world, college sports have always been viewed as professional sports in its infant stage. Its purity is virtuous, to see athletes play for nothing more than pride and passion fueling their play. It seems as though now star college athletes’ visions have been clouded by the dollar signs that glaze over their eyes. As a result players like LeGarrette Blount think they are invincible, that their actions will be met with no consequences.
This decade’s star college athletes live in a skewed world of their own. They see their bright, lucrative athletic futures lying ahead of them. College, for many of them, is simply a pit stop on the road to professional athletics. Athletics has been blown up to such proportions in this day and age that even high school athletes become celebrities if they have a good chance of going pro. A handful of LeBron James’s high school basketball games were broadcast nationally on ESPN2 when he became a nationwide sensation, hailed as the next Michael Jordan.
Not only are high school athletes idolized by their peers, they are showered with praise by college boosters and recruiters. New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush was investigated in 2006 by the NCAA after suspicions arose that he and his family had accepted free housing from Michael Michaels, a man who was allegedly trying to coax Bush into signing with a San Diego agent. Throughout the last decades there have been numerous accusations against star college athletes who supposedly accepted, money, cars, and other gifts from college recruiters and boosters. NCAA rules prohibit any sort of endorsement or acceptance of gifts by their players, who risk losing their eligibility and scholarships if the violate these rules. When the probe against Bush was launched by the NCAA in 2006, he risked losing his 2005 Heisman Trophy, although nothing arose during the investigation and the allegations soon subsided.
Many of the NCAA’s most promising college athletes have seen their careers cut down before their professional prime because they believe the rules do not apply to them. The fatal flaw of these tragic heroes is that these top competitors see themselves as invincible. They see millions of dollars in contracts and endorsements in their crystal balls and believe that any way they get there will be viewed as acceptable. Since they captivate the general American public, many athletes believe that they have been given immunity to the rules. We as sports fans are in no way innocent bystanders. In fact, we enable this new culture and hype that helps to validate these athlete’s self glorification. Thanks to the new role of sports in American society, college sports has become corrupted nearly as much by big business as professional sports has. Blount and Bush, whether guilty of their actions or not, have shown us that it seems as though an era of college sports is behind us. College sports has moved past purity and become an industry, and its participants have become hopelessly lost in the frenzy.
All too conveniently, LeGarrette Blount issues an official apology to Oregon University on October 1, when he wrote a letter to Oregon’s student newspaper, The Daily Emerald. In this letter Bount stated, “On a personal note, I probably will never be able to erase the memories of the post-game events of that day. Given this, I do not expect to be given a second chance to be a positive and responsible member of the football program and of this community. Going forward, what I hope for is the opportunity to show that I am able to earn a second chance as a University student. And if I am so fortunate, I believe that I also will demonstrate that I am a better man and a better human being for having lived through this unfortunate experience.” Blount’s apology seems to have come far too late given the magnitude of his actions, although he has sought legal counsel and is trying to be reinstated by the University of Oregon. Many members of the sports media have seen the apology as a forced effort by Blount just to get back on the football field. Questioning Blount’s sincerity, ESPN’s Pat Forde claimed in his column, “Forde Yard Dash”, “If he’s really interested in seeking forgiveness — as opposed to following someone else’s orchestrated steps designed to get him back in a Ducks […] it would mean more if it came directly from his mouth. Without reading a script.” If by some miracle his suspension is repealed, Blount could be eligible once again in November.
Although Bush has been able to work past their controversies and lead successful professional careers, the future remains unclear for Blount, whose fatal mistake leaves his playing career in limbo. Blount needs to realize that professional football provides him a career with endless possibilities. His actions have shown nothing but poor decision making and impulsiveness, traits that will not be tolerated in any working world. Football is his most promising option; his fallbacks are limited due to his lack of time to foster other marketable skills. If an NFL career does not materialize, Blount will be faced with a menacing challenge of transitioning to another line of work. If he is going to resurrect his football career, LeGarrette Blount needs to realize that he needs football much more than football needs him.