LeGarrette Blount to Patriots Conspiracy? Oh Please…
By DJ Smith
Jan 28, 2015; Chandler, AZ, USA; New England Patriots running back LeGarrette Blount (29) answers questions during a press conference at Chandler Wild Horse Pass. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
(Yahoo)– Did Blount engineer his release from the Pittsburgh Steelers earlier this season because he knew the Patriots wanted him back? Did someone tell him he had a job waiting for him? Is this Super Bowl a reward for a twisted scheme? On Tuesday, Blount repeatedly reacted to those questions with little more than Cheshire grins and half-hearted denials. One exchange in particular: “Did you know you had a job with New England before you left Pittsburgh?” Long pause. Big smile. No answer.
As if DeflateGate wasn’t enough of a distraction, this report came out after Media Day Tuesday, that when LeGarrette Blount and the Patriots had some sort of secret plan to reunite after his release from the Steelers.
Really? No, Really?
This story doesn’t deserve to see the light of day, especially during Super Bowl week, but because every media member is bunkered down in Glendale some of these fabricated stories get produced to get people talking. This one is even crazier than DeflateGate, that Blount and the Patriots had some master plan to reunite if/when he got released from the Steelers. So let me take a few minutes and break down several holes in this story and show that whomever came up with this brilliant article idea should go back to whatever town he came from.
Blount’s Time in Pittsburgh
Up until his final game in Pittsburgh, Blount hadn’t produced much if anything for Pittsburgh, in 11 games Blount ran the ball 56 times and averaged just 24 yards per game. Granted the Patriots lost Stevan Ridley in Week 6, they were still getting offensive production from Shane Vereen, Brandon Bolden, and later Jonas Gray. In fact the Patriots picked up Blount coming off the week where Gray dominated the Colts and scored four touchdowns in their Sunday Night blowout.
The Waiver Wire
Ah the old waiver wire, remember when a team releases a player they must pass through all teams ahead of them before you can pick that player up. Luckily for the Patriots there were 25-30 teams in front of them at the time, so for a team that was supposedly in cahoots with Blount to stage a reunion wouldn’t they also have to gamble and hope none of those other teams picked him up before it was the Patriots turn? So let’s take a team like Carolina, or the San Diego Chargers who could have used a powerful RB. Wouldn’t you have to be concerned about them taking Blount, who has shown in his career that he can be a dominant player. So if your Bill Belichick why would you think that Blount would even make it to your pick?
Listen, it was pretty dumb on Blount’s part to give an answer (or non-answer) that the media can spin in whatever direction they want. Does anyone really believe that Blount and Belichick had some master plan of reuniting mid-season? No. That would be about the dumbest thing we’ve heard this week, Belichick simply saw an opportunity to bring on a guy who has worked well in the Patriots system and see if he would fit in again. The worst that would happen would be the Patriots cutting him a few weeks later and paying his league minimum salary hit, it was the ultimate low risk-high reward gamble. Just because Belichick (now known as Professor Belichick), outsmarted football insiders yet again, doesn’t mean there needs to be yet another fabricated Patriots controversy.