Thursday night's late-breaking rumor was true: As expected, LeGarrette Blount -- All-Pac-10 running back and YouTube favorite turned national pariah after taking a shot at Boise State's Byron Hout and attempting to storm the crowd while being restrained by his own coaches following Oregon's disappointing loss in Boise last month -- might have his season-long suspension lifted this year, if he stays in line:

University of Oregon Head Football Coach Chip Kelly has announced that there is potential opportunity for senior running back LeGarrette Blount to be allowed to have his playing status be reinstated prior to the conclusion of the 2009 season.
[...]
Kelly said he developed a plan that Blount would have to follow in order to retain his status with the team. The plan later was revised to encompass a possibility of Blount’s return. ... "He has a rigid set of conditions he must live up to and there are certainly no guarantees in place. This merely provides him the opportunity for my reconsideration in the future should he meet those demands."

No further details on the "rigid set of conditions," specifically, but they're official -- Kelly and Blount signed an agreement outlining the requirements for Blount's return last week in consultation with university lawyers -- and Kelly did set a date for the earliest possible return: Nov. 7 at Stanford. If the Pac-10 signs off on it, that would give him four games down the stretch against the Cardinal, Arizona State, Arizona and Oregon State, plus a very likely bowl date. At the very least, that will amount to a seven-game suspension.

I don't think Oregon cracked under public pressure to reinstate Blount -- from where I sit, there was at least as much pressure in the other direction -- and I don't think his possible return is a hypocritical move, either. Boise State fans don't seem to have a problem with it. It's a very predictable move, actually, and one the school and program began moving toward immediately by insisting Blount would remain in school and on the team, setting him up with counseling and expert advice and limiting his exposure to the media to acts of contrition, including a letter published in the student newspaper on Thursday. This is exactly the sort of "Road to Redemption" campaign you'd expect for a kid and a program with a very large, very public blemish to work their way back into the public's good graces.

This was easy to see coming after the initial tempers cooled. So why issue the "season-long" exile in the first place? A four to six-game suspension would have been an appropriate response, and nobody would have to "back down" or renege on any part of it. Instead, they chose the only way I can think of to make seven games on ice during your senior year look like getting off easy.

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