Smothered with controversy throughout the early part of his football career, the New England Patriots running back is hoping to win his second Super Bowl ring in the last three years. Something that did not seem possible back in 2009 when Blount was suspended for a punch he threw during his senior season at Oregon.
This incident was not the first time the running back found himself in trouble during his time at Oregon, either. After his junior season, the team suspended Blount indefinitely for missing a bunch of team workouts during the offseason.
Heading into the 2010 NFL Draft, teams were skeptical of drafting Blount for obvious reasons. After all seven rounds, the running back was not selected by any of the league’s 32 teams but he did end up getting signed as an undrafted free agent by the Tennessee Titans.
So with another opportunity to put his troubled past behind him, Blount surely would not let another incident get in the way of his NFL dreams, right? Unfortunately, the running back’s temper got the best of him once again during a practice at the Titans’ training camp and the result was Blount throwing a punch at one of his Tennessee teammates.
Blount was eventually cut by the Titans before the start of the season but he received another opportunity to play in the league when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers claimed him off of waivers shortly after he left Tennessee.
With his last chance at an NFL career likely in front of him, Blount took advantage of his opportunity in Tampa Bay and finished his rookie season with over 1,000 rushing yards and six touchdowns. He lasted two more years with the Buccaneers before the team traded him away to the New England Patriots during the 2013 offseason.
With Blount doing everything from returning kicks to rushing for seven touchdowns, the Patriots made it all the way to the AFC Championship game in 2013. After his one season in New England, the running back opted to sign a new deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The hope was that he would be able to help mentor the Steelers’ new rookie running back, Le’Veon Bell. Well, he did teach Bell a lesson before the start of the 2014 season, but it was a lesson of what not to do when Blount and the rookie running back ended up getting arrested for marijuana possession on an August afternoon car ride before the start of the season.
Following a game later in the year in which Blount did not get a single carry or catch, the running back decided to head back into the Pittsburgh locker room before the game ended. Members of the Steelers organization were not happy with the running back’s actions and it ended with the team releasing him just 11 games into the season.
But fortune smiled on Blount, and the running back was re-signed by the Patriots just a few days later. Unlike in 2013, the running back and the rest of his New England teammates were able to end the 2014 season by celebrating a Super Bowl victory.
So in a little over five years, Blount went from a suspension-riddled college career, to undrafted rookie, to Super Bowl champion. Not the average career path for most NFL players, but it was one that led to the goal that everyone in the league is trying to achieve.
Two years later, Blount is coming off a career season in which he rushed for 1,161 yards and a league leading 18 touchdowns. His play this year has also helped the Patriots earn a trip back to the Super Bowl.
If New England is able to come out with a victory over the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl 51, Blount will be able to make the claim of having more championship rings than Walter Payton, Marshall Faulk, Marcus Allen, and John Riggins.
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