It’s not secret that I am not a fan of the New England Patriots.

Regardless, as a realist who follows professional sports, I can still respect their franchise, even with my dislike for the team which eliminated my favorite, the Pittsburgh Steelers.

I can respect what their coach has accomplished.

I can respect what Tom Brady has accomplished.

I will never respect what LeGarrette Blount accomplishes.

Really, it’s a byproduct of several things that forms my opinion on why Steelers fans should feel the same way.

A short stroll down memory lane reveals that Blount was once a Steeler. Acquired via free agency in 2014, Blount was signed to be hammer to Le’Veon Bell‘s sickle; a backup capable of starting where necessary, and helping give the young running back a breather.

You know, like DeAngelo Williams presently does.

However, this was too tall of a task for Blount, who walked out of a Monday Night Football game against the Tennesee Titans back in November of the same year, before the game was over. Apparently, the running back was unhappy with his role, one in which he was second fiddle to Bell, who ran for a then single-game career high of 204 yards.

Blount did not receive a carry in that game, and after having a pair of touchdowns to open the season, he only had 65 carries through 11 games.

The tension with Blount had mounted in weeks leading up to what would be his meltdown, and dismissal from the team. He often complained publicly about his role, and even got into an on-field altercation with defensive assistant Joey Porter.

But that wasn’t his most famous backstep while with the Black and Gold. Prior to traveling to board a flight for a preseason game months earlier, Blount and Bell were arrested for marijuana possession.

The rest is history: Blount went back to his previous team, the New England Patriots, and helped them win the Super Bowl that year, with a 28-24 victory over the Seattle Seahawks.

So why should Steelers fans still care?

2014 Playoffs

Le’Veon Bell was injured in the final game of the regular season, where the Steelers defeated a division rival Bengals team to overtake first place in the AFC North.

It was discovered that Bell would be out for the following week’s home game against another rival, the Baltimore Ravens; the Steelers were forced to sign a street free agent (Ben Tate) and roll with undersized third round pick Dri Archer, and undrafted, practice squad perennial back Josh Harris, as the fill-ins.

Tate was ultimately responsible for two the Steelers turnovers in the Wild Card loss to the Ravens, where the Steelers running game was non-existent, and their offense became one-dimensional.

The question asked is, what if the Steelers had a quality backup for Bell in that game?

Well, they had one in Blount, but he walked out, and suspiciously helped out his former team. The Patriots were running back poor at the time of Blount’s dismissal, and it’s not as if teams just snap up problem players on a whim.

Without Blount the Steelers lost… and if the Patriots were without him too, perhaps they would not have played in and/or won the Super Bowl that season.

It’s speculation if that were to happen to the Patriots, but this much is true: Blount hurt Pittsburgh and helped New England.

We should still be upset about that outcome.

Suspensions

There have been several ramifications stemming from the aforementioned marijuana incident with Blount. The first of those was a two-game suspension in 2015 for possession and driving with a DUI.

In an ESPN special that same year, Bell went on national television to apologize, and casually mentioned that he had never “touched” pot before.

This led many, who didn’t already believe, to now believe that Blount was responsible for the drugs, and that the younger Bell was impressionable by the free agent acquisition, whom was supposed to also serve as his mentor.

However, 2015 wasn’t the only punishment related to that incident. Having now served a suspension for drugs, Bell was placed into the next stage of the NFL’s substance abuse policy, requiring stricter and more frequent drug tests of the player.

It was discovered in early 2016 that Bell would be suspended once again, for “violation” of the policy, though it was never revealed that he failed a test, rather, missing one. The nature of the policy is that a miss counts as a fail, and despite having never failed a drug test in the league, Bell would miss some time; though his initial punishment was reduced with a settlement between the NFL and it’s Player’s Association (the details of which were not disclosed, though one could assume the NFL partially admits fault by reducing the suspension).

Why does any of this fall on Blount?

Let’s assume he was responsible for the marijuana in Bell’s car. This means Blount put himself and Bell at risk that afternoon, and the subsequent consequences led to not only Bell’s initial suspension, but whatever screw-up also led to his second suspension.

Once again, Blount hurt the Steelers.

Salary Cap

This one is a little less of a gripe, due to the nature of bad contracts and underperforming players, but it should still be mentioned that Blount was responsible for nearly $2 million dollars in dead cap space (money the Steelers cannot spend) from the two-year deal he signed back in 2014.

Having walked out of Pittsburgh playing only 11 games, and contributing a meager 266 yards and a pair of touchdowns, the Steelers spent far more than his value, and were handcuffed financially as well.

It wasn’t the largest sum, but it’s still significant when dealing with the dollars and cents of football business.

 

Opponent

Finally, having to play against LeGarrette Blount is pretty much in the same vein as strengthening the New England Patriots. Though he was mostly shutdown in the AFC Championship game, Blount has rushed for 174 yards and 3 touchdowns in two games against Pittsburgh last season.

That’s enough to make any opponent public enemy number one, let alone an individual who has done so much damage to the Steelers franchise, in such a short amount of time.