Disgraceful NFL exit? Hardly for Super Bowl-bound LeGarrette Blount

FOXBOROUGH, Mass.  – He was arrested. He was cut. Then he went to the Super Bowl.

"This is my first time winning anything," LeGarrette Blount said Sunday night, his eyes glimmering after a 30-carry, 148-yard, three-touchdown game against the Indianapolis Colts here. "We never won [high school] states. We never won the national championship at Oregon."

Now his new team, and his old team, had won an AFC championship trophy. Blount picked a couple of strips of confetti out of the base of the silverware, then held it in his hand as he stood in front of his locker. He had been grinning for a good 45 minutes, smiling wider when asked about going from the outs with the Pittsburgh Steelers to the star of the show in a championship game.

"It's a blessing that I ended up here," he said.

Exactly two months prior to the night he became the Patriots' all-time leader in playoff rushing touchdowns, Blount was dumped by the Steelers after leaving the field early in a November game in which he didn't even play. That came after he got arrested in August for marijuana possession.

"If you don't want to be here, don't be here," Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey told reporters at the time. "He had a decision to make as a man, and he made it. You know the consequences."

The consequences turned out to be the culmination of a lifelong dream for every football player: the Super Bowl. Blount was brought back to New England two days after his release from Pittsburgh. (He wasn't claimed on waivers.) And yet a career death sentence for many players became a lottery ticket. He had more touchdowns on Sunday than he did during his entire time as a Steeler. Blount is now the latest in a long list of Bill Belichick reclamation projects that have included Corey Dillon and Randy Moss. Those guys went to the Super Bowl, too. Everybody seems to find bliss in a role here, no matter how unhappy they may have been elsewhere. Broken trust in other cities seems to morph into mutual trust in Pats-land.

"That's why we win," Blount said. "That's the formula."

Is it fair? Well of course not. A lot of players do everything right and never sniff their sport's greatest stage. Blount punched an opponent on national television when he was at Oregon, got a long suspension for it, then had a falling out with a pro team. Still, at age 28, he's in the backfield with one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, taking directions from one of the greatest coaches of all time, and feeling loved by both.

"Everybody welcomed me with open arms," Blount said at his locker. "Can't beat that.

"Can't beat that."

When he was asked if at any point he worried about his career, he said, "Nah," and waited for the next question. He said he kept in touch with his Patriots teammates, even during his exile in Pittsburgh. It was as if he had a feeling all along he would wind up back here somehow.

But that's the vibe of Blount's entire football career. He comes from the tiny town of Perry in the Florida Panhandle, and he didn't get scholarship offers out of high school, in part because of academic performance. He went the junior college route and then the interest exploded. He decided on Oregon and fell into a pattern: the blend of talent and trouble. He was punished multiple times for misbehavior, yet given multiple chances, rewarding the leniency with a bulldozing running style and a shocking quickness for someone who weighed more than 240 pounds. Then he punched Boise State defender Byron Hout after a loss in 2009 and never regained his standing at Oregon. He went undrafted.

The pattern continued: He was signed by the Tennessee Titans, punched a teammate in training camp, and was forgiven by then-coach Jeff Fisher. He was eventually waived, grabbed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and again he showed flashes of stardom. But only when he was traded to the Patriots did he break out. He had 334 all-purpose yards in a late December 2013 game against the Buffalo Bills and four rushing touchdowns the next month in a playoff game against the Colts. That was only a year ago. It feels like much longer.

Despite all the false starts and false promise, Blount has always been propelled by his own truth: that he's an outstanding running back. He said on Sunday that even though he came from a small town, he grew up "with a lot of people you can trust; who will have your back. I had the biggest support system. My mom, my dad, my whole family." So he didn't doubt the big schools would find him, and he didn't doubt the right NFL team would find him.

Still, there isn't an entitled air about him. He heaped credit onto the Patriots' offensive line, and said it was "an honor" to play for the team. He said the faith of the team "means a lot, especially because of the road I've had."

There are always the athletes who will be professional in every setting. There are the athletes who will disappoint in almost any setting. Then there are the athletes who could go either way, and need to find the right setting. Blount is one of those, it seems. And although the Patriots' dynasty has always ridden on two people – Bill Belichick and Tom Brady – it's the faith those two people show that has lifted everyone around them. Blount, to his credit, understands that. He's allowed himself to fit.

"It's been awesome," he said. "A comfortable feeling."

Blount always knew he was good. Now, after hoisting a team trophy for the first time in his life, he knows more than ever that he's lucky, too.