Now We Know Why LeGarrette Blount Walked Out On Steelers

[Steeler Nation]

The Pittsburgh Steelers thought they had the perfect one-two punch at running back in 2014. Budding super star Le’Veon Bell had just completed his second season, and they signed the veteran bruiser LeGarrette Blount to counter Bell’s speed, and elusiveness.

Maybe I should’ve rephrased that first sentence to say the Steelers Fans thought…Because obviously head coach Mike Tomlin, and offensive coordinator Todd Haley thought differently. Bell was still getting all of the carries, and Blount was obviously just an insurance policy. The first two weeks Blount had 7 total carries combined. In the third game of the season Blount ripped off a 50 yarder enroute to over 100 yards rushing as both he and Bell went wild in a rout of the Carolina Panthers on Sunday night football. Then it was back to 4 carriers the following week for Blount.

His sugarcoated his displeasure some during an interview with 93.7 the fan.

I don’t think we’ve balanced things out a lot. With him getting the bulk of the carries, but the fact that it’s working, I can’t complain. We’re winning games like that. I’ve been a featured back in this league. I was a starter with one of the best teams in the league last year. Obviously I want the ball more.

Blount eventually walked off the field during a Steelers beat down of the Tennessee Titans weeks later, and was released the next day.

On Wednesday Andrew Filliponi, and Chris Mueller interviewed Blount on radio row for 93.7 the fan, and asked him about the events that caused him to walk off the field that night in Nashville.

“The problem was the offensive coordinator, not calling the plays that I would be in,” said Blount. “I’m gonna just say, so there was no problem between me and Mike Tomlin. I like Mike Tomlin.”

Blount said he would confront Haley about why he wasn’t getting more opportunities and the answer was always the same.

“’ We got to get the ball to you, we’ll do more and more to get you the ball we’re going to get it to you’, obviously I’m going to believe that because it’s my offensive coordinator so I’m going to trust what he’s saying.”

Blount seemed to get a little confused about the time line that set him off. In the below quote you will see that he identifies the Colts game as the game that set him off and made him want to leave the Steelers. He cites it as the first time in his career that he received zero carries, but he had 6 for 21 yards in that game. The night he walked off in Tennessee was the first time he had zero carries.

“It was the Colts game,” Blount said today. “I’m like ‘bro, are you kidding me? It’s like, are you kidding me? I’ve never had a coach not give me the ball once, you know what I’m saying? After me having that one-thousand yard season my rookie year every team that I’ve been a part of, I’ve always carrried the ball in the games. You know what I’m saying? Whether it’s seven, ten, whatever. I’m getting the ball and it’s not no-carry games for me. And That was odd for me, man. That was tough for me, you know? Mike Tomlin knew it was tough for me.”

Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that Blount was disappointed he didn’t carry the ball once against the Titans:

“He dressed and left the locker room, apparently headed for the team bus that would take them to the airport. At least one player thought they should leave him in Nashville,” Bouchette wrote in 2014.

Blount would end up leaving and signing with the New England Patriots and winning the Super Bowl. That left many Steelers fans sour as they believed Blount had orchestrated the entire thing so he could head back to New England.

“I knew it was a possibility because I was going to be available but we didn’t coordinate it or anything like that, I didn’t talk to anybody,” said Blount.

So now we know the true story. Which was mostly what everyone expected. He wanted more carries, but he wasn’t and still doesn’t have any issues with Tomlin.

Support SteelerNation by clicking here to read the story..

 

[BLITZ]

Yeah **** that guy

 

[SteelerSask2]

Yeah **** that guy

I'm gonna disagree. You signed a contract to play. To play. They told you were gonna play. Instead they ran the wheels off of Bell. It was ****** stupid. Same with Harrison. I can't really fault a guy for wanting to play. Prefer track suit Deuce?

 

[BLITZ]

I'm gonna disagree. You signed a contract to play. To play. They told you were gonna play. Instead they ran the wheels off of Bell. It was ****** stupid. Same with Harrison. I can't really fault a guy for wanting to play. Prefer track suit Deuce?

I played high school and college football. was awesome in high school. very pedestrian in college. 1 thing I picked up on is the coaches play the better player. maybe pros are different, but I kinda doubt it.
that guy quit on a team in the middle of a game. again **** him

 

[CoolieMan]

I'm gonna disagree. You signed a contract to play. To play. They told you were gonna play. Instead they ran the wheels off of Bell. It was ****** stupid. Same with Harrison. I can't really fault a guy for wanting to play. Prefer track suit Deuce?

he signed a contract is the only important part. He was being paid to do a job, he didn't like how it went and bailed like a *****

**** him

 

[topseed]

the coaches play the better player...
that guy quit on a team in the middle of a game. again **** him

Bell had 33 carries in that Tennessee game. Blount had none. You can't tell me that Bell was infinitely better than Blount, to the point where they refused to give the guy a single rushing attempt out of over thirty opportunities.

**** the Steelers coaching staff, because instead of having a quality veteran for the playoffs, they had to rotate Ben Tate and some guy named Josh Harris at running back against the Ravens. Neither of whom ever played another down in the NFL after that loss.

 

[BLITZ]

Bell had 33 carries in that Tennessee game. Blount had none. You can't tell me that Bell was infinitely better than Blount, to the point where they refused to give the guy a single rushing attempt out of over thirty opportunities.

**** the Steelers coaching staff, because instead of having a quality veteran for the playoffs, they had to rotate Ben Tate and some guy named Josh Harris at running back against the Ravens. Neither of whom ever played another down in the NFL after that loss.

He quit on a tea he signed a 2 year deal with. walked away. **** that guy

 

[topseed]

He quit on a tea he signed a 2 year deal with. walked away. **** that guy

The coaching staff quit on Blount, and left the team completely hamstrung in the postseason. For no good reason. The guy scored 27 touchdowns with New England over the next 2+ years. **** them.

 

[BLITZ]

The coaching staff quit on Blount, and left the team completely hamstrung in the postseason. For no good reason. The guy scored 27 touchdowns with New England over the next 2+ years. **** them.
Yeah okay Blount is a great team player. We gave up on him. Very classy guy. Wish he retired a steeler. Hope he goes into the halls as a steeler.

 

[madinsomniac]

Lol Mike Tomlin sure is good at never being responsible for all the massive messes this team has through his reign…

 

[Confluence]

Lol Mike Tomlin sure is good at never being responsible for all the massive messes this team has through his reign…

How did the Melvin Ingram signing work this past season?

 

[slashsteel]

How did the Melvin Ingram signing work this past season?

As you see the two sides of a debate. Which often is the case it is some of both. Blount, Harrison, Bell, Brown, and Ingram. They all could have been handled better. It wasn't obviously isolated incidents. At the same time they themselves could have been simply more professional. So **** them for not being more professional and **** the individual (s) that continue to not know how to handle situations. Blount can blame Haley all he wants but one man has the power (which he obviously like to use) to rotate players. To maneuver the same said players so that they clearly understand their role and what is expected of them and carry out what is expected of them. This can't just fall on the players as much as we dislike their twatwaffling. We have to hand out the fair share of blame. Once again it goes back to decision making. Far too often it isn't good. Player conduct, knowing their roles, play calling -play calls on both sides of the ball, bad free agent decisions including taking too long to make a decision or even worse not identifying when upgrading talent is episode needed. When your bad decisions outweigh your good decisions you will roadblock your success 10 out of ten times. Don't want injuries factoring in outcomes ? Make the right depth and overall roster decisions. You can love who you want on this team but overall the job they are doing isn't good enough or even good enough to keep the team competitive when it matters.

 

[Litos]

The coaching staff quit on Blount, and left the team completely hamstrung in the postseason. For no good reason. The guy scored 27 touchdowns with New England over the next 2+ years. **** them.

**** both of them the coaches and blunt. What we still dont know is why he was in Haleys doghouse.

 

[TDX27]

Tomlin is the guy that tells the OC to run the wheels off his main RB. It's been that way since Tomlin became coach just like how he runs the D. The OC has more control than the DC but Tomlin is the one that openly says he will run the wheels off his RB. He did and will keep doing the same thing to Najee. They need to get a complementary back to Najee and use him. He should get a handful of touches a game but Najee should still get the bulk. But, you have to give RB's plays off or their career will be shorter and shorter. It would be nice for Najee to make it through his rookie contract and his payday contract after that but if he keeps getting the touches he got this year, there is little chance he will. Although, Najee is a freak so maybe he will play for a decade or more.

 

[SteelerSask2]

**** both of them the coaches and blunt. What we still dont know is why he was in Haleys doghouse.

Likely Blount refused to come over and Roger Haley's wife while Todd watched.

 

[SteelerSask2]

The coaching staff quit on Blount, and left the team completely hamstrung in the postseason. For no good reason. The guy scored 27 touchdowns with New England over the next 2+ years. **** them.

Winner winner chicken dinner. and I view Ingram completely differently. Ingram was playing a lot and would certainly have played more. I mean it actually pisses me off how much Watt has to sit in critical moments of games. Ingram easily would have gotten 25-30 snaps. I got a feeling Ingram was more like the Chiefs need an edge badly and the Steelers are going no where.

 

[topseed]

Yeah okay Blount is a great team player. We gave up on him. Very classy guy. Wish he retired a steeler. Hope he goes into the halls as a steeler.

Never said Blount was a great team player, a very classy guy, or a potential Hall-of-Famer.

What I said was that he was a quality veteran backup to Bell, and instead of satisfying his completely reasonable expectation of a normal starter/backup rotation, Tomlin (or Haley, or whoever you don't want to blame) decided to run Bell into the ******* ground, with the final straw for Blount being a 33 to 0 carry ratio in a single game. Bell not surprisingly ends up injured, and the team is left with two ****** options to compete in the playoffs. Meanwhile, the disgruntled Blount goes on to rush for 148 yards and 3 touchdowns in the AFC Championship shortly thereafter.

So, yeah, okay, I say **** the coaching staff. You go ahead and keep bashing Blount...clearly it was all his fault.

 

[paperclip]

what year is it?

 

[topseed]

what year is it?

Does it really matter with Tomlin at the wheel? Every year as a Steelers fan is Groundhog Day in its own little aggravating way.

 

[maowv]

Can't defend a guy who quits on his team. Period. But ...

That doesn't mean the other side is without fault. If Bell had 33 carries in a comfortable win, while Blount had zero, that's just bad coaching. Why run your stud RB all those carries in a game you have in hand? Why take the injury risk? It can happen on any play, at any time. Why not share that load and give Blount some game time, save Bell? We know that's not the way the Steelers offense runs under Tomlin. They did the same thing to Najee this season and sooner or later that will catch up to them, again.

The other issue I think is apparent, the Steelers coaching staff has poor communication with free agent signings. Blount's gripes sound an awful lot like Melvin Ingram who thought he was signing in Pittsburgh to play, not just be an insurance policy on the bench. When reality hit him, he felt like they pulled a bait and switch, wanted out. That's what Blount is describing too.

These players have a limited window of time to play and if I'm a free agent being courted by a few teams, I'm going to pay attention to how they see me on their team and decide what is my best opportunity. If I pass on signing with another team because the Steelers sold me on splitting carries with Me'Veon Bell, behind that offensive line at that time, with a solid team then that sounds pretty good. Sign me up. Then reality hits. I would be angry too.

Where does the fault lie here? I think we can sprinkle some on everyone involved.

 

[steelhurt]

I heard Blount in his interview yesterday with Pony and Mueller and here's my take. I agree with those who have said it was chickenshit to walk out on your team. You simply do not EVER walk out on your boys. Just not acceptable. Now, the other side of the coin for me that is, it sounds like Tomlin made promises to Blount that he didn't fulfill to get him to the Steelers. Blount said that Tomlin told him they would split the carries before he signed on with the Steelers and there were performance based incentives in his contract.
I simply find it hard to believe that it was Todd Haley who prevented him from playing where he was averaging like 6 carries per game, not with the control freak that Tomlin is and his reputation for running the guy until his wheels come off. Sounds like he's just making Haley the scapegoat here imo. No way Tomlin couldn't have overridden Haley at that point. When I heard him say Haley I just didn't buy it. No, never should have quit on his team.

 

[Stewey]

The article said Blount confronted Haley, but why not Tomlin?

Tomlin is the guy he should have confronted had he not gotten results from Haley. It's possible he may have been afraid of being told what he didn't want to hear....which would then jeopardize his love of Tomlin.
He mentioned he likes Tomlin. No player wants to say they dislike Tomlin. Sacrilege!

 

[steelhurt]

I thought that as well Stewey! Why not ask Tomlin?

 

[SteelerFan448]

Blount says this is on Haley, yet the Steelers have ran the wheels off their running back before Haley and after Haley. They did so last year with Harris. Haley didn't keep James Harrison or Melvin Ingram off the field either. I understand why Blount was mad at Haley, but this isn't an isolated issue to this particular offensive coordinator.

 

[slashsteel]

Blount says this is on Haley, yet the Steelers have ran the wheels off their running back before Haley and after Haley. They did so last year with Harris. Haley didn't keep James Harrison or Melvin Ingram off the field either. I understand why Blount was mad at Haley, but this isn't an isolated issue to this particular offensive coordinator.

Exactly. You can say whatever the tendencies point in a different direction.