When New England Patriots running back LeGarrette Blount still played for the Pittsburgh Steelers, he was caught up in controversy, alongside former teammate Le’Veon Bell, when they were pulled over in Pennsylvania in car that reeked of marijuana.
The district court judge who sat for the case told Blount that if he completed 50 hours of community service by February 4th that the misdemeanor possession charges would be dropped and not appear on Blount’s record.
Now, in the week leading up to Superbowl XLIX, Blount has completed those community service hours and the charges have been dropped entirely. Since the charges have been dropped, Blount need not worry about appearing in a Pittsburgh court next week, and can place all of his focus on preparing for the biggest game of his career thus far.
“He was happy to get this done in a timely fashion so he wouldn’t have any distractions with the game at hand,” said Casey White, Blount’s Pittsburgh area based attorney.
Blount has experienced somewhat of a resurgence in his career so far this year in New England, highlighted in part by his performance in the AFC championship game against the Indianapolis Colts in which Blount ran for 148 yards and 3 touchdowns on 30 carries in the game, a bright spot in the now controversy filled game for the Patriots in the aftermath of deflategate.
“I’ve had good times and bad and I’ve embraced them all,” Blount said. “So I’m enjoying every second of this.”
While there have been a lot of mixed feeling abour Blount so far in his relatively young career, there is one thing that can’t be denied, and that is that Blount is an extremely talented runner, and definitely has earned his role on the Patriots roster.
If the Patriots are going to win Superbowl XLIX this year, they will need to rely on Blount being productive on the ground to take some pressure off of Tom Brady and the Patriots passing game.