Nov 19, 2014 3 min read

The underpinnings of the concepts of team, teammate and teamwork have become a bit rickety in this day when even a second-stringer on a professional sports team is a millionaire.

Case in point: the behavior of now-former Pittsburgh Steelers backup running back LeGarrette Blount during the team’s game at Tennessee Monday night.

The Steelers pulled out a much-needed, come-from-behind 27-24 victory over the Titans, but Blount didn’t see the end of it. Apparently miffed he didn’t get a carry while starting running back Le’Veon Bell was rolling to 204 yards against Tennessee, Blount took off for the locker room and, eventually, headed for the team bus before his teammates wrapped up the win and made their way off the field.

Were Blount a choirboy who was guilty of a singular lapse in judgment, one could have argued for overlooking his transgression, no matter how harmful it might have been to team unity. But Blount is no choirboy. He was suspended in college for sucker-punching an opposing player after a game. He went undrafted by NFL teams but managed to catch on with Tampa Bay after being cut by Tennessee his rookie year. The Buccaneers apparently had enough of him after three years, and he was traded to New England. Despite Blount being a solid performer on the field last year, the Patriots seemingly were more than happy to let him walk.

Enter the Steelers, who signed Blount in the offseason despite his having more baggage than the cargo hold of a 747. It didn’t take long for trouble to begin. Before the season even began, Blount and Bell, according to police, were doing their best Cheech and Chong impression, getting caught in a car that reeked of marijuana smoke. There also was a training camp fight that involved Blount, and rumblings he was a corrosive element in the locker room.

The Tennessee incident proved to be the last straw. The Steelers, like virtually all other pro franchises these days, are reluctant to excise miscreants from the team if those miscreants were good at their jobs on the field. With Blount, they chose to do the right thing and quickly sent him packing.

Certainly, it wasn’t an easy decision. For all his failings as a human being, Blount is very good at one thing: running hard with a football under his arm. The Steelers are fortunate to have Bell, who has the look of an All-Pro runner, but the team is painfully thin at the position behind him. They have little-used and possibly somewhat useless rookie Dri Archer and, with the elimination of Blount, had to call up a virtually unknown back from the practice squad. No doubt the team is picking through the NFL scrap heap for a serviceable back to add to the roster.

At this juncture, coming up on their bye week and then a stretch run toward a possible playoff spot, the Steelers hardly needed the distraction that continuing to employ Blount would represent. Nor could they afford to have him be a divisive force in the locker room or, perhaps worse, continue to be a negative influence on Bell.

With any luck, this experience won’t soon be forgotten by the Steelers’ front office, which has to take the blame for signing someone like Blount in the first place. We would hope the next time the Steelers have holes to fill in the offseason, its process of deciding which free agents to pursue will include at least some consideration of the character of the players.