Dunlap: Rori Blair Must Pay Within Reason
To the best of my knowledge, I've never been in a car going 117 mph.
I know for sure I've never driven one that fast.
I definitely haven't been in one going that fast on the Parkway, allegedly under the influence of something illicit and without my seatbelt on.
Done some dumb stuff in my day --- never that.
Pitt defensive end Rori Blair, it seems, can't say the same.
It was back in March that Blair is accused of --- and charged with --- doing just that; rolling down the Parkway doing a mixed impersonation of Mario Andretti and LeGarrette Blount/Le'Veon Bell all at the same time.
Was it a moment of foggy thinking where he did something really, really, really (there aren't enough reallys to suffice) irresponsible that could have ended with him or someone else getting killed? Yes.
But a moment wherein a 20-year-old, because of how this all turned out with thankfully no one hurt, should be made to wear a Scarlet Letter forever? No.
At that age --- to me at least --- I don't care what the law says, we're all still kids finding our way, trying to figure out how to forge our paths through this world. Mistakes are made, blunders are common and missteps come with the territory.
If our transgressions at such an age precluded us from being involved in extracurricular activities in colleges, you'd be hard-pressed to be able to field football teams.
Or marching bands.
Or Greek organizations, student councils, chess clubs or organized student cheering sections.
What I'm getting at here is this: Don't excuse Rori Blair for what he allegedly did. Not in the least. This is a young man who must pay for what he did.
Conversely, however, don't go overboard.
Not every college kid does what Rori Blair allegedly did at 3:30 a.m. on that March morning. Most don't even do something that rise to that level.
But I can say this with the utmost confidence: Plenty of college kids do plenty of dumb things that fall outside the confines on the law. Some get caught, some don't.
All that said, because he's a football player at Pitt, this twists deeper into our mainstream focus and we pay more attention. In turn, this also lands on new coach Pat Narduzzi's desk to mete out a football punishment that we will all probably be far more interested in than the one handed out by any real judge with a gavel and sound block.
That's just how we are wired, that's what it has come to in our sports-crazy society.
For that part of it, Blair missing the opener against Youngstown State should be the decision made by Narduzzi.
In my eyes, that's not too light or too heavy, but a measured punishment taking into account what Blair allegedly did and also the overwhelming thoughts of this column --- that college kids are prone to do some boneheaded things and, in times like these, the best thing to do is to pull them back into the family they have and nurture them.
In this case, from Narduzzi's vantage, it's a football family.
As I wrote back about a month ago when Pitt star receiver Tyler Boyd made the ridiculous decision to drive after drinking, he should miss the Youngstown State game. At the time that seemed like an apt punishment and as it doesn't seem much has changed from back then, it still seems like an apt punishment.
Blair should realize a similar fate.
It's now more than ever that --- after driving 117 mph, blazed up down the Parkway --- a kid like Blair could use the structure, organization and love from a football family.
It's also now more than ever that he should be reminded by Narduzzi that if anything remotely close to this happens again, he won't be welcomed back.
Hopefully, there won't be a next time. And the next time Blair has the notion of doing something so boneheaded, he will take into account that he will lose football for good.
Colin Dunlap is a featured columnist at CBSPittsburgh.com. He can also be heard weekdays from 5:40 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Sports Radio 93-7 "The Fan." You can e-mail him at colin.dunlap@cbsradio.com. Check out his bio here.
