Is Blount going to be OK upon return -- and is Oregon?

We'll have to trust Oregon.

We trusted them on Sept. 4 when they suspended LeGarrette Blount for the season. We trusted them when they relented and said there was a window for the troubled tailback to return. He did Monday when the Pac-10 announced Blount could be reinstated for this week's game against Arizona State.

LaMichael James has emerged as a star running back for Oregon this season. (Getty Images)

But know this: Blount can't so much as sneeze. Even if they don't say it publicly, there has to be a zero-tolerance policy. I might even go so far as to include personal fouls. If someone cuts your legs, L.G., walk away. You have no margin of error.

It's a violent game. You've got to get up after every play like a pussycat.

That's the "risk" the school is taking by reinstating it's star. It is assuming he is "cured" or "punished" or "rehabbed" or whatever the word is. That's the problem -- we don't know what the word is.

Yes, it may be better to work through this as part of a team. On the other hand, as I've stated before, the team-as-family concept can be shortsighted. It certainly didn't work for Lawrence Phillips. That leads me to a door that I never thought would open. My comparison of the Blount situation to Nebraska's former criminal/thug tailback led me to get an e-mail from a Juanita Phillips writing from info@lawrencephillips.com.

Juanita Phillips apparently is Lawrence's mother. Her argument wasn't that Blount shouldn't be compared to her currently incarcerated son because his transgression was less. Her argument is that Lawrence isn't as bad as we all thought. Check records, she wrote. Call judges, she wrote.

Who knew that The Punch would lead to this?

Here's hoping Blount thrives. The fact that he came out that night in Boise and apologized showed some small measure of remorse. I still want to know what his addition is going to mean in the long run -- the long run being a possible trip to the Rose Bowl. Don't forget that since he left, Oregon has been better. Much better.

In Blount's absence, LaMichael James became a star at tailback. Now we have to believe that some of James' carries are going to be taken away by a guy who committed one of the most heinous acts in the history of college football.

One final note: Oregon is not reinstating Blount because they are desperate for a Rose Bowl. If they had done that, Blount would have been back in the lineup before the Southern California game. He is being added after the first loss since he threw his punch.

(Oddly, Blount was Stanford's Toby Gerhart last week for the scout team. Guess he did a bad job of mimicry. Gerhart ran for a school-record 223 yards.)

Oregon got in the Rose Bowl race without him. Blount might be a wonderful talent and a reformed person, but the Ducks are taking risks on two fronts. Will Blount be a better person? Equally as important at this point, will Oregon be a better team?