BOISE, Idaho — Sometimes we are not judged simply for our actions, but for the consequences of them.

Boise State sophomore defensive end Byron Hout’s actions were seemingly harmless enough — a bit of rub-it-in taunting of Oregon running back LeGarrette Blount in the seconds after the Broncos’ 19-8 victory Thursday night at Bronco Stadium.
The taunting — a slap on the shoulder pad and a sentence of trash talking — goes on all the time, usually without repercussions. This time, it led to an ugly postgame fracas and marred an otherwise celebratory evening for the Broncos.
Look, Blount bears the majority of the blame for the events of Thursday night. He sucker punched Hout after the trash talking, then shoved a teammate, then tried to attack hostile Boise State fans and finally had to be dragged off to the locker room to avoid doing any other damage. First-year Oregon coach Chip Kelly rightfully suspended Blount, a senior, for the rest of the season. There is no comparison between the transgressions of Hout and Blount, nor should there be an equivalency in their punishments.
But Hout played a role, too — and that’s why he should sit for the Broncos’ Sept. 12 game against Miami (Ohio).
Boise State coach Chris Petersen, who has not hesitated to hand out punishment when necessary, said Hout would be disciplined internally — read: punishing conditioning at ungodly hours — but not suspended. The WAC will not publicly punish Hout either, commissioner Karl Benson said Friday.
“Byron’s mistake wasn’t as extreme as LeGarrette’s,” Petersen said, “but he was still wrong.” Some argue that punishing Hout would be holding him accountable for Blount’s overreaction. If Blount does not respond with a right cross, then Hout’s misdeed most likely goes unseen and unpunished. No doubt that is correct.
But we do this all the time. We punish people differently for the same action, depending on what its leads to.
If someone flicks a cigarette out of a car window, it is called littering — a deed that goes unseen and unpunished nearly all of the time, like innocent trash talk. Yet if that flicked cigarette somehow starts a forest fire, it can be considered arson, a far more serious crime.
The action in both cases was the same, the flicking of a cigarette. One led to no real harm. The other led to dramatic consequences. The perpetrator faces much different punishment.
Hout’s action, unfortunately, led an enraged Blount to go all Artest on Hout’s jaw, his own teammates and nearly the fans.
No one knows how the postgame unfolds if Hout had simply acted like the rest of his teammates and shook hands with Oregon players and wished them luck for the rest of the season. Instead, a smirking Hout needed to get one last jab at a defeated Blount.
Blount was certainly an inviting target. After all, he told Sports Illustrated that the Ducks owed Boise State a butt-whuppin’. Only he didn’t say butt.
Petersen, who witnessed the entire episode, immediately admonished Hout after he touched Blount on Thursday night and was actually holding Hout when he was punched. Petersen picked up Hout after the punch and yelled at him some more.
“Why would you say anything?” Petersen said of his conversation with Hout. “We just played a great big game on defense. It was a hard-fought, physical battle. I’d hope that we’d be above those types of things.”
Hout was not above it Thursday night. He was in the middle of it, provoking conflict, instigating confrontation. As a result, he should sit next week.