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Bennie Blades

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Bennie Blades
refer to caption
Blades in September 2015
No. 36
Position:Safety
Personal information
Born: (1966-09-03) September 3, 1966 (age 58)
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S.
Height:6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight:221 lb (100 kg)
Career information
High school:Piper
(Sunrise, Florida)
College:Miami (FL) (1984–1987)
NFL draft:1988 / round: 1 / pick: 3
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Total tackles:860
Sacks:5.0
Forced fumbles:9
Fumble recoveries:11
Interceptions:14
Total touchdowns:2
Stats at Pro Football Reference
College Football Hall of Fame

Horatio Benedict Blades Sr. (born September 3, 1966) is an American former professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL). A three-time All-Pro, Blades was named to both the Detroit Lions 75th Anniversary Team and the Detroit Lions All-Time Team. He played college football for the Miami Hurricanes.

College career

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Blades played a big part in the University of Miami's winning the 1987 NCAA National Championship. He also won the Jim Thorpe Award in that year and, in 2006, was named to the College Football Hall of Fame for his play with the Miami Hurricanes. He shares the University of Miami single season interception record with fellow Miami Hurricane Sean Taylor.

During his play at the University of Miami, he and the defensive secondary were nicknamed "Bennie and the Jets," a reference to the song by Elton John, for their speed, power, ability, and stand-out defensive play. Blades also was known for taunting and intimidating opposing players.

Blades was interviewed about his time at the University of Miami for the documentary The U, which premiered December 12, 2009 on ESPN.

Professional career

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Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Hand span 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Vertical jump Broad jump Bench press
6 ft 0+5⁄8 in
(1.84 m) 		216 lb
(98 kg) 		8+3⁄4 in
(0.22 m)		 4.53 s 1.64 s 2.70 s 4.18 s 33.0 in
(0.84 m)		 10 ft 1 in
(3.07 m)		 15 reps
All values from NFL Combine[1]

Following his graduation from the University of Miami, Blades entered the 1988 NFL draft and was selected in the first round with the third overall pick.[2] He spent ten seasons in the NFL. He played for the Detroit Lions from 1988 to 1996 and the 1997 season with the Seattle Seahawks, teaming up with his older brother, wide receiver Brian Blades, who also played collegiate football at the University of Miami.

During his time with the Lions, Blades was considered one of the most physical defensive backs in the NFL, even playing as a linebacker in certain passing situations toward the end of his career. Blades is widely considered to be one of the greatest defensive backs in Lions' history.

The Lions selected Blades with the third overall pick in the 1988 NFL Draft, and he went on to earn NFL All-Rookie honors for the 1988 season. He was selected to the Pro Bowl in 1991 - in addition to receiving First-team All-NFL and First-team All-NFC honors. He was the Lions’ Defensive MVP in 1992 and led the team with 78 tackles in 1996.[3] He had two 100-tackle seasons in is first two seasons in Detroit.

An underrated professional player, Blades was a key component to the Lions’ defense that helped the team claim two NFC Central titles, and a berth in the 1991 NFC Championship game. He was a defensive captain for five years in Detroit and his 815 career tackles place him second on the Lions’ all-time list.

Interception Stats Defense Stats
Year Team Games INTs Yards TD FF FR Yards TD Sacks Tackles Safety
1988 Detroit Lions 15 2 12 0 3 4 22 0 1.0 102 0
1989 Detroit Lions 16 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0.0 100 0
1990 Detroit Lions 12 2 25 0 1 1 0 0 1.0 83 0
1991 Detroit Lions 16 1 14 0 2 3 21 0 0.0 93 0
1992 Detroit Lions 16 3 56 0 1 0 0 0 0.0 95 0
1993 Detroit Lions 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 23 0
1994 Detroit Lions 16 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 1.0 71 0
1995 Detroit Lions 16 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.0 69 1
1996 Detroit Lions 15 2 112 1 0 0 0 0 0.0 78 0
1997 Seattle Seahawks 10 2 11 0 0 0 0 0 1.0 58 0
Totals 136 14 230 1 9 11 43 0 5.0 772 1

Personal life

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Blades' has a blended family of eight children, including three boys: Horatio (H. B.), Jaylen and Tylan, and five girls: Elice, Ashley, Amber, Bianca and Alyssa.

On September 25, 2015, Blades was inducted into GridIron Greats.[4]

Notes and references

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  1. ^ Co-winner with Rickey Dixon
  1. ^ "Bennie Blades, Combine Results, SS - Miami (FL)". nflcombineresults.com. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  2. ^ "1988 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  3. ^ "1996 Detroit Lions Statistics & Players | Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
  4. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 27, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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