Brian Blades
{{Short description|American football player (born 1965)}}
{{Distinguish|Brian Blade}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| image =
| position = Wide receiver
| number = 89
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1965|7|24}}
| birth_place = Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S.
| height_ft = 5
| height_in = 11
| weight_lbs = 189
| draftyear = 1988
| draftround = 2
| draftpick = 49
| high_school = Piper {{nowrap|(Sunrise, Florida)}}
| college = Miami (FL)
| teams =
| statlabel1 = Receptions
| statvalue1 = 581
| statlabel2 = Receiving yards
| statvalue2 = 7,620
| statlabel3 = Receiving touchdowns
| statvalue3 = 34
| highlights =
- Second-team All-Pro (1989)
- Pro Bowl (1989)
- PFWA All-Rookie Team (1988)
- Seattle Seahawks 35th Anniversary team
- 2× National champion (1983, 1987)
- Second Team All-South Independent (1987)
| pfr = BladBr00
| HOF =
| CollegeHOF =
}}
Brian Keith Blades (born July 24, 1965) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL).
Early life
Blades graduated from Piper High School in Sunrise, Florida in 1983. He attended the University of Miami.
College career
He finished his college career with 80 catches for 1,493 yards and 15 touchdowns.{{Cite web |title=Brian Blades College Stats, School, Draft, Gamelog, Splits |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/brian-blades-1.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518100510/http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/brian-blades-1.html |archive-date=May 18, 2015 |access-date=May 10, 2015 |website=Sports Reference |language=en}}
Professional career
{{NFL predraft
| height ft = 5
| height in = 11 1/8
| weight = 182
| dash = 4.48
| ten split = 1.59
| twenty split = 2.61
| shuttle =
| cone drill =
| vertical =
| broad ft =
| broad in =
| bench = 13
| arm span =
| hand span = 9 1/4
| wonderlic =
}}
After graduating, he was chosen in the second round (49th overall) of the 1988 NFL draft by the Seattle Seahawks.{{Cite web |title=1988 NFL Draft Listing |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1988/draft.htm |access-date=2023-09-24 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en |archive-date=July 11, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190711080844/https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1988/draft.htm |url-status=live }} Blades spent his entire 11-year career with the Seahawks, playing for the team from 1988-1998. He signed a one-year contract with the Seahawks prior to the 1999 season, but was cut on June 5, 1999. In 1989 Blades won the Marcus Nalley MVP award. Also that year (1989) he was voted into the pro bowl after having 1,063 receiving yards and five touchdowns.{{Cite web |title=Brian Blades 1989 Game Log |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BladBr00.htm |access-date=2025-06-05 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}}
=NFL career statistics=
| class="wikitable mw-collapsible"
! colspan="2"| Legend |
| style="background:#cfecec; width:3em;"|
| Led the league |
| Bold
| Career high |
==Regular season==
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" | |||||||
| rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2"| Team ! colspan="2"| Games ! colspan="5"| Receiving | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | |
| 1988 | SEA
| 16 || 7 || 40 || 682 || 17.1 || 55 || 8 | ||||||
| 1989 | SEA
| 16 || 14 || 77 || 1,063 || 13.8 || 60 || 5 | ||||||
| 1990 | SEA
| 16 || 16 || 49 || 525 || 10.7 || 24 || 3 | ||||||
| 1991 | SEA
| 16 || 16 || 70 || 1,003 || 14.3 || 52 || 2 | ||||||
| 1992 | SEA
| 6 || 5 || 19 || 256 || 13.5 || 37 || 1 | ||||||
| 1993 | SEA
| 16 || 14 || 80 || 945 || 11.8 || 41 || 3 | ||||||
| 1994 | SEA
| 16 || 16 || 81 || 1,086 || 13.4 || 45 || 4 | ||||||
| 1995 | SEA
| 16 || 16 || 77 || 1,001 || 13.0 || 49 || 4 | ||||||
| 1996 | SEA
| 11 || 9 || 43 || 556 || 12.9 || 80 || 2 | ||||||
| 1997 | SEA
| 11 || 3 || 30 || 319 || 10.6 || 27 || 2 | ||||||
| 1998 | SEA
| 16 || 6 || 15 || 184 || 12.3 || 47 || 0 | ||||||
| colspan="2"| [https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BladBr00.htm Career] | 156 | 122 | 581 | 7,620 | 13.1 | 80 | 34 |
Manslaughter conviction and acquittal
{{BLP sources section|date=August 2016}}
Blades was charged with murder in the second degree for the death of his cousin, Charles Blades Jr. Blades initially pleaded "no contest" but later changed his plea to "not guilty" before the trial. Blades claimed the pistol accidentally discharged a round into his cousin during a struggle. During the trial, the prosecuting attorney and a gun expert staged a mock struggle with a blank filled gun, in which the gun accidentally discharged.
After a jury convicted Blades of manslaughter, the presiding Judge Susan Lebow overturned the verdict 72 hours later, citing the prosecution's failure to provide enough evidence for conviction.{{cite web|url=http://www.courttv.com/archive/casefiles/verdicts/blades.html|title=Court TV Casefiles: Florida v. Blades|work=Court TV Library|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070718103444/http://www.courttv.com/archive/casefiles/verdicts/blades.html|archive-date=July 18, 2007}} The case was appealed to the Fourth District Court of Appeal, and the court upheld his acquittal.{{cite news|url= https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C01EFD9113EF937A15753C1A961958260|title= Blades's AcquittalIs [sic] Upheld|work= The New York Times|date= October 24, 1997|access-date= April 26, 2010|archive-date= December 13, 2019|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191213142136/https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C01EFD9113EF937A15753C1A961958260|url-status= live}}
Personal life
He is the older brother of former NFL cornerbacks Bennie Blades and Al Blades. He is also the uncle of former Washington Redskins linebacker H. B. Blades. Blades and his wife Tisha, daughters Brittany and Brianne, and son Brian II live in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{1987 Miami Hurricanes football navbox}}
{{Seahawks1988DraftPicks}}
{{Seattle Seahawks 35th anniversary team navbox}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blades, Brian}}
Category:American Conference Pro Bowl players
Category:American football wide receivers
Category:Miami Hurricanes football players
Category:Players of American football from Fort Lauderdale, Florida