Paul Blessing
{{Short description|American football player (1919–1990)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name = Paul Blessing
| image =
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption =
| number =
| position = End
| birth_date = {{birth date|1919|01|06}}
| birth_place = Tilden, Nebraska
| death_date = {{death date and age|1990|05|06|1919|01|06}}
| death_place = Englewood, Colorado
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 4
| weight_lbs = 215
| high_school = Ord (NE)
| college = Nebraska-Kearney
| draftyear =
| draftround =
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| pastteams =
- Detroit Lions (1944)
| highlights =
| statlabel1 = Games
| statvalue1 = 8
| pfr = BlesPa20
}}
Paul Theodore Blessing (January 6, 1919 – May 6, 1990) was an American football player.
Blessing was born in Tilden, Nebraska, in 1919. He attended Ord High School in Ord, Nebraska. He helped lead the Ord football team to more than 40 consecutive victories. He played college football for Nebraska-Kearney.{{cite web|title=Paul Blessing|publisher=Pro Football Archives|accessdate=February 12, 2022|url=https://www.profootballarchives.com/playerb/bles00200.html}} He competed in multiple sports at Kearney, winning 11 varsity letters.{{cite news|title=Paul Blessing, Former Kearney College Star, To Be Our New Coach|newspaper=The Gothenburg Times|date=July 29, 1943|page=1|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94845194/paul-blessing/|via=Newspapers.com}} He graduated from Kearney in May 1942.{{cite news|title=Paul Blessing Graduates|newspaper=The Ord Quiz|date=May 28, 1942|page=1|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94845918/paul-blessing/|via=Newspapers.com}}
After graduating from Kearney in 1942, Blessing rejected offers to play for multiple professional teams, including the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants. He volunteered for military service, but he was rejected due to a punctured ear drum. He worked for a time in an ordnance plant operated by the Guthrie-Tipton Company.{{cite news|title=Just Between Us|newspaper=The Grand Island Daily Independent|author=Red Roberts|date=August 6, 1942|page=13|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94846348/paul-blessing/|via=Newspapers.com}} He also worked as a football coach in Kewanee, Illinois, and Lexington, Nebraska.{{cite news|title=Paul Blessing Assists Brockman at Kewanee|newspaper=The Ord Quiz|date=October 1, 1942|page=1|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94845755/paul-blessing/|via=Newspapers.com}}{{cite news|title=Paul Blessing Now with Detroit Lions|newspaper=The Ord Quiz|date=September 28, 1944|page=1|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94845564/the-ord-quiz/|via=Newspapers.com}}
In August 1944, he signed to play professional football in the National Football League (NFL) for the Detroit Lions.{{cite news|title=Blessing To Play Pro Football|newspaper=The Gothenburg Times|date=August 10, 1944|page=1|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94846709/blessing-lions/|via=Newspapers.com}} He appeared in eight NFL games as an end during the 1944 season.{{Cite web |title=Paul Blessing |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BlesPa20.htm |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |publisher=Sports Reference LLC |accessdate=August 30, 2020}}
He was married in December 1942 to Juanita Jillson.{{cite news|title=Jillson-Blessing|newspaper=The Ord Quiz|date=December 31, 1942|page=5|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94845407/marriage-of-blessing-jlllson/|via=Newspapers.com}} In 1945, he became head football coach at Ogallala High School.{{cite news|title=Paul Blessing To Ogallala|newspaper=The Gothenburg Times|date=August 23, 1945|page=1|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94846103/paul-blessing/|via=Newspapers.com}} He died in 1990 in Englewood, Colorado.