Raheem Blackshear
{{Short description|American football player (born 1999)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name = Raheem Blackshear
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| current_team = Carolina Panthers
| number = 3
| position = Running back / Return specialist
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1998|6|5}}
| birth_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| height_ft = 5
| height_in = 9
| weight_lbs = 190
| high_school = Archbishop Wood {{avoid wrap|(Warminster, Pennsylvania)}}
| college = Rutgers (2017–2019)
Virginia Tech (2020–2021)
| undraftedyear = 2022
| pastteams =
- Buffalo Bills ({{NFL Year|2022}})*
- Carolina Panthers ({{NFL Year|2022}}–present)
| status = Active
| highlights =
| statweek =
| statseason = 2024
| statlabel1 = Rushing yards
| statvalue1 = 138
| statlabel2 = Rushing average
| statvalue2 = 3.9
| statlabel3 = Rushing touchdowns
| statvalue3 = 3
| statlabel4 = Receptions
| statvalue4 = 16
| statlabel5 = Receiving yards
| statvalue5 = 138
| statlabel6 = Receiving touchdowns
| statvalue6 =
| statlabel7 = Return yards
| statvalue7 = 1,934
| pfr = BlacRa00
}}
Raheem Blackshear (born June 5, 1998) is an American professional football running back and return specialist for the Carolina Panthers in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and Virginia Tech Hokies.{{Cite web |last=Barber |first=Mike |date=September 1, 2020 |title=Transfer Raheem Blackshear wins appeal to play this season for Virginia Tech |url=https://richmond.com/sports/college/virginia-tech/transfer-raheem-blackshear-wins-appeal-to-play-this-season-for-virginia-tech/article_d0796653-08ad-54b9-abfa-dbbc093ef94c.html |access-date=September 2, 2023 |website=Richmond.com}}{{Cite web |last=Niziolek |first=Mike |date=March 23, 2021 |title=Why Virginia Tech running back Raheem Blackshear wants to slow down |url=https://roanoke.com/sports/college/va_tech/why-virginia-tech-running-back-raheem-blackshear-wants-to-slow-down/article_d901d000-8c0d-11eb-92c1-476d72003ef3.html |access-date=September 2, 2023 |website=Roanoke.com}}
Professional career
{{NFL predraft
| height ft = 5
| height in = 9 3/8
| weight = 194
| dash = 4.53
| ten split = 1.52
| twenty split = 2.53
| shuttle = 4.22
| cone drill = 6.84
| vertical = 33.5
| broad ft = 9
| broad in = 4
| bench = 11
| arm span = 30
| hand span = 8 7/8
| note = All values from Pro Day{{Cite web |url=https://draftscout.com/dsprofile.php?PlayerId=1025327&DraftYear=2022 |title=2022 NFL Draft Scout Raheem Blackshear College Football Profile |access-date=May 31, 2023 |website=DraftScout.com}}
}}
=Buffalo Bills=
Blackshear signed with the Buffalo Bills as an undrafted free agent on May 13, 2022.{{Cite web |last=Lasting |first=Dante |date=May 13, 2022 |title=Get to know these 9 Bills undrafted free agents |url=https://www.buffalobills.com/news/get-to-know-these-9-bills-undrafted-free-agents |access-date=September 2, 2023 |website=BuffaloBills.com}} He was waived by on August 30, 2022, and signed to the practice squad the next day.{{Cite web |last=White |first=Alec |date=August 30, 2022 |title=Roster moves: Bills set initial 53-man roster |url=https://www.buffalobills.com/news/roster-moves-bills-set-initial-53-man-roster |access-date=September 2, 2023 |website=BuffaloBills.com}}{{Cite web |last=White |first=Alec |date=August 31, 2022 |title=Bills sign 13 players to practice squad |url=https://www.buffalobills.com/news/bills-sign-13-players-to-practice-squad |access-date=September 2, 2023 |website=BuffaloBills.com}}
=Carolina Panthers=
On September 21, 2022, Blackshear was signed by the Carolina Panthers off the Bills practice squad.{{Cite web |last=Rizzuti |first=Anthony |date=September 21, 2022 |title=Panthers signing RB Raheem Blackshear off Bills’ practice squad |url=https://pantherswire.usatoday.com/2022/09/21/panthers-signing-rb-raheem-blackshear-bills/ |access-date=September 2, 2023 |website=Panthers Wire |publisher=USA Today}} On November 6, Blackshear scored his first NFL touchdown in a game against the Cincinnati Bengals.{{Cite web |date=November 7, 2022 |title=Panthers’ Raheem Blackshear: Scores first touchdown |url=https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/football/news/panthers-raheem-blackshear-scores-first-touchdown/amp/ |access-date=June 29, 2023 |website=CBSSports.com |language=en}} In the 2022 season, he scored three rushing touchdowns and contributed on special teams returning kicks.{{Cite web |title=Raheem Blackshear 2022 Game Log |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BlacRa00/gamelog/2022/ |access-date=September 2, 2023 |website=Pro Football Reference |language=en}} In the 2023 season, he appeared in 12 games.{{Cite web |title=Raheem Blackshear 2023 Game Log |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BlacRa00/gamelog/2023/ |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=Pro Football Reference |language=en}}
On April 1, 2025, Blackshear re-signed with the Panthers to a one-year contract.{{cite web |last1=Gantt |first1=Darin |title=Panthers agree to terms with Raheem Blackshear |url=https://www.panthers.com/news/panthers-agree-to-terms-with-raheem-blackshear |website=panthers.com |access-date=1 April 2025}}
NFL career statistics
= Regular season =
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" | |||||||||||||||||||
| rowspan="2" | Year
! rowspan="2" | Team ! colspan="2" | Games ! colspan="5" | Rushing ! colspan="5" | Receiving ! colspan="5"| Kickoff return ! colspan="2" | Fumbles | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Ret | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Fum | Lost | |
| 2022 | CAR
| 13 || 1 || 23 || 77 || 3.3 || 16 || 3 || 10 || 93 || 9.3 || 27 || 0 || 19 || 513 || 27.0 || 66 || 0 || 1 || 1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2023 | CAR
| 9 || 0 || 13 || 40 || 3.1 || 9 || 0 || 6 || 45 || 7.5 || 19 || 0 || 9 || 277 || 30.8 || 52 || 0 || 0 || 0 | ||||||||||||||||||
| colspan="2"| [https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BlacRa00.htm Career] | 22 | 1 | 36 | 117 | 3.3 | 16 | 3 | 16 | 138 | 8.6 | 27 | 0 | 28 | 790 | 28.2 | 66 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Personal Life
Born in Philadelphia in 1998, Raheem began playing football at the age of 5. He attributes his early passion for the game to his Uncle Cedrick, who once encouraged Raheem to play football after witnessing Raheem dodging cars on his street -- a popular game amongst his neighborhood friends. Raheem used his natural dodging abilities to his advantage on the field, eventually becoming a 3 star recruit coming out of Archbishop Wood High School and committing to play at Virginia Tech.
Raheem is an avid collector of bottle caps, having over 500 unique caps in his collection. He has also stated that he can tie his shoes in ways that others cannot, knowing over 15 variations of shoe-tying knots. Raheem has 2 dogs, 1 cat, a Crested Gecko, and a Betta Fish.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{commons category}}
{{footballstats|yahoo=34617|espn=4259308}}
- [https://www.panthers.com/team/players-roster/raheem-blackshear/ Carolina Panthers bio]
- [https://scarletknights.com/sports/football/roster/raheem-blackshear/7433 Rutgers Scarlet Knights bio]
- [https://hokiesports.com/sports/football/roster/raheem--blackshear/11195 Virginia Tech Hokies bio]
{{Carolina Panthers roster navbox}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blackshear, Raheem}}
Category:Players of American football from Philadelphia
Category:American football running backs
Category:Virginia Tech Hokies football players
Category:Buffalo Bills players