Horatio Benedict Blades, Jr. (born September 30, 1984) is an American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 linebacker

Linebacker

A linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...

 he is currently a free agent in the National Football League. He played college football

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 at the University of Pittsburgh

University of Pittsburgh

The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...

 and was drafted

NFL Draft

The National Football League Draft is an annual event in which the National Football League teams select eligible college football players and it is their most common source of player recruitment. The basic design of the draft is each team is given a position in the drafting order in reverse order...

 in the sixth round (179th overall) of the 2007 NFL Draft

2007 NFL Draft

The 2007 National Football League Draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on April 28 and April 29, 2007. The draft was televised for the 28th consecutive year on ESPN and ESPN2. The NFL Network also broadcast coverage of the event, its second year doing so...

 by the Redskins.

He is the son of former Pro Bowl

Pro Bowl

In professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...

er Bennie Blades

Bennie Blades

Horatio Benedict "Bennie" Blades Sr. is a former American football cornerback and safety in the National Football League. He played college football at the University of Miami.-University of Miami:...

 and nephew of Brian Blades

Brian Blades

Brian Keith Blades is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League.Blades graduated from Piper High School in Sunrise, Florida in 1983....

 and Al Blades.

Early years

Blades attended Plantation High School

Plantation High School

Plantation High School is a high school located in Plantation, Florida. The school serves 2,669 students in grades 9 through 12, and is a part of the Broward County Public Schools district...

 in Plantation, Florida where he set school records for tackles in a career (409), season (154), and game (21).

College career

Blades became only the fifth player in school history to record over 400 career tackles. He started and played in 12 games during his senior season at Pittsburgh where he was a First-team All-American

2006 College Football All-America Team

The 2006 College Football All-America Team is composed of the following All-American Teams: Associated Press, Football Writers Association of America, American Football Coaches Association, Walter Camp Foundation, The Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Pro Football Weekly, CBS Sports, ESPN, College...

 by the Football Writers Association of America and SportsIllustrated.com and was named Big East Defensive Player of the Year. He was also a First-team All-Big East for the third time. He recorded a career-high 147 tackles (86 solo), 10.5 tackles for a loss, one sack, two fumble recoveries, two interceptions and two blocked field goals as a senior.

Professional career

Blades was drafted

NFL Draft

The National Football League Draft is an annual event in which the National Football League teams select eligible college football players and it is their most common source of player recruitment. The basic design of the draft is each team is given a position in the drafting order in reverse order...

 in the sixth round (179th overall) of the 2007 NFL Draft

2007 NFL Draft

The 2007 National Football League Draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on April 28 and April 29, 2007. The draft was televised for the 28th consecutive year on ESPN and ESPN2. The NFL Network also broadcast coverage of the event, its second year doing so...

by the Redskins. In his rookie season he played mostly special teams and recorded 21 tackles. In 2008 he played 16 games with 5 starts and recorded 60 tackles for the Redskins. On September 3, 2011 the Redskins cut Blades just before the start of the 2011 NFL Season.

External links

• Washington Redskins bio