Thomas Richard Blanchard (born May 28, 1948) is an American former professional football punter with an 11-year career in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants, New Orleans Saints, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
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| Position: | Punter | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | May 28, 1948 Grants Pass, Oregon, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 190 lb (86 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Grants Pass (OR) | ||||||||
| College: | Oregon | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1971 / round: 12 / pick: 304 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Biography
editBlanchard played college football at the University of Oregon, where he was quarterback as well as punter.[1] He led Grants Pass High School to the 1964 state high school football championship as a junior.[2]
Blanchard was selected by the Giants in 12th round of the 1971 NFL draft.[3] After 3 years with the Giants he was beaten out for the punting position during the preseason by rookie Dave Jennings and waived.[4][5]
He was signed by the Saints one game into the 1974 season after the Saints waived their opening day punter Donnie Gibbs after Gibbs had fumbled a snap leading to the Saints to lose their first game of the season.[6] With the Saints in 1974 he kicked a 71 yard punt, which was the longest punt in the NFL that season.[3] In 1975 he led the NFL with 3776 punting yards and in 1976 he led the NFL with 101 punts.[3]
He was traded by the Saints to the Buccaneers for a draft pick before the 1979 season after the Saints drafted placekicker Russell Erxleben, who was also able to punt, in the first round of the 1979 NFL draft.[7] Blanchard injured his hamstring in the Bucs' third game of the 1981 season and was waived after recovering, with Larry Swider taking his job in the interim.[8]
His two sons, Tommy (the eldest) and Jimmy (five years the junior) both were starting quarterbacks at Grants Pass High School, leading their respective teams to the playoffs.[9] Tommy's son Jace also played quarterback at Grants Pass High School.[9] After retiring as a player, spent time as the football coach, softball coach and athletic director at Grants Pass High School.[10][11] He retired from these positions in 2013.[11]
NFL career statistics
edit| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Led the league | |
| Bold | Career high |
Regular season
edit| Year | Team | Punting | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Punts | Yds | Net Yds | Lng | Avg | Net Avg | Blk | Ins20 | TB | ||
| 1971 | NYG | 14 | 66 | 2,681 | 2,302 | 57 | 40.6 | 34.9 | 0 | - | 3 |
| 1972 | NYG | 14 | 47 | 2,006 | 1,655 | 58 | 42.7 | 34.5 | 1 | - | 9 |
| 1973 | NYG | 14 | 56 | 2,347 | 1,837 | 62 | 41.9 | 32.2 | 1 | - | 7 |
| 1974 | NOR | 13 | 88 | 3,704 | 2,652 | 71 | 42.1 | 30.1 | 0 | - | 8 |
| 1975 | NOR | 14 | 92 | 3,776 | 2,781 | 61 | 41.0 | 29.3 | 3 | - | 16 |
| 1976 | NOR | 14 | 101 | 3,974 | 3,132 | 63 | 39.3 | 31.0 | 0 | 14 | 5 |
| 1977 | NOR | 14 | 82 | 3,474 | 2,650 | 66 | 42.4 | 31.5 | 2 | 11 | 11 |
| 1978 | NOR | 16 | 84 | 3,532 | 2,793 | 61 | 42.0 | 32.5 | 2 | 15 | 10 |
| 1979 | TAM | 16 | 93 | 3,679 | 2,909 | 58 | 39.6 | 30.6 | 2 | 14 | 25 |
| 1980 | TAM | 16 | 88 | 3,722 | 2,953 | 62 | 42.3 | 33.2 | 1 | 18 | 12 |
| 1981 | TAM | 3 | 22 | 899 | 600 | 58 | 40.9 | 27.3 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| Career | 148 | 819 | 33,794 | 26,264 | 71 | 41.3 | 31.6 | 12 | 76 | 108 | |
Playoffs
edit| Year | Team | Punting | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Punts | Yds | Net Yds | Lng | Avg | Net Avg | Blk | Ins20 | TB | ||
| 1979 | TAM | 2 | 13 | 510 | 375 | 53 | 39.2 | 28.8 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Career | 2 | 13 | 510 | 375 | 53 | 39.2 | 28.8 | 0 | 2 | 1 | |
References
edit- ^ "UO's Moore point leader". Albany Democrat-Herald. October 14, 1970. p. 18. Retrieved August 19, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "Grant's Pass, Medford High in Football". Dunsmuir News. December 3, 1964. p. 11. Retrieved August 19, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c "Tom Blanchard". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
- ^ Castellano, Tom (October 3, 1974). "Punter has leg up on stardom in NFL". Daily Record. p. 25. Retrieved August 19, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ Markus, Don (September 11, 1974). "Giants Cut QB Randy Johnson". The Journal News. p. 2D. Retrieved August 19, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "Saints replace Donnie Gibbs". South Idaho Press. September 20, 1974. p. 6. Retrieved August 19, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ Selman, Jim (August 17, 1979). "Bucs Net 'Fair' Catch in Punter Tom Blanchard". Tampa Tribune. p. 1-C. Retrieved August 19, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "Bucs Waive Blanchard". Tampa Tribune. October 20, 1981. p. 4-C. Retrieved August 19, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Henry, Kris (September 3, 2021). "Another Blanchard takes over at Grants Pass". Mail Tribune.
- ^ "Student dies in workout". Daily News-Journal. April 23, 1998. p. 2B. Retrieved August 19, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Ulmer, Jerry (2013). "Longtime Grants Pass coach Tom Blanchard to retire". Oregon Live. Retrieved August 19, 2022.