Blake Grupe ; (born November 5, 1998) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

placekicker Placekicker, or simply kicker (PK or K), is the player in gridiron football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals and extra points. In many cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist or punter. Spe ...

for the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the Arkansas State Red Wolves and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and was signed by the Saints as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

after the

2023 NFL draft The 2023 NFL Draft will be the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft is scheduled to be held in the plaza outside of Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, on April 27–29, ...

Early years

Blake Grupe was born on November 5, 1998. He attended

Smith-Cotton High School Smith-Cotton High School is a public high school in Sedalia, Missouri, in the United States. The school serves students in grades 9–12 in the Sedalia 200 School District. The current principal is Wade Norton. Athletic teams are known as the Tige ...

Sedalia, Missouri Sedalia is a city located approximately south of the Missouri River and, as the county seat of Pettis County, Missouri, United States, it is the principal city of the Sedalia Micropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census, the city had ...

, and was a three-sport athlete, playing soccer, baseball and football, although he did not begin playing football until his

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In ...

year. As a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

, he was named all-state in both football and soccer, setting the school's records for single-season and career

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...

s made. He committed to play

for the Arkansas State Red Wolves.

College career

As a true

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

at Arkansas State in 2017, Grupe

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

. The following year, he earned the starting placekicking job in week three and finished the season having converted 14-of-21 attempts, placing seventh in the

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams participa ...

. In 2019, Grupe made 19-of-22 field goal attempts and was named first-team all-conference as well as a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award as best placekicker nationally; his 110 total points scored set a school record for kickers and was second-best in the conference, additionally being the 13th-best total in the United States. In 2020, Grupe went 11-of-18 on field goals and made 43

extra points The conversion, try (American football, also known as a point(s) after touchdown, PAT, or (depending on the number of points) extra point/2-point conversion), or convert (Canadian football) occurs immediately after a touchdown during which the sc ...

. In his final year at Arkansas State, 2021, he made 20-of-25 field goals and all but one of his 32 extra point attempts. He holds several school records, including career extra points made (162), career field goals made (64) and career points scored (354). Grupe transferred to Notre Dame for his final season of eligibility in 2022. He went 14-of-19 on field goals and made all 49 of his extra point attempts in his lone year with the team.

College statistics

Professional career

After going unselected in the

, Grupe was signed by the

as an

. In the first preseason game, he made the game-winning field goal against the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

. He competed with veteran

Wil Lutz William “Wil” Lutz (born July 7, 1994) is an American football placekicker for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Georgia State. Early life Lutz was born in Newnan, Georgia. Both his ...

for a spot on the team and won the position battle. In Week 3 of the 2023 season, Grupe missed a 46-yard go-ahead field goal against the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

, resulting in a Saints loss. In Week 5, Grupe was named

National Football Conference The National Football Conference (NFC) is one of the two conferences of the National Football League (NFL), the highest professional level of American football in the United States. The NFC and its counterpart, the American Football Conference ...

Special Teams Player of the Week after completing four extra points, two 50+ yard field goals, and recording five

touchback In American football, a touchback is a ruling which is made and signaled by an official when the ball becomes dead on or behind a team's own goal line (i.e., in their end zone) and the opposing team gave the ball the momentum, or impetus, to trav ...

s on seven kickoffs in a 34–0 win over the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

. As a rookie, he converted all 40 extra point attempts and 30 of 37 field goal attempts.

NFL career statistics

References

External links

New Orleans Saints bio

Arkansas State Red Wolves bio

Notre Dame Fighting Irish bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grupe, Blake 1998 births Living people American football placekickers Players of American football from Missouri Arkansas State Red Wolves football players Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players New Orleans Saints players