Robert N. M. "Blade" Thornbladh (born September 19, 1952 in
Cleveland, Ohio) is a former
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 wi ...
player, coach and radio color commentator. He played for the
Michigan Wolverines football team from 1971 to 1973 and was an assistant coach at Michigan from 1980 to 1986. He later served as the color commentator for Michigan football broadcasts on
WJR radio.
Playing career
Thornbladh was born in
Cleveland, Ohio in 1952 and graduated from Plymouth High School in
Plymouth, Michigan
Plymouth is a city in Wayne County, Michigan, United States. The population was 9,370 at the 2020 census. The city of Plymouth is surrounded by Plymouth Township, but the two are administered autonomously. Plymouth is a western suburb of Metro ...
.
He enrolled at the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
in 1970 and played at the
fullback position for the
Michigan Wolverines football team from 1971 to 1973. He gained 677 rushing yards for the Wolverines on 163 carries for an average of 4.2 yards per carry. He scored 11 rushing touchdowns, and his longest run for Michigan was a 31-yard gain against Wisconsin in 1973. Thornbladh also had seven pass receptions for Michigan, gaining 55 yards for an average of 7.9 yards per reception. He also returned five kickoffs for 52 yards for an average of 10.4 yards per return.
Thornbladh was drafted by 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 ...
in the 11th round of the
1974 NFL Draft
The 1974 NFL draft took place at the Americana Hotel in New York City, New York, on January 29–30, 1974. Each of the 26 NFL teams were granted 17 selections for a total of 442 picks.
Many experts consider the 1974 Pittsburgh Steelers to have ha ...
(275th overall pick).
[ He made the Chiefs' regular season roster in the ]1974 NFL season
The 1974 NFL season was the 55th regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl IX when the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Minnesota Vikings. Players held a strike from July 1 until August 10, prior to the ...
as a backup to middle linebacker Willie Lanier
Willie Edward Lanier (born August 21, 1945) is an American former professional football player who was a middle linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs from 1967 through 1977. He won postseason honors for eight consecutive years, making the Amer ...
, but he played only on the special teams
in 14 regular season games.[ The Lions placed Thornbladh on waivers in August 1975.
]
Coaching career
In 1976, Thornbladh returned to the University of Michigan as a graduate assistant on Bo Schembechler's coaching staff. In 1976, Thornbladh accompanied the team to the Rose Bowl and was the subject of an Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...
story about expensive soup. Thornbladh was sent by Schembechler to get 15 tuna fish sandwiches and 15 cups of soup for the coaching staff. Thornbladh placed the order at a nearby restaurant and came back later to pick it up. The bill came to $50.56, and Thornbladh did not have enough money. In order to avoid losing the entire sale, the restaurant agreed to sell him the 15 sandwiches without soup for $28. After hearing the story, Schembechler sent him back to the restaurant the next day to buy a single order of soup, wanting to find out how "$2 soup-to-go" tastes.
In 1980, Thornbladh was promoted to assistant coach at Michigan, a position that he held until 1986.
Later years and family
After retiring from coaching, Thornbladh became the color commentator on WJR radio broadcasts of Michigan Wolverines football games.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thornbladh, Bob
1952 births
Living people
College football announcers
Kansas City Chiefs players
Michigan Wolverines football announcers
Michigan Wolverines football coaches
Michigan Wolverines football players
Players of American football from Cleveland
Sportspeople from Cleveland