Derrick Blaylock (born August 23, 1979) 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 with ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

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 ...

. Blaylock was drafted in the 5th round of the

2001 NFL Draft The 2001 NFL Draft was the 66th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft, which is officially referred to as the "NFL Player Selection Meeting," was held at the ...

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 tea ...

. Blaylock also played for the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

High school career

Blaylock attended Atlanta High School in

Atlanta, Texas Atlanta is a city in Cass County, northeastern Texas, United States. According to the 2010 U.S. census, the city had a population of 5,675, which decreased to 5,433 in 2020. History Atlanta was established in 1872 with the building of the Texas ...

, and was a standout in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

, and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

. In football, he was a three-time All-District selection. In basketball, he was a second-team All-District selection and in track, he placed second on the

100 meter dash The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contest ...

at the state Class 3A finals with a time of 10.7 seconds, and set the school record in the 100 meter dash with a time of 10.44 seconds.

Professional career

Blaylock scored four rushing

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s in one game for the

along with

Priest Holmes Priest Anthony Holmes (born October 7, 1973)
''www.databasefootball.com.'' Retrieved February 13, 2016 ...

on October 24, 2004 vs the Atlanta Falcons. Blaylock would be one of 3 running backs for Kansas City that would rush for 100 yards in one season, along with Priest Holmes and Larry Johnson. On February 28, 2007, the

released Blaylock. On May 7, 2007 Blaylock signed a contract with the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

, but was cut on September 3, after reaching an injury settlement.

References

1979 births Living people People from Atlanta, Texas African-American players of American football American football running backs Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks football players Kansas City Chiefs players New York Jets players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople {{runningback-1970s-stub