Horatio Benedict "H.B." Blades, Jr. (born September 30, 1984) 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 ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

in 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 ...

. He played college football at

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

and was drafted by 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 ...

in the sixth round of the 2007 NFL Draft.

Early years

Blades attended

Plantation High School Plantation High School (commonly referred to as PHS) is a high school located in Plantation, Florida, part of the Broward County Public Schools district. As of 2022, the school serves 1,931 students in grades 9 through 12. It was originally loca ...

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 by the

Football Writers Association The Football Writers' Association (FWA) is an association of football journalists and correspondents writing for English newspapers and agencies. It presents the Footballer of the Year Award, the oldest and most distinguished award given in the d ...

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

Washington Redskins

Blades was drafted in the sixth round (179th overall) of the 2007 NFL Draft by the

. 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. Blades was re-signed on August 1, 2011. On September 3, the Redskins cut Blades just before the start of the 2011 season.

Personal

Blades is the son of retired

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

defensive back, Bennie Blades. He is also the nephew of retired Seattle Seahawks wide receiver, Brian Blades, and the late

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

safety, Al Blades. He is currently a football coach at Indian Land High School in

Indian Land, South Carolina Indian Land is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community in the northernmost part (the "Panhandle") of Lancaster County, South Carolina, Lancaster County, South Carolina, United States. It lies east of Fort Mill, South Carolina, Fort Mill, ...

. On February 28, 2016, the Washington Redskins filed a lawsuit against Blades to recoup $40,000 the team mistakenly paid him in 2013. The Redskins originally paid Blades a $40,000 severance on September 28, 2012 and then mistakenly paid him an additional $40,000 on December 27, 2013. After arbitration, Blades agreed to repay $20,658.88 but failed to make payments. The arbitrator in March 2015 ordered him to repay the full amount.

References

External links

Washington Redskins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blades, H.B. 1984 births Living people American football linebackers Pittsburgh Panthers football players Washington Redskins players Players of American football from Fort Lauderdale, Florida Plantation High School alumni