Tommy Blake
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tommy Earl Blake, Jr. (born January 15, 1985 in Aransas Pass, Texas) is an American football defensive end, currently playing at the collegiate level for Texas Christian University.
Blake was a stand out athlete at Aransas Pass High, earning 12 total letters (4 in basketball, 4 in track, 3 in football and 1 in baseball). He played running back for the Panthers, and as a senior ran for 2,1013 and 25 touchdowns. This performance earned him All-South Texas Offensive MVP honors from the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. He was offered football scholarships at Colorado, Arkansas and Vanderbilt but elected to stay closer to home to play at TCU in Forth Worth.
While redshirting as a freshman in 2003, Blake was moved by TCU coach Gary Patterson from tailback to defensive end because of his mix of size and speed. As a redshirt freshman in 2004, Blake earned Conference USA All-Freshman honors with 5 sacks, the most for a TCU freshman since Aaron Schobel in 1997. In 2005, TCU moved to the Mountain West Conference, and Blake earned first team All-MWC honors with 7 sacks and 13.5 tackles for loss. College Football News named Blake their Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year.
Before his junior season in 2006, Blake was named a preseason All-American by The Sporting News. He also appeared on the watch lists for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, the Chuck Bednarik Award, the Lombardi Award, the Ted Hendricks Award and the Lott Trophy.
During his junior season, Blake led the Horned Frogs with 7 sacks and 16.5 tackles for loss. He also returned a fumble for a touchdown against UNLV. He was again named first team All-MWC, this time as a unanimous choice. On December 19th, Blake and his TCU team took on Northern Illinois in the Poinsettia Bowl. NIU was led by senior running back Garrett Wolfe, who led the nation in rushing with 1,900 yards coming into the game, but was held to just 20 yards by the TCU defense.
Heading into his senior year, Blake has already been named to the watch lists for both the Lombardi and Lott awards once again. [1]
