Dré Bly with the Denver Broncos in 2007. |
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| No. 32, 31 | |
| Cornerback | |
| Personal information | |
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| Date of birth: May 22, 1977 | |
| Place of birth: Chesapeake, Virginia | |
| Height: 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | Weight: 185 lb (84 kg) |
| Career information | |
| College: North Carolina | |
| NFL Draft: 1999 / Round: 2 / Pick: 41 | |
| Debuted in 1999 for the St. Louis Rams | |
| Last played in 2009 for the San Francisco 49ers | |
| Career history | |
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| Career highlights and awards | |
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| Career NFL statistics as of 2009 | |
| Tackles | 419 |
| Sacks | 5.0 |
| INTs | 43 |
| Stats at NFL.com | |
Donald André "Dré" Bly (born May 22, 1977) is a former American football cornerback who played for eleven seasons in the National Football League. After playing college football for the North Carolina Tar Heels, Bly was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the second round of the 1999 NFL Draft. He spent four seasons with the Rams, earning a Super Bowl ring with them from Super Bowl XXXIV, and was selected to two Pro Bowls (2003 and 2004) during his four-year tenure with the Detroit Lions. He played for the Denver Broncos from 2007–2008 and the San Francisco 49ers in 2009, and spent an offseason with the Lions again before he announced his retirement from football in November 2011.[1]
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Bly graduated from Western Branch High School in Chesapeake. In high school, he was an all-state football player as well as a decorated baseball player.
In his redshirt freshman season at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), Bly led the nation with 11 interceptions. He received all-American honors, and is only one of five players in NCAA history to achieve this honor as a freshman (Tony Dorsett, Herschel Walker, Bjorn Merten, and Marshall Faulk being the others).[2] Bly was the only football player in UNC and ACC history to receive consensus 1st team All-America honors three times in his college career. In his sophomore year, he was one of three finalists for the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Year Award. Bly held the ACC record for career interceptions (20), until he was surpassed by Alphonso Smith of Wake Forest (21).[3][4]
Bly, at 186 pounds, ran a 4.51 second 40-yard dash, 4.09 second 20-yard shuttle, 7.10 3-cone drill, and had a vertical jump of 34½ inches at the 1999 NFL Combine[5]
| Ht | Wt | 40-yd dash | 10-yd split | 20-yd split | 20-ss | 3-cone | Vert | Broad | BP | Wonderlic | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 ft 9⅞ in | 186 lb | 4.51 s | 1.58 s | 2.63 s | 4.09 s | 7.10 s | 35½ in | 9 ft 8 in | x rep | x | |||||||||
| All values from NFL Combine[6] | |||||||||||||||||||
The St. Louis Rams selected Bly in the second round of the 1999 NFL Draft. Bly started his career in St. Louis, playing there for four years. While with the Rams, Bly received a Super Bowl ring for Super Bowl XXXIV, and appeared two years later in Super Bowl XXXVI, when the Rams lost to the New England Patriots.
In 2003, Bly left the St. Louis Rams and signed as a free agent with the Detroit Lions. He made the Pro Bowl in two of his seasons with the team.
On November 29, 2005, the day after Lions head coach Steve Mariucci was fired, Bly told the NFL Network that if their back-up quarterback, Jeff Garcia, had been healthy the entire season, the Lions would be in a better situation, and Mariucci would still be coaching the team. He has since apologized, albeit not to Joey Harrington, the Lions starting quarterback that season.
On March 1, 2007, Bly was traded by the Detroit Lions to the Denver Broncos for running back Tatum Bell, offensive tackle George Foster, and a 5th round draft pick. On March 28, 2007, the Denver Broncos and Bly agreed to a 5-year, $33 million contract. The contract includes $18 million in bonus money and $16 million guaranteed.[7]
Bly finished the 2007 season as the Broncos leader in interceptions with five.
The Broncos restructured Bly's contract on February 18, 2008 to free up salary cap space and keep Bly on the team. As of December 1, 2008, Dre Bly had a total of 98 Tackles and 7 Interceptions with the Broncos.[8]
The Broncos released Bly on February 17, 2009.[9]
On May 21, 2009, Bly signed a one-year, $845,000 contract with the San Francisco 49ers.
On July 2, 2010, Bly re-signed with the Detroit Lions. Bly was released on Sept. 4, 2010.
Bly and his wife Kristyn, have four sons: Trey, Jordan, Aaron and Emmanuel and a daughter, Peyton[10] Bly also has an older sister Donna Bly, who is a high school teacher.
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