Todd Blackledge

Todd Alan Blackledge (February 25, 1961 in Canton, Ohio) is a former American football quarterback in both the NCAA and National Football League. In college, he led the Penn State Nittany Lions to a national championship; and, as a pro, he played for the Kansas City Chiefs (1983–1987) and the Pittsburgh Steelers (1988–1989). Blackledge is currently a television broadcasting football analyst.

High school career

Blackledge attended Princeton High School in Princeton, NJ, from 1975–76, until he returned to the Canton area to finish his high school career at North Canton Hoover High School in North Canton, OH, from which he graduated in 1979.

College career

Blackledge was a three-year starter at Penn State, where he guided the Nittany Lions to 31–5 record including a national championship in 1982. Following the 1982 season, he won the Davey O'Brien Award for best quarterback in the nation.

Professional career

Blackledge was selected in the first round of the 1983 NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs, where he played for five seasons (1983–1987) before ending his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers (1988–1989). Blackledge's NFL career was decidedly less successful than his college experience, a fact magnified by the impressive quarterback class in the 1983 NFL Draft, including legendary signal-callers such as John Elway, Dan Marino, Jim Kelly and Ken O'Brien. Critics of Blackledge attributed his failure at the professional level to his inability to "read" NFL defenses. Blackledge is widely regarded as the Chiefs' biggest draft bust along with Trezelle Jenkins. It was the failure of Blackledge that expedited the demotion of Chiefs President Jack Steadman, to be replaced by Carl Peterson.

Broadcasting career

Blackledge went on to host radio sports talk shows in Cleveland (WKNR) and Canton, Ohio (WHBC). He also did analyst work for the Big East Network, Indianapolis Colts preseason games, and ESPN.

From 1994–1998, he worked as a college football analyst for ABC Sports. In 1999, Blackledge joined CBS Sports as the lead analyst for the network's college football coverage. In 2006, he began serving on the first team alongside Mike Patrick for ESPN College Football Primetime on ESPN. As part of his duties he is featured on "Todd's Taste of the Town", a segment where he visits a locally notable restaurant and samples its fare. Blackledge has facetiously stated this is the most difficult part of his broadcasting experience.

Blackedge was teamed with Brad Nessler and sideline reporter Erin Andrews for the 2009 season, while Patrick is teamed with Craig James and sideline reporter Heather Cox.

Personal

Todd is the son of former NFL assistant coach Ron Blackledge.

Blackledge lives in North Canton with his wife, Cherie, and their four children.^[1]

Blackledge earned a Bachelor of Arts in speech communication from Penn State in 1983, graduating Phi Beta Kappa with a 3.8 grade point average. Named a first team Academic All-American, he was also awarded the Eric Walker Award, given to the Penn State senior student who has most “enhanced the esteem and recognition of the University.” Blackledge was inducted into the Academic All-America Hall of Fame in 1997. He sits on the Board of Visitors for Penn State’s Center for Sports Journalism.^[2]

Blackledge was selected to receive the prestigious 2008 NCAA Silver Anniversary Award, recognizing former student-athletes who excelled both in their collegiate and professional careers.^[2] On June 5, 2009, Blackledge received Penn State's prestigious Distinguished Alumni Award.^[3]

In April 2008, Blackledge and seven other former NFL players traveled to the Middle East to visit with troops and coach them in the USO's Operation Gridiron: Huddle with the Troops, a flag football tournament for service personnel serving overseas.^[4]

Currently, he is coaching freshman basketball at North Canton Hoover High School and the North Canton Little League 10 year old Williamsport team.

References