| No. 89 | |||||||||||
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| Position | Tight end | ||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||
| Born | (1969-02-13)February 13, 1969 (age 57) Blytheville, Arkansas, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||||
| Listed weight | 255 lb (116 kg) | ||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||
| High school | Richland(North Richland Hills, Texas) | ||||||||||
| College | TCU | ||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1992: undrafted | ||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||
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| Career Arena League statistics | |||||||||||
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Kelly Reardon Blackwell (born February 13, 1969) is an American former professionalfootball player who was atight end in theNational Football League (NFL) for theChicago Bears andDallas Cowboys. He also was a member of theFort Worth Cavalry in theArena Football League (AFL). He playedcollege football for theTCU Horned Frogs, earning consensusAll-American honors in 1991.
Blackwell attendedRichland High School. He accepted a football scholarship fromTexas Christian University. As a freshman, he was named the starter attight end and appeared in 11 games. He collected 20 receptions (second on the team), 172 receiving yards (third on the team) and no touchdowns.
As a sophomore, he appeared in 8 games, tallying 33 receptions (second on the team), 389 receiving yards (third on the team) and 2 receiving touchdowns (second on the team).
As a junior, he appeared in 11 games, registering 64 receptions (school record), 832 receiving yards (third in school history) and 5 receiving touchdowns (tied for second on the team). He tied for third all-time in receptions in a single-game with 12 catches against theUniversity of Missouri.[1]
As a senior, he appeared in 9 games, leading the team with 64 receptions (tied his school record) for 762 yards (eighth in school history) and 6 touchdowns. He had 11 receptions against theUniversity of Houston to set an NCAA record for most career receptions by atight end.[2] He was named to theAll-America Team.[3] He finished his career with 181 receptions (school record), 2,155 receiving yards (fourth in school history) and 13 receiving touchdowns (third in school history).[4]
In 2001, he was inducted into the TCU Lettermen's Association Hall of Fame.[1]
Blackwell was signed as anundrafted free agent by theChicago Bears after the1992 NFL draft. As a rookie, he appeared in 16 games with 2 starts, making 5 receptions for 54 yards.
On August 17,1993, after Cowboys defensive coordinatorDave Wannstedt became the head coach for theChicago Bears, he traded Blackwell,linebackerJohn Roper andsafetyMarkus Paul, in exchange forlinebackerVinson Smith,linebackerBarry Minter and a sixth-round draft pick (#198-Carl Reeves).[5] He appeared in 2 games with no stats. On October 5, 1993, he was released to make room fortight endJim Price.[6] The team would go on to winSuper Bowl XXVIII.
On December 30,1993, he signed as afree agent with theLos Angeles Rams.[7] On June 1, 1994, he was released before the start of the season.[8]
In June 1994, he signed with theFort Worth Cavalry of theArena Football League.[9] He was a two-way player atfullback andlinebacker. He registered 2 receptions for 18 yards, 17 carries for 46 yards, 13 tackles, 3 sacks, one fumble recovery and one blocked kick.
On December 12, 1994, he was selected by theConnecticut Coyotes in theArena Football League expansion draft.[10] He was waived on May 3, 1995.[11]