Mel Blount

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Mel Blount
Mel-Bount Legends-Reception 09-04-10.jpg
Mel Blount in September 2010
Position (s):
Cornerback
Jersey number (s):
47
born April 10, 1948 in Vidalia , Georgia
Career information
Active : 1970 - 1983
NFL Draft : 1970 / Round: 3 / Pick: 53
College : Southern University
Teams
Career statistics
Games     200
Interceptions     57
Touchdowns     4th
Stats at NFL.com
Stats at pro-football-reference.com
Career highlights and awards
Pro Football Hall of Fame

Melvin Cornell Blount (* 10. April 1948 in Vidalia , Georgia ) is a former American American football poker players on the position of the cornerbacks . He played for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the National Football League (NFL).

youth

Mel Blount grew up in a large family. He had ten siblings and grew up on a farm in Georgia. He visited in Lyons the high school and was there as Athlete , Basketball - Baseball active and football players -. After graduating from high school, he received a scholarship to Southern University .

Player career

College career

Mel Blount studied at Southern University from 1966 to 1970. He played cornerback football in college . In 1968 and 1969 he was voted Most Valuable Player (MVP) on his team. Because of his athletic achievements, he was also elected All American in 1969 . In 1970 he successfully completed his sports studies.

Professional career

Mel Blount was selected 53rd in the NFL Draft in the third round in 1970 by the Pittsburgh Steelers . The Chuck Noll- trained Steelers had been one of the weakest teams in the NFL in the previous game years. Noll managed to form a top team from the team, which dominated the league in the next few years with players such as Jack Ham , Lynn Swann , Terry Bradshaw or John Stallworth .

After Blount and his team were able to move into the play-offs in 1972 and 1973 , but did not receive championship honors, they achieved their first major success in 1974. The Steelers had the AFC Championship Game by John Madden supervised Oakland Raiders defeated with 24:13 and were therefore in the Super Bowl IX confiscated. Blount and his team won the Super Bowl against the Minnesota Vikings 16-6 . Blount was able to intercept a pass from quarterback Fran Tarkenton in the game against the Vikings and thus contribute significantly to the victory of his team. In the following year Blount succeeded in defending the title with the team from Pittsburgh . In the AFC Championship Game the Raiders were defeated again, this time with 16:10. Opponents in the subsequent Super Bowl X were the Dallas Cowboys trained by Tom Landry , who had to admit defeat to the Steelers with 21:17.

In the years that followed, the Steelers remained a top team in the NFL. In 1978 Melvin Blount was able to win his third Super Bowl. The Steelers had to deal with the Houston Oilers in the AFC Championship Game , but they had no chance against the Steelers in their 34: 5 defeat. Blount was able to get an interception in the game . His team met the Cowboys again in Super Bowl XIII . The defense around Jack Ham and Mel Blount managed to keep the quarterback of the team from Dallas , Roger Staubach , under control until the middle of the fourth quarter of the game. Blount even managed to intercept one of his passports. The Steelers were leading 35:17 by then and already looked like the sure winner. However, Staubach was able to throw two touchdown passes within a very short time , which in the end did not change the 35:31 defeat of his team. In 1979 Mel Blount celebrated the fourth Super Bowl success. In the AFC championship game he met his team again on the Oilers, who had to leave the field with a 27:13 defeat. This time the Los Angeles Rams were the opponents in Super Bowl XIV and had to admit defeat to the Steelers 31:19.

In 1975 Blount was able to achieve the annual best performance in the NFL with eleven interceptions. He ended his career after the 1983 season.

After the career

Mel Blount became sports director in the National Football League (NFL) immediately after his playing career . He held this office until 1990. In 1983 he founded "Mel Blount Youth Home" . The foundation cared for abused children and runs two homes in the hometown of Blount and near Pittsburgh. Blount is a successful businessman and has his own company that successfully breeds horses and hosts horse races.

Honors

Mel Blount played five times in the Pro Bowl , the final game of the best players of the season. He was voted All-Pro six times . He is a member of the NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team , the NFL 1980s All-Decade Team , the Pro Football Hall of Fame , the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame , the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, and his Hall of Fame Colleges. In 1975 he was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year . In 1999, The Sporting News magazine put him 36th on the list of the Top 100 Football Players of All Time.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Annual Statistics of the Steelers 1974
  2. Statistics AFC final 1974
  3. Super Bowl IX statistics
  4. ^ Annual statistics of the Steelers 1975
  5. Statistics AFC Championship Game 1975
  6. Super Bowl X statistics
  7. Annual Statistics of the Steelers 1978
  8. Statistics AFC Championship Game 1978
  9. Super Bowl XIII Statistics
  10. Annual Statistics of the Steelers 1979
  11. Statistics AFC Championship Game 1979
  12. Statistics Super Bowl XIV