July 19, 2007

Coral Gables - Bennie Blades, one of the greatest players ever in Miami Hurricanes football history, will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame at the annual enshrinement festival this Friday and Saturday in South Bend, Ind.

Blades will become only the third Hurricanes player to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, joining Ted Hendricks and Don Bosseler, and he is the first from the modern era of UM football to be voted into the Hall of Fame. Two UM coaches are also in the Hall of Fame: Jack Harding and Andy Gustafson.

Blades joins a class of 15 inductees, including Emmitt Smith, Bruce Smith, Mike Rozier, Charlie Ward and coaches Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden.

Blades played for the Hurricanes from 1985 to 1987. He was named first-team All-America in both 1986 and 1987 by both Associated Press and United Press International, adding honors as a senior in 1987 from Kodak, The Sporting News, the Walter Camp Foundation and the Football Writers Association of America. He received the Jim Thorpe Award as college football's best defensive back in 1987. That year, he led UM to the national championship and a 12-0 record. He made 124 tackles, intercepted five passes and was named a consensus All-American. He ended his UM career as the school's all-time leader with 19 interceptions and 305 interception return yards (both since broken). He also set school records for most consecutive games with an interception (five), total tackles by a safety (286), and unassisted tackles by a safety (155). Blades led the nation in interceptions in 1986 (0.91 per game). He was a first-round draft choice of the Detroit Lions (the third pick overall) in the 1988 NFL draft. He played for the Lions for nine seasons, appearing in 136 games. He finished his career in 1997 with the Seattle Seahawks.