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Dré Bly

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Dré Bly
refer to caption
Dré Bly with the Denver Broncos in 2007.
No. 32, 31
Position:Cornerback
Personal information
Born: (1977-05-22) May 22, 1977 (age 47)
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
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Tackles:419
Sacks:5.0
Interceptions:43
Stats at Pro Football Reference
College Football Hall of Fame

Donald André "Dré" Bly (born May 22, 1977) is a retired American college and professional football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) for eleven seasons. He played college football for the University of North Carolina (UNC), and earned All-American honors twice. Bly was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the second round of the 1999 NFL Draft, and spent four seasons with the Rams, earning a Super Bowl ring with them from Super Bowl XXXIV. He was selected to two Pro Bowls during his four-year tenure with the Detroit Lions, and also played for the Denver Broncos and San Francisco 49ers.[1]

Early years

Bly was born in Portsmouth, Virginia. He graduated from Western Branch High School in Chesapeake, where he was an all-state high school football player as well as a decorated baseball player for Western Branch Bruins.

College career

Bly attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he played for the North Carolina Tar Heels football team. In his redshirt freshman season at UNC, he 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 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) history to receive consensus first-team All-America honors twice 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 set the ACC record for career interceptions (20), which was later broken by Alphonso Smith of Wake Forest (21).[3][4] He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2014.[5]

Professional career

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 35½ inches at the 1999 NFL Combine.[6]

Pre-draft

Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump Bench press Wonderlic
5 ft 9+7⁄8 in
(1.77 m) 		186 lb
(84 kg) 		4.51 s 1.58 s 2.63 s 4.09 s 7.10 s 35+1⁄2 in
(0.90 m)		 9 ft 8 in
(2.95 m)		 x reps x
All values from NFL Combine[7]

St. Louis Rams

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.

First stint with Lions

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. Bly was the 2003 recipient of the Detroit Lions/Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association/Pro Football Writers Association's Media-Friendly "Good Guy" Award. The Good Guy Award is given yearly to the Detroit Lions player who shows consideration to, and cooperation with the media at all times during the course of the season.

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.

Denver Broncos

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 included $18 million in bonus money and $16 million guaranteed.[8]

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.[9]

The Broncos released Bly on February 17, 2009.[10]

San Francisco 49ers

On May 21, 2009, Bly signed a one-year, $845,000 contract with the San Francisco 49ers.

Second stint with Lions

On July 2, 2010, Bly re-signed with the Detroit Lions. Bly was released on September 4, 2010.

NFL stats

Year Team Games Combined Tackles Tackles Assisted Tackles Sacks Forced Fumbles Fumble Recoveries Fumble Return Yards Interceptions Interception Return Yards Yards per Interception Return Longest Interception Return Interceptions Returned for Touchdown Passes Defended
1999 STL 16 19 16 3 0.0 0 0 0 3 53 18 53 1 8
2000 STL 16 43 39 4 1.0 0 0 0 3 44 15 22 0 10
2001 STL 16 29 27 2 0.0 1 1 0 6 150 25 93 2 9
2002 STL 16 59 54 5 1.0 4 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 20
2003 DET 14 55 47 8 1.0 5 2 0 6 89 15 48 1 15
2004 DET 13 38 32 6 0.0 0 0 0 4 107 27 55 1 19
2005 DET 12 42 38 4 0.0 3 1 0 6 54 9 28 0 15
2006 DET 16 57 49 8 0.0 4 1 0 3 13 4 8 0 18
2007 DEN 16 51 41 10 1.0 0 0 0 5 71 14 37 0 14
2008 DEN 16 62 54 8 0.0 1 0 0 2 5 3 5 0 8
2009 SF 16 29 26 3 1.0 2 2 2 3 66 22 31 0 13
Career 167 484 423 61 5.0 20 9 2 43 652 15 93 5 149

[11]

Personal life

Bly and his wife Kristyn, have four sons: Trey, Jordan, AJ and Emanuel and a daughter, Peyton.[12] Bly also has an older sister Donna Bly, who is a high school teacher.

References

  1. ^ LaCanfora, Jason (November 21, 2011). "Jason LaCanfora's Twitter account". Twitter.com. Retrieved 2011-11-21. Former Pro Bowl CB Dre' Bly is retiring, according to his agent, Kennard McGuire. Former Super Bowl winner was most recently with Detroit
  2. ^ http://www.detroitlions.com/bio.cfm?bio_id=11&season=7
  3. ^ http://tarheelblue.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/072302aab.html
  4. ^ http://wakeforestsports.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/recaps/112908aaa.html
  5. ^ National Football Foundation (2014-05-22). "NFF Proudly Announces Impressive 2014 College Football Hall of Fame Class". FootballFoundation.org. Retrieved 2014-05-22.
  6. ^ *Dre' Bly, CB, North Carolina - 1999 NFL Draft Scout Profile, Powered by The SportsXchange
  7. ^ NFL Draftscout.com
  8. ^ ESPN - Broncos sign Bly to five-year, $33M contract - NFL
  9. ^ Williamson, Bill. "Elam remains unsigned priority - The Denver Post". Denver Post.
  10. ^ Broncos release Bly after two seasons. Retrieved on 2009-02-17.
  11. ^ "Dre' Bly Stats". ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
  12. ^ .Denver Broncos Bio
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