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Greg Blankenship
No. 57, 53     
Linebacker
Personal information
Date of birth: (1954-03-24) March 24, 1954 (age 69)
Place of birth: Vallejo, California
High School: Vallejo High School
Height: 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Weight: 220 lb (100 kg)
Career information
College: Cal State-Hayward
Undrafted in 1976
Debuted in 1976 for the Oakland Raiders
Last played in 1976 for the Pittsburgh Steelers
Career history
Roster status: retired
Career highlights and awards
  • N/A
Career NFL statistics as of Week 14, 1976
Games Played     10
Games Started     1
Stats at NFL.com
Stats at pro-football-reference.com
Stats at DatabaseFootball.com

Gregory Allen Blankenship (born March 24, 1954) is a former American football linebacker who played one season in the NFL with the Oakland Raiders and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Early life[]

Blankenship was born in Vallejo, California and attended Vallejo High School.[1]

College football[]

He matriculated at Cal State-Hayward[1] (since renamed California State University, East Bay). As a sophomore, Blankenship was named to the third-team Associated Press small college All-America football team in 1973.[2] In 1974, he was named to the UPI Little All-Coast football team.[3] After his senior season he was named to the Associated Press College Division All-America team as a first-team selection.[4]

Blankenship has been inducted into the California State University, East Bay Athletics Hall of Fame.[5]

Pro football career[]

Blankenship went undrafted in the 1976 NFL Draft, but was signed by the Oakland Raiders. He played four games for the Raiders before being cut.[6]

He was picked up by the Steelers about a month later, primarily to serve as a special teams player.[6][7] He played for the Steelers in the final six games of the 1976 season.[1]

Blankenship was cut by the Steelers prior to the 1977 season.[8] He was picked up in 1978 by the British Columbia Lions of the Canadian Football League.[9]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Greg Blankenship bio". databaseFootball. http://www.databasefootball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=BLANKGRE01. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
  2. "'Johnson Boys' Again Picked For Little All-America Team". Gettysburg Times. December 6, 1973. pp. 18. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NYIlAAAAIBAJ&sjid=svIFAAAAIBAJ&dq=greg-blankenship&pg=826%2C2159639. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
  3. "Boise State quarterback tops Little all-Coast team". Ellensburg Daily Record. December 11, 1974. pp. 11. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ZjkQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=U48DAAAAIBAJ&dq=greg-blankenship&pg=5623%2C4322399. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
  4. "Hieber named Little A-A". The Spokesman-Review. December 5, 1975. pp. 39. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=lfoRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=bu0DAAAAIBAJ&dq=greg-blankenship&pg=5537%2C1663921. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
  5. "Athletics Hall of Fame". California State University, East Bay. http://www.edschool.csueastbay.edu/departments/kpe/fame.html. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
  6. 6.0 6.1 Sheeley, Glenn (November 11, 1976). "Rescued Blankenship Happy To Be Aboard With Steelers". Pittsburgh Press. pp. 33. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Q4wqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JVgEAAAAIBAJ&dq=greg-blankenship&pg=2193%2C3851151. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
  7. Emert, Rich (August 26, 1977). "Russian roulette: Steelers can hardly win on final roster decisions". The Beaver County Times. pp. B-1. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=I6wiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4bEFAAAAIBAJ&dq=greg-blankenship&pg=1148%2C5869598. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
  8. "Steeler Notes". Pittsburgh Press. July 25, 1977. pp. C3. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=gzAcAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ElgEAAAAIBAJ&dq=greg-blankenship&pg=4330%2C3532239. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
  9. "People in sport". Ottawa Citizen. April 20, 1978. pp. 27. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Z88yAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Du4FAAAAIBAJ&dq=greg-blankenship&pg=885%2C5446723. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
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