Blane Keith Gaison (born May 13, 1958) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

for the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) from 1981 to 1985. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Hawaii Rainbow Warriors The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and Rainbow Wāhine are the athletic teams that represent the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UH), in Honolulu, Hawaii. The UH athletics program is a member of the Big West Conference in most sports and competes at ...

. He played in the NFL at both the

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

and

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

positions.

Early life

Gaison was raised in

Kaneohe, Hawaii Kāneohe () is a census-designated place (CDP) included in the City and County of Honolulu and in Hawaii state District of Koolaupoko on the island of Oahu. In the Hawaiian language, ''kāne ohe'' means "bamboo man". According to an ancient ...

on the windward side of Oahu. He attended the

Kamehameha Schools Kamehameha Schools, formerly called Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate (KSBE), is a private school system in Hawaii established by the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Estate, under the terms of the will of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, who was a formal membe ...

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

and is a 1976 graduate. At Kamehameha, he was an All-State quarterback leading the Warrior football team to consecutive state titles in 1974 and 1975 also known as the

Oahu Prep Bowl The Hawaii High School Athletic Association (HHSAA) State Football Championship consists of the two games that are played annually to crown the Division 1 and Division 2 state football champions in Hawaii. Before 1999, when the State Football Ch ...

and

Interscholastic League of Honolulu The Interscholastic League of Honolulu (ILH) is an athletic activity league whose membership is primarily private secondary schools in Honolulu, Hawai'i. The ILH has 24 member schools with over 13,000 student athletes participating in 37 differ ...

championship games.

University of Hawaii

Blane Gaison played

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa The University of Hawaii at Mānoa is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Hawaiʻi system and houses the main offic ...

from 1976 to 1980, starting at

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

and

. He was the University of Hawaii's Most Valuable Player in 1979 and 1980 and was included on the University of Hawaii Centurion's list with the description, "Steering the defense from his safety position, Gaison was a coach on the field. Number 11's intelligence and versatility provided Rainbow Warriors fans with some of their greatest memories. He received

All America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

, All

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the Western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington (state), Washington. Due to ...

and Academic All Western Athletic Conference honors in 1979 and 1980. Gaison was also recognized with

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

honors at the 1981

Hula Bowl The Hula Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game held annually, usually in January. From inception through the 2021 playing, it was held in Hawaii; since the 2022 edition, it has been played in Orlando, Florida. The game was first s ...

along with

Kenny Easley Kenneth Mason Easley Jr. (born January 15, 1959) is an American former professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons from 1981 to 1987. He played college football for the UCLA Bruins and w ...

. He was inducted into the University of Hawaii's Circle of Honor in 1999.

Professional career

In the

1981 NFL draft The 1981 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held during April 28–29, 1981, at the New ...

, Gaison was picked by the Atlanta Falcons where he played in the defensive secondary as a safety and cornerback. He became close friends with teammates

Steve Bartkowski Steven Joseph Bartkowski (born November 12, 1952) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Atlanta Falcons (1975–1985), Washington Redskins (1985) and the Los Ange ...

, Bob Glazebrook, Billy "White Shoes" Johnson, and

June Jones June Sheldon Jones III (born February 19, 1953) is an American football coach and former player who was most recently the offensive coordinator of the Seattle Sea Dragons. Jones was the head football coach at the University of Hawaii at Manoa ...

.Gaison, Blain
thegoal.com

Career in education

Gaison's

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

is in Pre-Law with a minor in Secondary Education. Gaison is a recipient of the National Federation of High Schools (NFHS) Citation Award as well as the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA) Distinguished Service Award for his contribution and services to high school athletics on the state, local and national levels.

Administrative career

After his retirement from professional football, Gaison was named the head football coach and associate athletics director at his alma mater Kamehameha Schools–Kapalama in 1989 and served as the football coach until 1996 when he was promoted to co-athletic director. He served in this role for 16 years before being named the sole athletic director at Kamehameha Schools' Maui campus in 2012. He was named the executive director of the

in 2015.

Family

Blane Gaison is married to Donnalei, and the couple have four children: Pilialoha, Kapulani, Iokepa and Kona.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaison, Blane 1958 births Living people Players of American football from Honolulu American football defensive backs Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football players Kamehameha Schools alumni Atlanta Falcons players High school football coaches in Hawaii