Robert Cary Blanchard (November 5, 1968 – September 6, 2016) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

placekicker Placekicker, or simply kicker (PK or K), is the player in gridiron football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals and extra points. In many cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist or punter. Sp ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

. He played eight years for five teams: the New York Jets for his first two years, the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 20 ...

after taking 1994 off, the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) ...

in 1998, the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...

in 1999, and the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division, an ...

in his final season. He graduated from

L. D. Bell High School Lawrence Dale Bell High School (generally known as L.D. Bell High School and also known as Hurst Bell) is an American high school located in the cities of Hurst and Bedford, Texas and part of the Hurst-Euless-Bedford Independent School District. ...

Hurst, Texas Hurst is a city in the U.S. state of Texas located in the densely populated portion of northeastern Tarrant County and is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area. It is considered a Dallas and Fort Worth suburb and is part of the Mi ...

in 1987. He then played college football at

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

. He died in

Mabank, Texas Mabank ( ) is a town in Henderson, Van Zandt and Kaufman counties in the U.S. state of Texas. Its population was 3,035 at the 2010 census, up from 2,151 at the 2000 census. Geography Mabank is located in the southeast corner of Kaufman County ...

on September 6, 2016, at the age of 47.

References

1968 births 2016 deaths Sportspeople from Fort Worth, Texas American football placekickers Oklahoma State Cowboys football players Sacramento Surge players New York Jets players Indianapolis Colts players Washington Redskins players New York Giants players American Conference Pro Bowl players {{Amfoot-kicker-stub