Donald Kirk Blackmon (born March 14, 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 and coach 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). He played in the NFL as a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

with the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

. Most recently he was the

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

for the

New York Sentinels New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

of the United Football League (UFL).

Playing career

Blackmon was selected by the

in the fourth round of 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 ...

. A 6'3". 235 lbs.

from the

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a Private university, private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Presbyterian Church, although it is now nondenominational, and the campus ...

, Blackmon played his entire NFL career for the Patriots. He started 72 of 89 games and recorded 541 tackles, 30.5 sacks, and five interceptions before being forced to retire after a neck injury in a game against the Raiders in 1987. He was on the Patriots AFC title team in 1986. Blackmon was a three time all-conference selection at Tulsa and has been named to the school's Hall of Fame.

References

External links

Tulsa Golden Hurricane alumni bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blackmon, Don 1958 births Living people American football defensive ends American football linebackers Atlanta Falcons coaches Buffalo Bills coaches Cleveland Browns coaches Kansas City Chiefs coaches New England Patriots coaches New England Patriots players New York Giants coaches New York Sentinels coaches Tulsa Golden Hurricane football players NFL defensive coordinators Boyd H. Anderson High School alumni