Kerlin Blaise (born December 25, 1974) 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 ...

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

who played five seasons with the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

of 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

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 ...

at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

Early life and college

Kerlin Blaise was born on December 25, 1974, in

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

. He attended

Maynard Evans High School Maynard Evans High School is a high school located in Orlando, Florida, United States, served by Orange County Public Schools. The school's name is often shortened to "Evans High School" or "E-HIGH", and the mascot for the school are the Trojan ...

in Orlando. Blaise played

for the

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes, known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes, are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Coll ...

of the

. He was

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

in 1993 and was a four-year

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

from 1994 to 1997.

Professional career

After going undrafted in the

1998 NFL draft The 1998 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 April 18–19, 1998, at the Theater at M ...

, Blaise signed with the

on April 24. He was released on August 30 but signed to the team's practice squad on September 1. He was promoted to the active roster on October 27 but did not appear in any games before being placed on injured reserve on December 1, 1998. Blaise played in all 16 games, starting four, for the Lions during the 1999 season. He also appeared in his only career playoff game that year. He became a free agent after the season and re-signed with the Lions on April 11, 2000. Blaise played in 12 games in 2000 and became a free agent again after the season. He re-signed with Detroit on April 26, 2001, and appeared in six games that year. He became a free agent for the third year in a row, and re-signed with the Lions once again on April 2, 2002. He started the first two games of the 2002 season before being placed on injured reserve on September 17 and missing the rest of the year. Blaise was released by the Lions on August 31, 2003, but re-signed a few months later on November 11, 2003. He played in two games for the Lions that year and entered free agency after the season.

Personal life

Blaise founded Blaze Contracting, Inc. in 2000.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blaise, Kerlin Living people 1974 births Players of American football from Orlando, Florida American football offensive guards Miami Hurricanes football players Detroit Lions players Maynard Evans High School alumni