Rodney Blackshear (born July 25, 1969) is a former

arena football Arena football is a variety of gridiron football designed to be played indoors. The game is played on a smaller field than American or Canadian football, designed to fit in the same surface area as a standard North American ice hockey rink, an ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

who played in the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

(AFL). Blackshear 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 ...

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public university, public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship instit ...

College career

Blackshear was a wide receiver for the

Texas Tech Red Raiders The Texas Tech Red Raiders and Lady Raiders are the athletic teams that represent Texas Tech University, located in Lubbock, Texas, United States. The women's basketball team uses the name Lady Raiders, while the school's other women's teams us ...

from 1987–1991. He led the team in receiving in 1990 and again in 1991. Blackshear holds the

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference also included schools from Oklaho ...

(SWC) and Texas Tech single-game record with 251 on only 5 catches against Houston. He was awarded the "Team MVP" honor in 1990 and "Team Leadership" honor in 1991. Blackshear was honored as a two-time All-SWC member from 90-91 as well as 3rd-Team Pre-Season All American in 91, and received invitations to the

Blue–Gray Football Classic The Blue–Gray Football Classic was an annual American college football all-star game held in Alabama, usually in late December and often on Christmas Day. The brainchild of Alabama college football legend Champ Pickens, the contest began in ...

and the Japan Bowl in 1991.Coaches & Team Staff - Lubbock Renegades
/ref> Blackshear was the first player to return a kickoff for a touchdown against the 12th Man kickoff unit of

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

. The following season, the Aggies discontinued the longstanding tradition. Blackshear was inducted into the Texas Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 2013.

Professional career

Blackshear played seven seasons in the

AFL AFL may refer to: Education * Angel Foundation for Learning, a Canadian Roman Catholic charity * Ankara Science High School, a high school in Ankara, Turkey, natively referred to as ''Ankara Fen Liesi'' * Assessment for learning Military * ...

where he recorded 204 receptions for 2,482 yards and 45 receiving touchdowns in 52 games for the Houston Thunderbears. He ended his career as the All-Time tackles leader in Houston Thunderbears/Texas Terror team history with 129 total tackles. He also scored a touchdown on an interception as well as a missed field-goal attempt. The

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

All-Arena An All-Arena Team, an all-star team consisting of the best players of their position was selected every season in the Arena Football League (AFL). Teams * 1987 All-Arena Team, 1987 * 1988 All-Arena Team, 1988 * 1989 All-Arena Team, 1989 * 1990 Al ...

First Team (WR/DB) honoree ended his AFL career with the 2001 Arena Bowl Champion

Grand Rapids Rampage The Grand Rapids Rampage was an arena football team based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The team began play in 1998 in the Arena Football League as an expansion team. They were last coached by Steve Thonn. Their home arena was the Van Andel Arena ...

He was a nominee for the AFL 15 year anniversary team as a WR/DB.]. Blackshear was inducted into the Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame as a member of the 2001 AFL Champions Grand Rapids Rampage in 2014

Coaching career

Blackshear began his coaching career as a student asst. coach at Texas Tech in 2002 before being offered the offensive coordinator at Harvest Christian High School in Fort Worth, Texas, Fort Worth during the 2003 season. He was then the

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

for the

Rio Grande Valley Dorados The Rio Grande Valley Dorados were a professional arena football team. They began playing in 2004 as an expansion member of af2, the minor league to the Arena Football League. They played their home games at Obra Homes Field at Dodge Arena in ...

before spending a season as an WR Coach for the

Houston Cougars The Houston Cougars are the athletic teams representing the University of Houston. Informally, the Houston Cougars have also been referred to as the Coogs, UH, or simply Houston. Houston's nickname was suggested by early physical education inst ...

. He became the head coach of the Centex Barracudas of the Intense Football League in 2006 before leading the

Lubbock Renegades The Lubbock Renegades were an expansion member of the AF2. The team played its home games at the City Bank Coliseum, which was the former home of the Intense Football League, IFL/National Indoor Football League, NIFL team, the Lubbock Gunslin ...

in 2007–2008. He coached the South Georgia Wildcats to an 11–5 record in 2009. Blackshear coached the Abilene Ruff Riders in the IFL after head coach

Gerald Dockery Gerald Dockery (born August 17, 1970) is an American former professional football player who played five seasons in the Arena Football League (AFL) with the Texas Terror, Grand Rapids Rampage and Houston ThunderBears. He played college football ...

was dismissed in April 2010 with a team record of 0–5. The team won their first game with Blackshear at the helm. Blackshear was named head coach of the Amarillo Venom of the IFL in November 2010. He was named head coach of the Mesquite Bandits of the

Lone Star Football League The Lone Star Football League (LSFL) was a regional professional indoor football minor league that played three seasons from 2012 to 2014. All of the LSFL's charter teams were based in the state of Texas, with five teams coming from the Souther ...

in January 2012 but the team folded at the end of the month before playing a single game.

Head coaching record

College

High school

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blackshear, Rodney 1969 births Living people American football wide receivers Houston Cougars football coaches Houston ThunderBears players Grand Rapids Rampage players Indoor Football League coaches Rio Grande Valley Dorados coaches South Georgia Wildcats coaches Texas College Steers football coaches Texas Tech Red Raiders football coaches Texas Tech Red Raiders football players Texas Terror players High school football coaches in Texas Players of American football from Houston African-American coaches of American football 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen