Thomas Richard Blanchard (born May 28, 1948) 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 ...

punter with an 11-year career 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) for 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

, and

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

Biography

Blanchard 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 Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

, where he was

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 ...

as well as punter. He led

Grants Pass High School Grants Pass High School is a public high school located in Grants Pass, Oregon, United States. The school colors are blue and white, and the mascot is the Caveman. The mascot is a reference to the Oregon Caves National Monument, which is an impor ...

to the 1964 state high school football championship as a junior. Blanchard was selected by the Giants in 12th round of the

1971 NFL draft The 1971 NFL draft was held January 28–29, 1971, at the Belmont Plaza Hotel in New York City, New York. The Boston Patriots, who did not officially change their name to New England Patriots until after the draft, used the first overall pick ...

. After 3 years with the Giants he was beaten out for the punting position during the preseason by rookie Dave Jennings and waived. He was signed by the Saints one game into the 1974 season after the Saints waived their opening day punter Donnie Gibbs after Gibbs had fumbled a snap leading to the Saints to lose their first game of the season. With the Saints in 1974 he kicked a 71 yard punt, which was the longest punt in the NFL that season. In 1975 he led the NFL with 3776 punting yards and in 1976 he led the NFL with 101 punts. He was traded by the Saints to the Buccaneers for a draft pick before the 1979 season after the Saints drafted

placekicker In gridiron football, the placekicker (PK), or simply kicker (K), is the player responsible for attempts at scoring Field goal (football), field goals and extra points. In most cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist ...

Russell Erxleben Russell Erxleben (born January 13, 1957) is an American former professional football player and investor. A highly decorated college kicker for the University of Texas, Erxleben was a three-time All-American punter (1976, 1977, and 1978) and ...

, who was also able to punt, in the first round of the

1979 NFL draft The 1979 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 May 3–4, 1979, at the Waldorf Astoria ...

. Blanchard injured his

hamstring A hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in human anatomy between the hip and the knee: from medial to lateral, the semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris. Etymology The word " ham" is derived from the Old ...

in the Bucs' third game of the 1981 season and was waived after recovering, with

Larry Swider Lawrence John Swider (February 1, 1955 – August 7, 2021) was an American football punter. He attended DuBois Area High School in DuBois, Pennsylvania, where he was a standout athlete. He played in the National Football League (NFL) from 1979 ...

taking his job in the interim. His two sons, Tommy (the eldest) and Jimmy (five years the junior) both were starting quarterbacks at Grants Pass High School, leading their respective teams to the playoffs. Tommy's son Jace also played quarterback at Grants Pass High School. After retiring as a player, spent time as the football coach, softball coach and athletic director at Grants Pass High School. He retired from these positions in 2013.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blanchard, Tom 1948 births Living people American football punters American football quarterbacks New Orleans Saints players New York Giants players Oregon Ducks football players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Sportspeople from Grants Pass, Oregon Players of American football from Oregon