 Dré Bly with the Denver Broncos in 2007. |
|
| No. 31 San Francisco 49ers | |
| Cornerback | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Date of birth: May 22, 1977 | |
| Place of birth: Chesapeake, Virginia | |
| Height: 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | Weight: 185 lb (84 kg) |
| Career information | |
| College: North Carolina | |
| NFL Draft: 1999 / Round: 2 / Pick: 41 | |
| Debuted in 1999 for the St. Louis Rams | |
| Career history | |
As player:
|
|
| Roster status: Active | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
|
|
| Career NFL statistics as of week 17, 2008 | |
| Tackles | 390 |
| Sacks | 4.0 |
| INTs | 40 |
| Stats at NFL.com | |
Donald André "Dré" Bly (born May 22, 1977 in Chesapeake, Virginia) is an American football cornerback for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League. He was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the second round of the 1999 NFL Draft. He played college football at North Carolina.
A two-time Pro Bowl selection, Bly earned a Super Bowl ring with the Rams in Super Bowl XXXIV. He has also played for the Detroit Lions and Denver Broncos.
Contents |
Early years
Bly graduated from Western Branch High School in Chesapeake. In high school, he was an all-state football player as well as a decorated baseball player.
College career
In his redshirt freshman season at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), Bly received all-American honors. He is only one of five players in NCAA history to achieve this honor as a freshman (Tony Dorsett, Herschel Walker, Bjorn Merten, and Marshall Faulk being the others) [1]. Bly was the only football player in UNC and ACC history to receive consensus 1st team All-America honors three times in his college career. In his sophomore year, he was one of three finalists for the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Year Award. Bly held the ACC record for career interceptions (20), until he was surpassed by Alphonso Smith of Wake Forest (21). [2][3]
Professional career
Bly, at 186 pounds, ran a 4.51 second 40-yard dash, 4.09 second 20-yard shuttle, 7.10 3-cone drill, and had a vertical jump of 34 1/2 inches at the 1999 NFL Combine[4]
Pre-draft
| Pre-draft measureables | |||||||||||||||||||
| Height | Weight | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20 ss | 3-cone | Vert | Broad | BP | Wonderlic | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5-9⅛* | 186* | 4.51* | x | x | 4.09 * | 7.10 * | 34½" * | 10'01" * | x | x | |||||||||
| * represents NFL Combine—"X" Denotes "No Data" or "Did Not Participate" | |||||||||||||||||||
St. Louis Rams
The St. Louis Rams selected Bly in the second round of the 1999 NFL Draft. Bly started his career in St. Louis, playing there for four years. While with the Rams, Bly received a Super Bowl ring for Super Bowl XXXIV, and appeared two years later in Super Bowl XXXVI, when the Rams lost to the New England Patriots.
Detroit Lions
In 2003, Bly left the St. Louis Rams and signed as a free agent with the Detroit Lions. He made the Pro Bowl in two of his seasons with the team.
On November 29, 2005, the day after Lions head coach Steve Mariucci was fired, Bly told the NFL Network that if their back-up quarterback, Jeff Garcia, had been healthy the entire season, the Lions would be in a better situation, and Mariucci would still be coaching the team. He has since apologized, albeit not to Joey Harrington, the Lions starting quarterback that season.
Denver Broncos
On March 1, 2007, Bly was traded by the Detroit Lions to the Denver Broncos for running back Tatum Bell, offensive tackle George Foster, and a 5th round draft pick. On March 28, 2007, the Denver Broncos and Bly agreed to a 5-year, $33 million contract. The contract includes $18 million in bonus money and $16 million guaranteed. [5]
Bly finished the 2007 season as the Broncos leader in interceptions with five.
The Broncos restructured Bly's contract on February 18, 2008 to free up salary cap space and keep Bly on the team. As of December 1, 2008, Dre Bly has a total of 98 Tackles and 7 Interceptions with the Broncos. [6]
The Broncos released Bly on February 17, 2009.[7]
San Francisco 49ers
On May 21, 2009, Bly signed a one-year, $845,000 contract with the San Francisco 49ers.
Personal life
Bly and his wife Kristyn, have three sons: Trey, Jordan and Aaron and a daughter, Peyton[8].
References
- ^ http://www.detroitlions.com/bio.cfm?bio_id=11&season=7
- ^ http://tarheelblue.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/072302aab.html
- ^ http://wakeforestsports.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/recaps/112908aaa.html
- ^ *Dre' Bly, CB, North Carolina - 1999 NFL Draft Scout Profile, Powered by The SportsXchange
- ^ ESPN - Broncos sign Bly to five-year, $33M contract - NFL
- ^ Elam remains unsigned priority - The Denver Post
- ^ Broncos release Bly after two seasons. Retrieved on 2009-02-17.
- ^ Denver Broncos Bio
External links
|
|||||||||||
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
