As many NFL fans are painfully aware, pro quarterbacks are not created equal.
They may have a fantastic college resume as a signal-caller, but once they reach the big time, a vast majority of field generals wilt under the pressure.
Take Todd Blackledge, for instance.
In 1983, no less than six quarterbacks were taken in the first round of the NFL Draft that year, including Blackledge, who went to Kansas City with the seventh overall pick.
WILD: The most recent QB drafted by the #Chiefs to win a game for them besides Patrick Mahomes was Todd Blackledge in 1987
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) May 26, 2024
Initially, the move looked like a no-brainer.
After all, Blackledge had made a name for himself as the top dog during a three-year run as the starter at Penn State.
Following a great senior year in 1982, when he received the Davey O’Brien Award for the nation’s best quarterback, Blackledge delivered the Nittany Lions a national title.
As far as the Chiefs were concerned, passing on the likes of Jim Kelly and Dan Marino in the ‘83 draft wasn’t a big deal.
Blackledge and his 6’3”, 225-pound frame fit the mold of a franchise QB.
Yet, five years and just 24 starts in Kansas City got him bounced to the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he ended his career in near anonymity after two seasons.
In the decades since, Blackledge has become a renowned broadcaster and high school hoops coach.
This is the story of Todd Blackledge.
Coach’s Kid
Todd Alan Blackledge was born on February 25, 1961, in Canton, Ohio, the birthplace of pro football.
February 25th BOTD
Todd Blackledge(64 years old)
Quarterback
Born:
February 25, 1961
Canton, Ohio, U.S.
High school:
Hoover (North Canton, Ohio)
College:
Penn State (1979–1982)
NFL draft:
1983 / round: 1 / pick: 7
Career history
Kansas City Chiefs (1983–1987)
Pittsburgh… pic.twitter.com/DBmB9I2fSQ— Dan El Captain (@Mrstanleycup) February 25, 2025
As fate would have it, Todd’s father, Ron, was a football coach, and the family moved around often for Ron’s profession.
Ron Blackledge had grown up in Canton and played ball at Canton Timken High School.
His son was born in the city, but the Blackledges didn’t live there long.
By the time he was in middle school, Todd had watched his father coach the offensive lines at the University of Cincinnati and at Kentucky.
While his dad was coaching with the Wildcats, Todd visited and took in a Kentucky basketball game against the University of Tennessee.
The sights and sounds of the day captivated Blackledge, and he was suddenly a hoops aficionado, dreaming of one day playing in Rupp Arena.
In fact, football was on the back burner for Todd until middle school.
“I didn’t play organized tackle football until I was in seventh grade at Tate’s Creek Junior High School in Lexington,” Blackledge said in 2024. “We had one team for all three grades. Seventh graders were scout team, tackling-dummy guys.”
A year after playing as a proverbial tackling dummy, Blackledge was promoted to tight end and linebacker as an eighth grader.
Then, as a high school freshman, Blackledge stood under center as the quarterback.
Prep Star
Ron Blackledge realized his son had a good shot at becoming a quarterback that college teams would clamor for.
He also wanted to watch his son play ball and took a job as the offensive coordinator at Princeton University.
That position brought the Blackledge family to Princeton, New Jersey, but only for a moment.
It turns out that Ron made a slight error.
Both Princeton University and Princeton High School played their games at the same time, Saturday afternoons, meaning Ron couldn’t watch Todd.
One season in New Jersey led the family back to their roots in Canton, and Todd became the signal-caller at North Canton Hoover High School.
Todd Blackledge arrived at Canton near the end of his sophomore year and played on the Vikings’ baseball team.
Great seeing Todd Blackledge. He and I went to rival high schools (Hoover and Lake). My senior year of high school he emceed the Stark County Scholar Athlete Award banquet. After the dinner, he talked to me about pursuing sports broadcasting and encouraged me to go for it. pic.twitter.com/IyRut2kjSl
— Dave Holmes (@DaveHolmesTV) October 28, 2023
When it came time for football camp before his junior year, Blackledge threw the ball with gusto, even breaking a teammate’s finger in practice.
North Canton went 6-4 in 1977 and repeated the mark when Blackledge was a senior in 1978.
“Todd became more accurate when he got older,” former teammate Don Hertler, Jr. said in 2024.
After the football season concluded, Blackledge suited up for basketball and was chosen All-County his final year as the Vikings won the Federal League Conference title.
Blackledge Commits to Penn State
As graduation loomed in early spring of 1979, Blackledge was 6’3” and north of 200 pounds.
His rifle arm and leadership presence on the gridiron and hardwood brought college programs from all over.
Todd wanted to play near his family and considered offers from Penn State, Ohio State, Tennessee, Michigan and Michigan State.
One by one, Blackledge whittled down his list.
“Ohio State talked about playing Todd at linebacker,” Ron Blackledge recalled, chuckling.
The Wolverines’ offense at the time was the option, not the best for a drop-back quarterback like Todd.
Michigan State and Penn State were eventually the favorites, but the Blackledges weren’t fans of Penn State’s offense.
However, that changed when then-head coach Joe Paterno visited the family.
“Penn State had never thrown a great deal, but Joe said, ‘If you become our quarterback, we would throw the football, because that’s your strength.’ When Joe came to our house, he kicked his shoes so he wouldn’t track in snow. At the end of the conversation he said, ‘I think you can lead us to a national championship,’” said Ron Blackledge.
Not long after, Todd Blackledge picked the Nittany Lions.
Todd Blackledge | Penn State Quarterback 1979-1982 pic.twitter.com/I1wIqY0gBQ
— Random Penn State Athletes (@PennRandom) February 19, 2023
He arrived in the fall of 1979 and sat out the year as Paterno’s bunch went 8-4 and beat Tulane in the Liberty Bowl.
Blackledge Beats Out Hostetler
Following fall camp in 1980, Blackledge was named the backup to fellow sophomore Jeff Hostetler.
Paterno made a switch when Hostetler and the Nittany Lions lost to Nebraska on September 21 by two touchdowns.
With Blackledge now under center, Penn State won its next seven games before getting tripped up by the Pitt Panthers and their heralded quarterback, Dan Marino, in late November.
In the Fiesta Bowl against Ohio State, the Buckeyes took a 19-10 lead before Blackledge helped PSU storm back to win, 31-19.
The quarterback scrambled for a three-yard score during the contest.
1980 Fiesta Bowl v Ohio St
QB Todd Blackledge fools the defense and runs it in for the score!
Penn St defeated Ohio St 31-19#WeAre | @Todd_Blackledge pic.twitter.com/6Njhd9dODy
— Talkin’ Penn State Football (@TalkinPSU) December 29, 2024
During his sophomore year, Blackledge passed for 1,037 yards, seven touchdowns and 13 interceptions and rushed for 107 yards and two more scores.
Before the 1981 season, Hostetler transferred to West Virginia instead of trying to win the starter’s job from Blackledge.
As a junior, he and running back Curt Warner led the Nittany Lions to another 10-2 record, including a win against USC in the Fiesta Bowl.
Hey, Penn State and Pitt both are 5-0. The last time that happened? The epic 1981 season, when Todd Blackledge led the Nittany Lions to a 48-14 win over the No. 1 Panthers.
Penn State went 10-2 and finished No. 3. Pitt went 11-1 and finished 4th.
📸Malcolm Emmons/Imagn pic.twitter.com/bCirRar0TI— Mark Wogenrich (@MarkWogenrich) October 6, 2024
Along the way, Blackledge helped his team beat Nebraska in the season’s second week, Notre Dame on November 21, then a huge, 48-14 beatdown of Marino and top-ranked Pitt on November 28.
At one point in the contest, Marino and company led 14-0 before getting shut out the rest of the way.
During his second year as a starter, Blackledge passed for 1,557 yards, 12 touchdowns and 14 picks along with 19 yards and five touchdowns on the ground.
National Champs
Now a commanding 6’3” and 225 pounds, Blackledge was one of the bona fide leaders of the Nittany Lions in 1982.
PSU began the year with a 4-0 record and a spectacular, 27-24, comeback win over second-ranked Nebraska.
The victory was capped by the game-winning touchdown by Blackledge to Kirk Bowman (who was affectionately known as “Stonehands” to his teammates) with time running out.
“We practice the two-minute drill every day,” Blackledge said after the game. “The main thing was just freezing out the crowd and the noise. Everything was clear in my mind. There was more than a minute left, we had 65 yards to go. All I kept thinking about was Philippians 4:13: ‘I can do all things through the Lord.’ It helped clear my mind and take the pressure off.”
A week later, the Nittany Lions’ title hopes were slim after falling to Alabama, 42-21.
On October 23, PSU traveled to West Virginia to face Hostetler and his Mountaineers.
Once again, Blackledge bested his former teammate, 24-0.
Todd Blackledge: A National Champion #WeAre | @Todd_Blackledge pic.twitter.com/sUf3z8yp71
— Talkin’ Penn State Football (@TalkinPSU) July 19, 2024
The Nittany Lions ended the regular season with victories against Notre Dame and Marino’s Pitt Panthers to get the nod and play the University of Georgia for a national championship.
Although Warner faced off against Bulldogs phenom Herschel Walker in the 1983 Sugar Bowl, it was the former running back who did more damage.
Warner scored twice compared to Walker’s one touchdown, and Blackledge found Gregg Garrity for a 47-yard bomb in the fourth to help PSU win, 27-23.
🎥 #ChampionshipMoments 1982
PENN STATE 27 | GEORGIA 23Todd Blackledge throws the game-winning touchdown for Penn State’s 1st National Title
Looks eerily similar to Tua’s game-winner over UGA in the same endzone pic.twitter.com/M4UCkufmZQ
— Pick Six Previews (@PickSixPreviews) January 9, 2023
Blackledge was named the game’s MVP based on his 228 yards and throw to Garrity and was added to the Sugar Bowl Hall of Fame in 2018.
PSU’s win gave the Nittany Lions the consensus national title.
The 1983 NFL Draft
Blackledge’s goal before his final year in college was to become a better all-around QB and improve on one particular, troubling statistic.
“I admit my reputation of not being a big-league quarterback bothered me,” said Blackledge in 1982. “But then I started to put it in the right perspective. My goal is to become a better quarterback than I was. One of the major things, obviously, is to improve my touchdown-interception ratio.”
Extra practice with Warner and company helped, and he tossed a career-best 22 touchdowns against 14 picks as a senior while also adding three touchdowns rushing.
During his final season, Blackledge had 2,218 passing yards and won the Davey O’Brien Award as the nation’s best college quarterback.
He was also named first-team All-East, a first-team Academic All-American and was sixth in Heisman Trophy voting.
As a collegian, Blackledge passed for 4,812 yards, 41 touchdowns and 41 interceptions and rushed for 99 yards and 10 more touchdowns.
The 1983 #NFLDraft Top 10 Picks
1) #Colts John Elway
2) #Rams Eric Dickerson
3) #Seahawks Curt Warner
4) #Broncos Chris Hinton
5) #Chargers Billy R. Smith
6) #Bears Jim Covert
7) #Chiefs Todd Blackledge
8) #Eagles Michael Haddix
9) #Oilers Bruce Matthews
10) #Giants Terry Kinard pic.twitter.com/ync1RT9Lba— 𝓟𝓐𝓣 🗽 (@Darts2Leek) April 4, 2025
That spring, NFL teams marveled at the quarterback-rich 1983 NFL Draft and the media constantly second-guessed who would be the first signal-caller picked.
It turned out to be Stanford’s John Elway, who went first to the Baltimore Colts before getting traded to the Denver Broncos a month later.
This is the first time the Chiefs picked a QB in the first round since they took Todd Blackledge over Dan Marino & Jim Kelly. pic.twitter.com/1wmXYX6qZZ
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) April 28, 2017
Then, with the seventh overall selection, the Kansas City Chiefs and new head coach John Mackovic took Blackledge.
University of Miami quarterback Jim Kelly and Illinois’ Tony Eason went 14th and 15th, respectively, before UC Davis’s Ken O’Brien went at number 24 and Marino to Miami at number 27.
Rocky Start
Coach Mackovic came to the Chiefs after two seasons as the quarterbacks coach with the Dallas Cowboys.
Before that, he had honed his coaching chops at the college level.
Kansas City would be his first head coaching experience at the NFL level and he wanted to make a statement by picking Blackledge.
Kinda Cool to see Former Chiefs QB Todd Blackledge back @ Arrowhead pic.twitter.com/U25S7PQWHV
— Gene |✌️|🫶🏻|✊| (@Gene_Chizzle) December 21, 2024
Just a few years prior, in 1979, the Chiefs took Clemson quarterback Steve Fuller in the first round, then let him walk to the LA Rams following four seasons of middling play.
Blackledge came aboard in 1983, and the only veteran QB he needed to beat out was Bill Kenney.
Kenney had been with KC since 1979 and had passed for over 1,000 yards the previous two years.
Instead of wilting under the pressure of a new, big-name signal-caller, the veteran doubled down.
While the Chiefs went 6-10, Kenney passed for 4,348 yards, 24 touchdowns and 18 interceptions, all career highs.
He was also selected for his only Pro Bowl.
Meanwhile, Blackledge played in four games and produced 259 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions.
Blackledge Gets Some Starts
In 1984, Kenney started the year on injured reserve due to a thumb injury.
That, in turn, landed Blackledge under center as the starter.
His first game as the field general for the Chiefs was a Week 1 date at the Pittsburgh Steelers.
As it happened, Ron Blackledge was on the Steelers’ side of the field as the offensive line and tight ends coach.
“I know no matter who my father’s coaching, he’s on my side. He loves me more than any football team or football game,” said Todd in a Sports Illustrated article that week.
Pittsburgh might have been the more storied franchise that day and still boasted an intimidating defense, but Blackledge didn’t seem to mind.
September 2, 1984#Chiefs #Steelers @Todd_Blackledge makes the first start of his career.@malonesmic and David Woodley combine for 465 yards passing.
Stallworth (8-167-1) and Louis Lipps (6-183-2) both have career highs for yards in a game career highs in yards for both… pic.twitter.com/w7dLhUjuRz— Old Time Football 🏈 (@Ol_TimeFootball) September 2, 2023
He completed 19 of his 36 passes for 170 yards and a touchdown on the way to a 37-27 victory.
“I wasn’t nervous. We—the Chiefs—need to taste winning,” he said. “I was blessed with peace this week—me, a second-year quarterback getting his first start because of an injury [Bill Kenney’s fractured right thumb], coming to meet the Steelers. But I wasn’t nervous. I felt…supernatural.”
Blackledge started eight games that year and went 4-4 while throwing for 1,707 yards (career-best), six touchdowns and 11 picks.
When Kenney’s thumb healed, he returned to the starting job.
In 1985, Blackledge went 3-3 as the starter and had 1,190 yards, six scores and a career-worst 14 interceptions.
Moving On
The 1986 season was a highlight for the John Mackovic era in KC.
Blackledge started half the season again (going 5-3) and had 1,200 yards, 10 touchdowns and six interceptions.
Happy Birthday @Todd_Blackledge#Chiefs pic.twitter.com/1ayskzn6qJ
— Old Time Football 🏈 (@Ol_TimeFootball) February 25, 2024
Kansas City won 10 games and qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 1971.
Both Blackledge and Kenney saw action during the wild-card round, but the New York Jets breezed past the Chiefs, 35-15.
Mackovic was fired after the season, and Frank Gansz was hired.
Just like the previous four seasons, Blackledge was the backup to Kenney, playing in an offense that wasn’t suited for him.
“Todd got into the dinking and dunking in the pros with Mackovic,” high school teammate Hertler said in 2024. “I don’t think that was a good spot for him. They were doing a lot of short option routes, as opposed to deeper routes. Todd wasn’t a dinker and dunker. He had the arm, the toughness and the intelligence to do well in another offense.”
Blackledge played in just three games in ‘87, starting two, and passed for 154 yards, one touchdown and one pick.
Todd Blackledge's name just popped into my head. pic.twitter.com/pWDcS5o8PU
— Revolution: The Pittsburgh Steelers 1969-1974 (@1947Steelers) June 7, 2022
Following the season, he requested a trade, and it was granted.
The former first-round pick was headed back to his college roots in Pennsylvania and to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Blackledge Calls It Quits
During his five years in Kansas City, Blackledge started only 24 games, had a 13-11 record as the starter and passed for 4,510 yards, 26 touchdowns and 32 interceptions.
Meanwhile, in Pittsburgh, the Steelers were trying to find a quarterback identity after four-time Super Bowl winner Terry Bradshaw retired after the 1983 season.
The Steelers went to the AFC Championship game in 1984 with Mark Malone and David Woodley taking turns under center.
Pittsburgh then proceeded to miss the playoffs the next three years before Blackledge arrived in 1988 (his father was still on the Steelers’ staff as O-line coach).
That season, he sat behind Bubby Brister but got three starts (1-2 record), 494 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions.
10/16/88 Hou@Pit – Mid 2nd qtr. Hou lead 18-0
Todd Blackledge to Charles Lockett for a 9 yd touchdown to get the Steelers back in it. pic.twitter.com/Sx93GlqOkR
— Steel City Star (@steelcitystar) October 13, 2018
After a 5-11 season in ‘88, the Steelers went 9-7 in 1989 and beat the Houston Oilers in the wild card round before losing to Denver by one point in the divisional round.
Once again, Blackledge backed up Brister and went 1-1 in two starts for 282 passing yards, one touchdown and three interceptions.
🏈 Backup Steelers QB beats 10-point favorite Browns in Cleveland
Before today, the last time the Browns were 10-point favorites against the Steelers was in 1989 when the Browns had a better team.
Backup QB Todd Blackledge & the Steelers won by 10 pointspic.twitter.com/fUSm21u2Kh
— Steel City Star (@steelcitystar) January 3, 2021
When the ‘89 season concluded, so did Blackledge’s career and he called it quits.
During his seven-year run in the NFL, Blackledge played in 46 games, started 29 (15-14 overall record) and passed for 5,286 yards, 29 touchdowns and 38 interceptions for an overall QB Rating of 60.2.
Additionally, he rushed for 325 yards and two scores.
Coach and Broadcaster
Not long after leaving the NFL, Blackledge found himself on the radio as a sports talk host.
He then made his way into the broadcast booth and worked on regional broadcasts before reaching ABC, then CBS Sports.
Awesome Taste of the Town at @Yo_Muchacho this weekend in Lincoln, NE! Thanks to Nick and his whole crew! #ESPNCFB #ESPNPR#tasteofthetown pic.twitter.com/plFQ8xcLmg
— Todd Blackledge (@Todd_Blackledge) October 10, 2021
By 2006, Blackledge was working for ESPN and continued in that role while serving as the head basketball coach at his prep alma mater, Hoover High School, from 2014-2018.
In 2023, he was hired by NBC Sports to work that network’s NFL games.
“When you hear Todd’s voice, you know it’s a big college football game. It has been that way for decades,” wrote NBC in a press release.
Never staying still for long, in 2024, Blackledge was also a volunteer football coach at Charlotte Christian School, where former NFL tight end Greg Olsen is the head coach.
References
https://www.daveyobrienaward.com
https://academicallamerica.com
https://www.pro-football-reference.com
https://www.sports-reference.com
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