Professional career
Blanchard was selected by the New York Giants in 12th round of the 1971 NFL draft. [5] He said, "I was shocked that I was drafted at all." And that his dream was playing quarterback in the NFL. [6] Blanchard was the primary punter right away, showing decent hangtime and consistent kicking. His average of 40.6 yards per punt was already on par with most NFL punters at the time. [5] He also was the holder for the Giants on field goals. He had just 2 blocked punts during his tenure with the team, and a longest punt of 62 yards in 1973, he developed a good reputation with the team. In his 3 years with the Giants, he averaged 41.7 yards per punt, and punted 169 times. [5] He was beaten out for the punting position during the 1974 preseason by rookie Dave Jennings and waived by the team. [7] [8]
After being released by the Giants, Blanchard was signed by the Saints one game into the 1974 season after the Saints waived their opening day punter Donnie Gibbs after he fumbled a snap leading to the Saints to lose their first game of the season. [9] He established himself as one of the more dependable punters in the league, topping the list for the most punts by a Saints punter all-time. [10] Blanchard was apart of the 1974 NFC All Pro 2nd team. [11] Over his four seasons with New Orleans, he posted some of the best numbers of his career. [5] He kicked a 71 yard punt in 1974, which was the longest of any punter that season. [5] In 1975 he led the NFL with 3776 punting yards and in 1976 he led the NFL with 101 punts. In 1977 he threw a 3 yard, touchdown pass to Elois Grooms, a defensive end, on a fake field goal. In his 5 years with the Saints, he averaged 41.4 yards per punt, punted 447 times, and threw a passing touchdown. [5]
He was traded by the Saints to the Buccaneers for a draft pick before the 1979 season after the Saints drafted placekicker Russell Erxleben, who was also able to punt, in the first round of the 1979 NFL draft. [12] Blanchard said, "I was kind of nervous," going into the first game of the season which was against the Saints. [13] Tampa Bay, an expansion team in 1974 who had struggled in recent years, had put together an impression 1979 season, making the playoffs. He averaged 39.5 yards per punt, and a season long of 64 yards in the season, punting 92 times. [5] The 1980 season would be Blanchard's last full season, the team struggled down to a 5-10-1 record, he punted 87 times and averaged 39.3 yards per punt, with a 58 yarder his longest. [5] The 1981 season turned out to be his final in the NFL, he entered this year strong, opening the season with a career personal best 47 yards per punt in Week 1 against the Minnesota Vikings. [14] But in Week 2 against the Kansas City Chiefs, a bad snap on 4th down resulted in Blanchard having to attempt a scramble with the ball, multiple defenders wrapped him up in the tackle. [15] This play appeared to leave him shaken, and he fumbled later in the 4th quarter. [16] It is not official he was injured in Week 2, as he continued to play in Week 3, but that would be his last, in his final game he punted 5 times for just 181 yards, 36.2 average. [17] Blanchard was officially ruled with a strained hamstring on the injury report, and soon after while recovering, was waived by the Bucs on October 20th, 1981, with Larry Swider taking his job in the interim. [18]
Tom Blanchard would go down as a punter who didn't have much publicity but was very strong at his position. [19] Throughout his career, Blanchard had 148 games played, 819 punts, 33,794 yards, 41.3 yards per punt, 12 blocks, 108 touchbacks and a long punt of 71. [5]
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. [20] Tommy's son Jace also played quarterback at Grants Pass High School. [20] After retiring as a player, spent time as the football coach, softball coach and athletic director at Grants Pass High School. [21] [22] He retired from these positions in 2013. [22]
