Patience pays off for Reed Blankenship: Hometown hero to Super Bowl contender contributor
PHOENIX — If the Philadelphia Eagles win Super Bowl LVII, it will be the first time undrafted rookie free agent safety Reed Blankenship shares a stage with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Blankenship — who went undrafted in 2022 — isn’t letting all of the lights intimidate him.
One year after going undrafted, Blankenship is in a spot he couldn’t believe.
“(Playing in the Super Bowl) means a lot and, coming from a small town, this has always been my dream,” Blankenship said.
Attending high school in Lester, Alabama, a town with a population of 112 as of 2021, Blankenship carved his path as a multi-faceted athlete who played quarterback, receiver, running back and defensive back, as well as basketball and baseball, in high school. There will be more people on the sideline at the Super Bowl than in Blankenship’s high-school town.
West Limestone High School, Blankenship’s school, had a football stadium capacity of 3,800. The Super Bowl is expected to have 72,200 fans in attendance.
Blankenship wasn’t a lock to make the Eagles’ 53-man roster out of training camp. While the Eagles weren’t loaded at safety, veterans Marcus Epps and Anthony Harris were on the roster and the team had just traded for C.J. Gardner-Johnson from the New Orleans Saints, who the team moved to safety from nickel.
Despite the number crunch, Blankenship impressed with his ball-hawking and tackling abilities in training camp and beat out Harris, a 2021 starter for the Eagles, for the team’s last safety spot.
But that wasn’t the first time Blankenship had to defy the odds.
Despite his state Player of the Year status, 247 Sports had Blankenship listed as just a three-star athlete, going on to play for Middle Tennesee State.
The safety had an under-the-radar collegiate career, posting 265 solo tackles, 26.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, nine interceptions and 19 pass deflections across five seasons. Blankenship, who had the eighth-most solo tackles in college football his senior season, quickly signed with Philly’s training camp squad after going undrafted.
“I really had a good feeling about Reed when he got here because of the football character he has,” Gannon said. “He’s committed to getting better every day.”
But for an undrafted player whose primary contributions came on special teams, Blankenship didn’t get playing time right away. He kept his head down and listened to the advice his veteran teammates gave him, winning over the coaching staff in the process.
“He listens to the coaching, he takes the coaching, he doesn’t make repeat mistakes,” Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon said. “And he has a skillset that you need to play safety in the modern NFL. He can cover, he can tackle, he can play in space, he can play down in the box and he’s a very fast processor. He’s smart.”
Blankenship said his teammates were crucial for helping him grow his confidence week by week.
“(My teammates told me to) make sure you mark your own box,” Blankenship said. “Don’t try to do more than is expected. Don’t chase plays, plays will come to you. Always be calm and confident. Once you do your job and everybody else does their job … we’re a dominant team when that happens.”
Then, in Week 12, Gardner-Johnson went down with an injury. “CJGJ” finished the year tied for league-lead in interceptions and was a primary cog on the Eagles' defensive engine. For most contenders, losing a key piece of the defense and leaving the job in the hands of an undrafted rookie would be back-breaking. But Blankenship answered the call.
In his first meaningful playing time against the Green Bay Packers, Blankenship picked off Aaron Rodgers, becoming the first undrafted rookie to pick off Rodgers. After that showing, Blakenship only dipped below a 70% snap count one time for the rest of the regular season: a Week 14 48-22 blowout over the New York Giants.
Even when Gardner-Johnson returned, another secondary member in Avonte Maddox went down. In the Eagles’ first playoff game against the Giants, the Eagles put Gardner-Johnson in the nickel — Maddox’s natural position — and Blankenship played 92% of defensive snaps.
As the Eagles got healthier for the NFC Championship game, Blankenship’s defensive playing time fell. However, Blankenship is staying ready and, according to him, there’s no better stage to make waves than the Super Bowl.
“No matter what, I need to be ready whenever my name is called,” Blankenship said.
This story was published as part of my Super Bowl LVII experience in Phoenix. Back to the basketball content soon!