Brian Keith Blades is a former American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 wide receiver

Wide receiver

A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...

 in the National Football League

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

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Blades graduated from Piper High School

Piper High School (Florida)

Piper High School is a public high school located in Sunrise, Florida, one of the nation's fastest growing cities. The school is a part of the Broward County Public Schools district....

 in Sunrise, Florida

Sunrise, Florida

-Overview:Sunrise is a city in southwestern Broward County, Florida, United States. It was incorporated in 1961 by Norman Johnson – a developer whose World Famous Upside-Down House attracted buyers to what was then a remote area...

 in 1983.

He attended the University of Miami

University of Miami

The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...

. After graduating, he was chosen in the 2nd round of the 1988 NFL Draft

1988 NFL Draft

The 1988 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 April 24–25, 1988. The league also held a supplemental draft after the regular draft and...

 by the Seattle Seahawks

Seattle Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle, Washington. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team joined the NFL in 1976 as an expansion team...

. Blades spent his entire eleven year career with the Seahawks, playing for the team from 1988-1998. He signed a one-year contract with the Seahawks prior to the 1999 season, but was cut on June 5, 1999.

Manslaughter conviction and acquittal

Blades was charged with murder in the second degree for the death of his cousin, Charles Blades Jr. Blades initially plead "no contest" but later changed his plea to "not guilty" before the trial. Blades claimed the pistol accidentally discharged a round into his cousin while he struggled with him. During the trial, the prosecuting attorney and a gun expert staged a mock struggle with a blank filled gun where the gun accidentally discharged.

After a jury convicted Blades of manslaughter, the presiding Judge Susan Lebow overturned the verdict 72 hours later, citing the prosecution's failure to provide enough evidence for conviction. The case was appealed to the Fourth District Court of Appeal, where the court upheld his acquittal.

Personal

He is the older brother of former NFL cornerback

Cornerback

A cornerback is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in American and Canadian football. Cornerbacks cover receivers, to defend against pass offenses and make tackles. Other members of the defensive backfield include the safeties and occasionally linebackers. The cornerback position...

 Bennie Blades

Bennie Blades

Horatio Benedict "Bennie" Blades Sr. is a former American football cornerback and safety in the National Football League. He played college football at the University of Miami.-University of Miami:...

 and uncle of former University of Pittsburgh

University of Pittsburgh

The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...

 and current Washington Redskins

Washington Redskins

The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...

 linebacker

Linebacker

A linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...

 H. B. Blades

H. B. Blades

Horatio Benedict Blades, Jr. is an American football linebacker he is currently a free agent in the National Football League...

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