Justin Blalock

Infobox NFLactive
currentteam=Atlanta Falcons
currentnumber=63
currentpositionplain=Offensive guard
birthdate=birth date and age|1983|12|20
birthplace=Dallas, Texas
country=Texas
heightft=6
heightin=3
weight=320
debutyear=2007
debutteam=Atlanta Falcons
highlights=
* Big 12 Offensive Lineman of the Year (2006)
* Third Team All-American (2005)
college=Texas
draftyear=2007
draftround=2
draftpick=39
pastteams=
* Atlanta Falcons (2007-present)
nfl=BLA612525

Justin Christopher Blalock (born December 20, 1983 in Dallas, Texas) is an American football NFL player for the Atlanta Falcons. He played college ball as the right tackle for the Texas Longhorns under coach Mack Brown. He stands at 6'3.25" and weighs 320 lbs.

Personal

Blalock was born in Dallas, Texas, but resides in Plano, Texas, where he is active in community service projects. He is a cousin of New Orleans Saints offensive guard Jonathan Goodwin. An excellent student, Blalock was a member of UT's Athletics Director's Honor Roll in fall 2004. He was also one of five finalists for the 2002 Watkins Award, which is presented to the nation's top African-American high school scholar-athlete. Blalock graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in December 2006 with his degree in Youth and Community Studies and a minor in Business.

High school career

Blalock attended Plano East Senior High School, playing football for head coach Scott Phillips. He was three-year starter at offensive guard, but also saw action at defensive tackle during his career. As a sophomore in 1999, Blalock was named second-team All-District recording 151 pancakes, as he helped lead Plano East to an 11-3 record and the Texas 5A Division II state quarterfinals that season. The offensive lineman was named All-District and All-Area as a junior after registering 130 knockdowns. In 2001, Blalock posted 134 knockdown blocks, did not allow a sack and opened holes for an offense that averaged nearly 300 rushing yards per game. His top game of season was a 21-pancake performance vs. Plano Senior High School.

Blalock was selected to play in the 2002 U.S. Army All-American Bowl. He also earned first-team All-American honors from "USA Today" as a senior, and was also a first-team All-State Class 5A, All-Area and All-District selection. The "Sporting News" rated him as the nation's top offensive lineman prospect as well as the No. 15 high school prospect overall.

Blalock was also an outstanding track and field athlete in the shot put and discus throw, where he was selected All-State. He captured the Region II-5A shot put title with a toss of 58-8 1/2 in 2002 and finished fourth (55-2 1/2) at the 2002 UIL Championships (Class 5A). He also registered the third-best throw (63-2 1/2) in the state as a senior (all classes) and placed fifth in the shot (61-6) at the 1999 Texas 5A Championships.

College career

As a redshirt freshman in 2003, Blalock started all 13 games at right tackle and was named first-team Freshman All-America by the Football Writers Association of America and The Sporting News. He also started all 12 games his sophomore year at right tackle and was named first-team All-Big 12 by the Big 12 coaches and the Austin American-Statesman.

Blalock again manned the right tackle position in 2004. He was chosen first-team All-Big 12 Conference by the league's coaches and the Austin American-Statesman, adding second-team accolades from The Associated Press, Dallas Morning News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram and San Antonio Express-News. He led an offensive line that cleared the way for Texas to rank second in the nation in rushing (299.2 ypg), seventh in total offense (464.4 ypg) and 12th in scoring (35.3 ppg). Texas' 3,590 rushing yards that season was the third-highest total in school history.

As a junior in 2005, he again started all 13 games at right tackle and was named All-America by College Football News and a third-team All-America by The Associated Press. Also named first-team All-Big 12 by The Associated Press, Austin American-Statesman, Big 12 Coaches, Dallas Morning News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Kansas City Star. He was part of the NCAA National Championship Football team and contributed to the now legendary victory at The Rose Bowl in January 2006.

As a senior during 2006 Blalock was voted team captain and continued to lead the Texas Longhorns in exemplary leadership and athletic consistency. He was a consensus All-America All-America choice in 2006.

On 24 November 2006, Blalock became the first Longhorn in school history to start 50 consecutive games.cite news | url=http://www.mackbrown-texasfootball.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=&url_article_id=2643&change_well_id=2 | title=Texas A&M Game notes | publisher=MackBrownTexasFootball | date=24 November 2006 | accessdate=2006-11-25]

NFL career

He was one of seven Longhorns selected by professional football teams in the 2007 NFL Draft. The others were Michael Griffin (number 19 overall), Aaron Ross (number 20 overall), Tim Crowder (number 56 overall), Brian Robison (number 102 overall), Tarell Brown (number 147 overall), Kasey Studdard (number 183 overall).cite news |url=http://insider.espn.go.com/nfldraft/draft/tracker/school?id=2432&action=login&appRedirect=http%3A%2F%2Finsider.espn.go.com%2Fnfldraft%2Fdraft%2Ftracker%2Fschool%3Fid%3D2432 | title=NCAA Schools: TEXAS | publisher=ESPN | date=April 29 2007 | accessdate=2007-05-01] Lyle Sendlein and Selvin Young were not drafted but signed with NFL teams as free agents. [cite news | url=http://www.mackbrown-texasfootball.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=40&url_subchannel_id=&url_article_id=2797&change_well_id=2 | title=2007 NFL Draft | publisher=MackBrownTexasFootball | accessdate=2007-05-01]

References

[http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/2007/draft/players/2493.html Justin Blalock Bio-SI]

External links

* [http://www.mackbrown-texasfootball.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=15&change_well_id=17&member_id=6 Justin Blalock Longhorn Bio]