Dré Bly

Dré Bly

Dré Bly with the Denver Broncos in 2007.
No. 32, 31
Position:	Cornerback
Personal information
Date of birth:	(1977-05-22) May 22, 1977
Place of birth:	Chesapeake, Virginia
Height:
Weight:
Career information
High school:	Chesapeake (VA) Western Branch
College:	North Carolina
NFL draft:	1999 / Round: 2 / Pick: 41
Career history
St. Louis Rams (1999–2002) Detroit Lions (2003–2006) Denver Broncos (2007–2008) San Francisco 49ers (2009) Detroit Lions (2010)*
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
2× Pro Bowl (2003, 2004) All-Pro (2003) Super Bowl champion (XXXIV) 2× NFC champion (1999, 2001) NFL Fumble Return Yards Leader (2003) St. Louis Rams 10th Anniversary Team Consensus All-American (1996, 1997) College Football Hall of Fame (2014)
Career NFL statistics
Tackles: 419 Sacks: 5.0 Interceptions: 43 Player stats at NFL.com
Player stats at PFR
College Football Hall of Fame

Donald André "Dré" Bly (born May 22, 1977) is a retired American college and professional football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) for eleven seasons. He played college football for the University of North Carolina (UNC), and earned All-American honors twice. Bly was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the second round of the 1999 NFL Draft, and spent four seasons with the Rams, earning a Super Bowl ring with them from Super Bowl XXXIV. He was selected to two Pro Bowls during his four-year tenure with the Detroit Lions, and also played for the Denver Broncos and San Francisco 49ers.

Early years

Bly was born in Portsmouth, Virginia. He graduated from Western Branch High School in Chesapeake, where he was an all-state high school football player as well as a decorated baseball player for Western Branch Bruins.

College career

Bly attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he played for the North Carolina Tar Heels football team. In his redshirt freshman season at UNC, he led the nation with 11 interceptions. He received all-American honors, and is only one of five players in NCAA history to achieve this honor as a freshman (Tony Dorsett, Herschel Walker, Bjorn Merten, and Marshall Faulk being the others). Bly was the only football player in UNC and Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) history to receive consensus first-team All-America honors twice in his college career. In his sophomore year, he was one of three finalists for the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Year Award. Bly set the ACC record for career interceptions (20), which was later broken by Alphonso Smith of Wake Forest (21). He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2014.

Professional career

Bly, at 186 pounds, ran a 4.51 second 40-yard dash, 4.09 second 20-yard shuttle, 7.10 3-cone drill, and had a vertical jump of 35½ inches at the 1999 NFL Combine.

Pre-draft

Pre-draft measurables

Ht	Wt	40-yd dash	10-yd split	20-yd split	20-ss	3-cone	Vert	Broad	BP	Wonderlic
5 ft 9⅞ in	186 lb	4.51 s	1.58 s	2.63 s	4.09 s	7.10 s	35½ in	9 ft 8 in	x reps	x
All values from NFL Combine

St. Louis Rams

The St. Louis Rams selected Bly in the second round of the 1999 NFL Draft. Bly started his career in St. Louis, playing there for four years. While with the Rams, Bly received a Super Bowl ring for Super Bowl XXXIV, and appeared two years later in Super Bowl XXXVI, when the Rams lost to the New England Patriots.

First stint with Lions

In 2003, Bly left the St. Louis Rams and signed as a free agent with the Detroit Lions. He made the Pro Bowl in two of his seasons with the team. Bly was the 2003 recipient of the Detroit Lions/Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association/Pro Football Writers Association's Media-Friendly "Good Guy" Award. The Good Guy Award is given yearly to the Detroit Lions player who shows consideration to, and cooperation with the media at all times during the course of the season.

On November 29, 2005, the day after Lions head coach Steve Mariucci was fired, Bly told the NFL Network that if their back-up quarterback, Jeff Garcia, had been healthy the entire season, the Lions would be in a better situation, and Mariucci would still be coaching the team. He has since apologized, albeit not to Joey Harrington, the Lions starting quarterback that season.

Denver Broncos

On March 1, 2007, Bly was traded by the Detroit Lions to the Denver Broncos for running back Tatum Bell, offensive tackle George Foster, and a 5th round draft pick. On March 28, 2007, the Denver Broncos and Bly agreed to a 5-year, $33 million contract. The contract included $18 million in bonus money and $16 million guaranteed.

Bly finished the 2007 season as the Broncos leader in interceptions with five.

The Broncos restructured Bly's contract on February 18, 2008 to free up salary cap space and keep Bly on the team. As of December 1, 2008, Dre Bly had a total of 98 Tackles and 7 Interceptions with the Broncos.

The Broncos released Bly on February 17, 2009.

San Francisco 49ers

On May 21, 2009, Bly signed a one-year, $845,000 contract with the San Francisco 49ers.

Second stint with Lions

On July 2, 2010, Bly re-signed with the Detroit Lions. Bly was released on September 4, 2010.

NFL stats

Year	Team	Games	Combined Tackles	Tackles	Assisted Tackles	Sacks	Forced Fumbles	Fumble Recoveries	Fumble Return Yards	Interceptions	Interception Return Yards	Yards per Interception Return	Longest Interception Return	Interceptions Returned for Touchdown	Passes Defended
1999	STL	16	19	16	3	0.0	0	0	0	3	53	18	53	1	8
2000	STL	16	43	39	4	1.0	0	0	0	3	44	15	22	0	10
2001	STL	16	29	27	2	0.0	1	1	0	6	150	25	93	2	9
2002	STL	16	59	54	5	1.0	4	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	20
2003	DET	14	55	47	8	1.0	5	2	0	6	89	15	48	1	15
2004	DET	13	38	32	6	0.0	0	0	0	4	107	27	55	1	19
2005	DET	12	42	38	4	0.0	3	1	0	6	54	9	28	0	15
2006	DET	16	57	49	8	0.0	4	1	0	3	13	4	8	0	18
2007	DEN	16	51	41	10	1.0	0	0	0	5	71	14	37	0	14
2008	DEN	16	62	54	8	0.0	1	0	0	2	5	3	5	0	8
2009	SF	16	29	26	3	1.0	2	2	2	3	66	22	31	0	13
Career		167	484	423	61	5.0	20	9	2	43	652	15	93	5	149

Personal life

Bly and his wife Kristyn, have four sons: Trey, Jordan, AJ and Emanuel and a daughter, Peyton. Bly also has an older sister Donna Bly, who is a high school teacher.

External links

• Denver Broncos bio
• Detroit Lions bio