Life Story: Bob Blakley
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- This Thanksgiving a Twin Cities family is mourning the loss of a man who brought fame to the family name.
He's remembered as a phenomenal athlete and a really nice guy.
Bob Blakley graduated from St. Paul's Central High School in 1955.
He was a three-sport standout who went on to play football for the Minnesota Gophers and the Denver Broncos.
But as I found out in this week's Life Story, Bob drew national attention for something else.
Floyd Smaller was Bob's longtime friend.
As teenagers in St. Paul they were rivals, competing in football and track and field.
"We kept things going, but we kept each other competitive and kept each other's juices flowing," Smaller said.
He says his ongoing competition with Bob made him a better athlete.
"I remember when he broke the discus record, he threw it 155 feet and people were saying that will never happen again, and I said, 'How could it not? He's going to be a little bigger next year I think,'" he said.
He was and he did set a new record.
But it was on the football field that Blakley really shined.
People still talk about the game in 1954 where Central High School beat Washburn High in a Twin Cities Championship game. Bob Blakley scored all of his team's points.
"He didn't have to beat his own drum, because everyone was beating it for him, you know."
1954 proved to be quite a year for Blakley, as he won another title.
He was voted Central High School's Homecoming King... something extremely rare for an African-American student at a predominantly white school, at the time.
The photos appeared in Jet Magazine.
"He was that type of athlete. He was always there for the school, there for his friends, he was just Bob Blakley... easygoing but tough as nails on the football field," Smaller said.
Blakley went on to play for the Canadian Football League and the American Football League.
In retirement, he spent time hanging out with Floyd, reminiscing about their youth.
"We talked about it off and on. He said, 'You're quicker, but I'm faster,' then I said, 'But you're uglier'," he laughed.
And then in a much more somber tone added, "We do miss him. He was a good guy."
Bob's son, Robert Blakley Jr., was also a football standout at Central High School who went on to play in the NFL.
Bob Blakley was 79 years old when he died on Oct. 30.
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