Derek Blacknall is a name you may not be familiar with. However, Derek Blacknall was a young man who made his mark on the world in his own way and left it there.
 |
Derek Blacknall reaches for ball as Gamecocks wide receiver Alshon Jeffery catches on September 3, 2011. Picture courtesy of Alamy. |
Blacknall played college football for ECU's Pirates from 2007 until 2010 (or 2011 - sources differ) under the guidance of coaches Skip Holtz (from 2007 to 2009) and Ruffin McNeill (in 2010). He was redshirted in '07 (SEE TEAM ROSTERS BY YEAR - 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010). Before then, he played safety and cornerback in high school where he earned 2006 Triad 3-A Conference Defensive Player-of-the-Year honors after netting 61 tackles, nine pass deflections, a pair of sacks and seven interceptions as a senior. He was ranked No. 56 on the ESPN Recruit Tracker among all national cornerbacks.
Blacknall (#26) helped his team pick up wins at both the 2008 and 2009 Conference USA Conference Football Championship Games. Despite scoring a touchdown during ECU's play against the Maryland Terrapins at the 2010 Military Bowl, Conference USA suspended Blacknall as a result of a flagrant personal foul he committed against a Southern Miss player which occurred at the 11:24 mark of the fourth quarter when a Southern Miss player was attempting to catch a pass and was hit helmet-to-helmet by Blacknall. The player reportedly left the game with symptoms of a concussion. A personal foul was ruled by the game officials and Blacknall was suspended for a game against NC State, Saturday, October 16, 2010. Similar to the tackle he gave Tulane's running back, Orleans Darkwa, on October 29 2011 - SEE HERE.
July 12, 2011 saw the release of the video game NCAA Football 12 created by EA Sports for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 which featured Blacknall. The video game series started in 1993 with its first release being Bill Walsh College Football. NCAA Football 98 (released 1997) was the first time the game was released under the name NCAA Football with NCAA Football 14 being the final installment in the series released under that title on July 9, 2013. The series went into hiatus in September 2013, following three major conferences pulling their trademark licenses from EA, and uncertainties surrounding the results of lawsuits involving the use of player likenesses in-game.
On October 29, 2019 the NCAA's board of governors voted unanimously to institute new rules allowing student athletes to profit from the use of their name, image, and likeness. The changes took effect no later than January 2021.
NCAA Football 12 featured Blacknall's name, image and likeness. However, Blacknall and other teammates at the time did not receive any compensation due to the institutes rules during that time - SEE HERE.
 |
Derek Blacknall in NCAA Football 12 |
As well, Blacknall was stabbed repeatedly at the age of 24 by his older brother following an argument and died in December of 2013. The older sibling was charged with first-degree murder and is currently being held in jail without bond. Derek was succeeded in death by a twin who was lost to gun violence in June 2020. Blacknall had left ECU in December 2012 but didn't graduate.
Sadly, Blacknall will never see any profit from the 2011 NCAA video game. No word yet on weather or not any of his relatives may be eligible to receive any payments on his behalf. On February 2, 2021, EA Sports announced that the series NCAA Football would return under the new name EA Sports College Football sometime in the near future.
That's the story of an ambitious and talented college athlete who was cut down in his prime and never saw his ultimate dream of becoming a professional football player come true.
Check Out The Audio version of this article on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/yjUqJCtiDmY
No comments:
Post a Comment