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Emerging Eagles Star Honored By High School

Originally posted on Philadelphia Eagles on SI
By John McMullen | Last updated May 10, 2025 9:29 AM ET

Reed Blankenship's journey has been impressive enough when you consider that three years ago he entered the NFL as an unheralded, virtually unknown, undrafted prospect out of Middle Tennessee State.

The fourth-year pro is now the on-field leader in the secondary for the Super Bowl LIX champion Philadelphia Eagles and their No. 1-ranked defense.

However, Blankenship's journey reaches back even farther than MTSU to West Limestone High School in Blankenship's hometown of Lester, Alabama.

The emerging NFL star was honored on Friday by West Limestone, having the No. 12 he wore at the school retired.

"I'm sitting here thinking I've been in the Super Bowl twice and won one, lost one. Got to go to the White House and I come back and this is one of the best accomplishments I've ever had," Blankenship told WAAY TV. "I was just flooded with emotions when I got up there because my parents, my family had so much to do with this journey that started here at West.

"It's all about the time they put it. They traveled all over the state, anywhere, just to get somebody to watch me to get my college career started and we came a long way so here we are."

Philadelphia Eagles' safety Reed Blankenship on having his jersey retired at West Limestone High School:

"This is one of the best accomplishments I've ever had." pic.twitter.com/7tVhhPz3Xz
— Max Cohan (@MaxCohan) May 10, 2025

Blankenship, 26, developed into a starter for the Eagles by Year 2 of his career in 2023 and is expected to be rewarded with a contract extension in the coming weeks.

Blankenship started 15 games in the 2024-25 regular season, tallying a career-high four interceptions for the top-ranked passing defense in the NFL. In four postseason games en route to the Lombardi Trophy, Blankenship had 27 tackles, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery while playing 99% of the defensive snaps.

“Leaving a legacy is something that I’ve always wanted to do," Blankenship told reporters. "I want to be that role model. Just to walk in and see a jersey and be like, ‘Oh there’s somebody that went to this school, that played here and went on to do great things. It’s that one little ounce of encouragement to get one little kid and it’s always a cliche things but you have a dream chase it, but that’s the most important thing.”

Earlier in the week, Blankenship announced a new podcast titled "Exciting Mics" with his teammate Cooper DeJean.

This article first appeared on Philadelphia Eagles on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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