Blaise Winter

In this episode, Blaise Winter joins the show.

Blaise Winter (born January 31, 1962) is a motivational speaker as well as a former American football player and coach. Winter played defensive end for the Indianapolis Colts, San Diego Chargers and Green Bay Packers in the National Football League, and coached for the University of Central Florida.

After playing football, basketball and track at Tappan Zee High School,[1] Winter took a tour of colleges in the Northeast United States after his senior year of high school, looking for an opportunity to play college football. Syracuse was the only school to offer Winter a scholarship, and that was only after a previous commit decommitted.[2] Winter was named a team captain and most valuable player during his senior season with the Orange.[2]

Winter was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the second round (35th overall) of the 1984 NFL Draft.[2] He started all but one game during his rookie season, and was named to some all-rookie teams.[3] A shoulder injury landed him on injured reserve during his sophomore season; the Colts released him at the end of the year.[4]

Winter played with the San Diego Chargers during the 1987 season, which was shortened by a players strike.[2]

Winter was traded to the Green Bay Packers in early 1988 in exchange for past considerations.[5] He started most of the 1988 and 1989 seasons, but played in a limited role in 1990 and was cut by the Packers early in the 1991 calendar year.[5]

Following his release from the team, Winter made telephone calls to every NFL team and also made a highlight reel which was shipped to every team. He started driving to team facilities in an effort to get signed, but did not draw any interest until the offseason, when the San Francisco 49ers, Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams showed interest, and Winter participated in workouts for the Vikings and 49ers.[2][6]

Winter was signed by the San Diego Chargers in the time period preceding the 1992 NFL Draft. He originally sat third-string on the depth chart, but later s