Mel Blount is a Hall of Fame defensive back whose career earned a strong career value score of 79 in the Knox value model. Blount's enshrinement reflects a career that consistently placed him among the elite of his generation.
M
Mel Blount
All-Time Rank & Honors
career ranks, postseason ranks, awards, title contextRegular-season all-time ranks
Postseason all-time ranks
4
Title Seasons
8
Dynasty Seasons
Yes
Hall of Fame
Season honors and record seasons
An all-time caliber defensive back (top 5% all-time) who combined elite production with exceptional availability — almost never missed time. Iron Legends define eras — they show up, every game, for years on end.
Career Value · VORP
VORP 260 · #207 · EliteWorth 260 points of value above a freely-available replacement cornerback — top 5% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 13 of 14 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +20 on average.See board →
Seasons above replacement
13 cleared
Beat replacement (adds to VORP) Below it — adds 0, never a debit
49
Replacement
the KC-H bar
→
13
Seasons over
cleared the bar
×
+20
Avg surplus
peak +50
13 seasons × ~20 surplus ≈ VORP 260
Combined Season Grid
The full season-by-season grids, joined on one timeline. Every selected stat family stays visible at once—no tab hopping.
1 grid split in one view
| Season | Age | Team | G | GS | Defense | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tkl | Solo | Ast | TFL | QBHits | Sk | Dis | Int | PD | FF | FR | TD | Sfty | |||||
| 1970 | — | PIT | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 4 | — | — | 1 | — | — |
| 1971 | — | PIT | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 8 | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 1972 | — | PIT | 13 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 25 | — | — | 2 | — | — |
| 1973 | — | PIT | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 21 | — | — | 2 | — | — |
| 1974 | — | PIT | 13 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 37 | — | — | 3 | — | — |
| 1975 | — | PIT | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 11 | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 1976 | — | PIT | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 13 | — | — | 1 | — | — |
| 1977 | — | PIT | 13 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 11 | — | — | 1 | — | — |
| 1978 | — | PIT | 15 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 14 | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 1979 | — | PIT | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — | — | 1 | — | — |
| 1980 | — | PIT | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 7 | — | — | 1 | — | — |
| 1981 | — | PIT | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 18 | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 1982 | — | PIT | 9 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 1983 | — | PIT | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 8 | — | — | 1 | — | — |
| Career | — | 189 | — | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | 0.0 | 178 | 0 | 0 | 13 | — | — | |
Defense
| Season | Age | Team | G | GS | Tkl | Solo | Ast | TFL | QBHits | Sk | Dis | Int | PD | FF | FR | TD | Sfty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 22 | PIT | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 4 | — | — | 1 | — | — |
| 1971 | 23 | PIT | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 8 | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 1972 | 24 | PIT | 13 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 25 | — | — | 2 | — | — |
| 1973 | 25 | PIT | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 21 | — | — | 2 | — | — |
| 1974 | 26 | PIT | 13 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 37 | — | — | 3 | — | — |
| 1975 | 27 | PIT | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 11 | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 1976 | 28 | PIT | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 13 | — | — | 1 | — | — |
| 1977 | 29 | PIT | 13 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 11 | — | — | 1 | — | — |
| 1978 | 30 | PIT | 15 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 14 | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 1979 | 31 | PIT | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — | — | 1 | — | — |
| 1980 | 32 | PIT | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 7 | — | — | 1 | — | — |
| 1981 | 33 | PIT | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 18 | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 1982 | 34 | PIT | 9 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 1983 | 35 | PIT | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 8 | — | — | 1 | — | — |
| Career | 189 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | 178 | 0 | 0 | 13 | — | — |
KV-H Anatomy
KV-H 79 · GreatA great career by KV-H: a peak-driven profile that scores 79 of 100, era-normalized against int/g peers across 14 scored seasons.
68
Sustained
career value
×.6
90
Peak
best 3 seasons
×.4
×1
Longevity
career length
Blend 76.8 × longevity 1 = KV-H 79· confidence 100%
What builds the career mark of 68
On-field 49.1
Availability 18.9
On-field production Staying available
Season-by-season quality (era-relative int/g)
1970bestavg 67elite 701983
All-Time Standing
how this career measures against the all-time greats at the position76
Strong
of 100
Reached 81% of the all-time Interceptions leader — a strong all-time profile at the position.
81% of the all-time Interceptions leader81
1 category ≥25% of the all-time leader33
A 0–100 scale where 100 = matched the all-time leaderat this position. Built only from visible encyclopedia data — career production vs. the all-time leader, plus efficiency (EPA) and comparable-player confidence — so it's a transparent context score, not a subjective rating. Tiers: Elite ≥ 85 · Strong ≥ 65 · Solid ≥ 45 · Depth < 45. Comparable-player confidence: 95%.
Career Aging Trajectory
vs. position group average · KV-H basisAmber = this player (normalized to own peak). Indigo = average defensive backs aging curve. Group peak age: 21. Source: StatVault KV-H era (1999+).
Postseason Career
Defense
Int45FR2
College stats are not imported for this profile yet.
StatVault has the verified college attribution (Southern), but no parsed college box-score table is present in this profile artifact. The section stays here so every profile has a consistent college-stats landing point without fabricating unavailable rows.
Reference Graph
Career teammates and draft class, derived from year-by-year rosters — every name is linked.
Similar Players
Statistical + physical similarity across every player in the database, position-relevant (0–100%).
Movementderived from season history
- 1983final season
Last recorded season with PIT
- 1970signing
Entered the NFL with PIT
Knox
StatVault's proprietary player intelligence, informed by full career data. How Knox works →
Historical Knox · KV-H
Era-normalized career quality — z-scored against 14-season peers. See all →
79
peak 90
Season Report Cards· KV-H era-normalized per season
C+1970
C+1971
B+1972
B1973
A+1974
B1975
B1976
B1977
B+1978
C1979
B1980
A+1981
C+1982
B+1983
Era Translator
INT translated to the 2025NFL — each season's standing among its own-era peers, projected onto 2025's scoring environment. Modern-era (1999+) coverage.
| Season | Actual INT | INT/G | → 2025 INT | → 2025 /G |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 4 | 0.4 | 1-3 | 0 |
| 1971 | 8 | 0.8 | 1-7 | 0.1 |
| 1972 | 25 | 1.9 | 3-22 | 0.2 |
| 1973 | 20.5 | 1.5 | 2-18.5 | 0.1 |
| 1974 | 37 | 2.8 | 6-31 | 0.3 |
| 1975 | 11 | 0.8 | 2-9 | 0.1 |
| 1976 | 12.5 | 0.9 | 2-10.5 | 0.1 |
| 1977 | 10.8 | 0.8 | 2-8.8 | 0.1 |
| 1978 | 13.8 | 0.9 | 3-10.8 | 0.2 |
| 1979 | 0.3 | 0 | 0-0.3 | 0 |
| 1980 | 7 | 0.4 | 2-5 | 0.1 |
| 1981 | 17.7 | 1.1 | 7-10.7 | 0.4 |
| 1982 | 2 | 0.2 | 0-2 | 0 |
| 1983 | 8 | 0.5 | 3-5 | 0.2 |
Data: wikipedia:season-stats (CC-BY-SA, facts-only), wikipedia:pfhof-inductee-list · multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle · updated 7/10/2026
Career Value · VORP
260 career value over replacement — #207 all-time of 4,642. 18.6/season above a replacement-level CB.
Fan Rating
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