According to his wife of 38 years, Patti Davis, Blades was deeply committed to helping every athlete. She shared:
“He didn’t care what color your skin was. He didn’t care what color your jersey was. Just anybody who had a problem, he was there.”
Blades' values were rooted in family, faith, and education. His nickname "Blades" came about after he cut up the practice jersey of a football player with scissors, thinking the young man had broken his ribs. The incident became a light-hearted joke among the students.
"‘Hey, don’t let ‘Blades’ get a hold of you,’ so that’s how he got the nickname Blades," Davis recalled."
However, in March 2022, Blades' illustrious career came to a halt when he was diagnosed with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) - a rare neurological disorder affecting movement, vision, speech, balance, and cognition.
Despite the challenges, Blades' resilience and dedication to his work were undeterred. Even with his health declining, he continued to make an impact.
On one occasion, a former athlete, whom he had helped more than three decades ago, recognized him and expressed her deep gratitude:
“Rick and I were visiting the doctor that day and came in contact with her, and she remembered 30-something years ago of Rick taking care of her at a track meet. She spent time out of her time that day to stop and tell him how much she appreciated that.”
Blades was so dedicated to the games that he made his wife promise not to plan any commemorative event for him on Thursdays or Fridays, as those were game days.
In his final moments, he remained concerned about the well-being of his student-athletes. Patti Davis, comforting her husband, mentioned to him that all the kids were taken care of.
That reassurance marked his last breath, embodying his life's devotion to athletes for half a century.
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