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Former WSU QB Ed Blount aims to score with football-music fusion by Jamey Vinnick& modified by Ed BlountAug 20, 2019ED BLOUNT, The quarterback who in 1986 guided Washington State to its first victory over USC in 29 years, today has his sights set on a bigger target: launching a professional 5-on-5 tag football league where speed, agility -- and a music festival backdrop -- come together in a high-octane fusion of energy.

Blount is calling the league FAST, which stands for Football Action Skills Tour. He’s in the process of raising seed capital and preparing to pitch celebrities who live in 24 football-happy cities across the country to be owners.

FAST, Blount says, parks at the intersection of two industries with insatiable fans (football and music) and believes blending them in a made-for-TV festival atmosphere will score big with the prime-time marketing demographic of 21- to 44-year-olds. 

“I’m essentially looking to transform the game into a professional action sport,” Blount told Cougfan.com this spring while in Pullman for the CougsFirst! Quarterback Classic.

“Kind of like what X Games did with skateboard and dirt bike riding, I see the same thing with the future of football given the issues with concussions and helmet-to-helmet collisions,” said Blount, who is based in Los Angeles. “There are more kids now playing flag football than tackle, but there’s no game that looks like that at the top level so I’m looking to create that.”

Blount envisions multiple games (each running less than an hour) being played per venue and interspersed with musical acts. “I just had to be creative and unique in how I presented it, so I dropped it inside of a music festival -- so it’s a football-themed music festival,” he said.

And he thinks his timing is perfect given the rise of 7 on 7 leagues over recent years. “7-on-7 is what AAU was 50 years ago.”
Blount has been building toward FAST since the early 1990s when he launched a 5 on 5 flag football league in Southern California. "I took the violence out of the game and made it all-around speed and agility and skills. I went from eight teams in 1993 and within the next three years had over 500 teams playing because I kept passing this flyer around," he said.

BLOUNT CAME TO WSU FROM Pasadena's Blair High in 1982 and bided his time behind Ricky Turner and Mark Rypien -- and fought through a nasty shoulder injury -- before finally getting the starting nod as a fifth-year senior in '86. The Cougars' 34-14 win in Pullman over No. 9 USC that season was WSU's first against Troy since 1957. Mal Florence of the Los Angeles Times called Blount "tormenting" and said he "dazzled the Trojans with clever execution and play-action passes."

Blount landed a tryout with the San Francisco 49ers. "I showed up and nobody knew who I was, think I was like number eight on the depth chart at the time and worked my way up to number three. During the strike, they brought me back in. I remember having a conversation with Mike Holmgren and him telling me you can play in this league, we just got Steve Young and Joe Montana (in front of you). Now it’s pretty special to look back on it, but it’s funny when you’re in the moment you feel like you should be there. But looking back, it’s pretty special when you think of how many people make it and to be part of that group.”