HIS (TV) TIME HAS COME

It took 47 years in the trenches, but Bob Blechen finally makes prime time Friday night.

As the only sexagenarian to play competitive football, Blechen will be featured on “Football America,” a two-hour documentary produced by NFL Films and narrated by James Coburn. The show will be aired Friday at 8 p.m., 10 p.m. and midnight on Turner Network Television.

“Football America” is a series of portraits of unusual or compelling stories about football. It illustrates the sacrifices people make to stay connected to the game, from a high school team in frigid Juneau, Alaska, to a team at a college for the deaf, to a female college assistant coach, to Blechen, the man teammates call “Father Football.”

“Bob Blechen is the most remarkable athlete I’ve ever met,” said Phil Tuckett, the documentary’s producer and a former NFL receiver. “I’ve never seen a pro lineman with better technique.”

Blechen, 6 feet 5, 290 pounds and 61 years old, won’t be able to watch the documentary. He is an assistant coach at Agoura High and the Chargers play Newbury Park at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.

“I’ve seen the tape,” he said. “The show is done very well. Several segments in there I find very motivating and very emotional.”

Blechen will watch the tape again Saturday, but won’t spend much time in the easy chair.

On Sunday, the offensive lineman will suit up for the Los Angeles Falcons, the most recent semi-pro team he has played on in a career that began in 1949 when he donned a helmet without a facemask for Covina High. Blechen has played in six decades.

After playing at Whittier College under Coach George Allen, Blechen was drafted in 1956 by the Detroit Lions, who that season made Heisman Trophy winner Howard (Hopalong) Cassady of Ohio State their first pick.

Blechen was cut by the Lions but played in the Canadian Football League before settling into the semi-pro circuit in 1960. Thirty years later he was inducted into the American Football Assn. Hall of Fame, which honors minor league and semi-pro players.

“If I didn’t play alongside the guy, I wouldn’t believe it,” said Tony Downs, a 28-year-old guard and Blechen’s teammate for five seasons. “The first time I saw him, I thought he was a coach.

“Then I saw him put on the pads, and I thought it was some kind of joke.

“Then I saw him play and it was, like, ‘Wow.’ ”

Blechen has played in more organized games than any player in history, according to Ron Real, president of the hall of fame.

“It’s unclear exactly how many games he’s played, but it’s safe to say no one is close,” Real said.

Last November Blechen became the first 60-year-old to play in an organized game. He began the season with the Ventura Cardinals, but after the team folded in October he joined the Falcons.

“Hey, I like to play,” said Blechen, father of five and grandfather of nine. “It’s a great game. I enjoy it.”

An NFL Films crew followed him to several games last year collecting footage for the documentary.

It was a season that didn’t really end. In January he played in a charity game at Verdugo Hills High, then in July he accompanied the American Eagles, a Christian missionary team, on a barnstorming tour of Amsterdam, Prague, Vienna and Munich.

“The Munich stadium is the best place I’ve played in years,” he said. “There were thousands of fans, it was well-adorned, there were cheerleaders and a band.”

All the elements of a good football game, the same game he teaches to players one-quarter his age at Agoura.

“The kids really respect the fact he still plays,” said Charlie Wegher, the Agoura coach. “He can demonstrate blocking techniques at practice. And he’s a real intellectual guy.

“That’s the way he approaches the game. It’s a wise-man’s approach.”