How Modesto’s DaRon Bland excelled in second Dallas Cowboys season on way to NFL Pro Bowl

Central Catholic High coach Roger Canepa knew DaRon Bland was different, and not just for his abilities on a football field. It also was the way he carried himself in daily life.

As a three-sport star who competed in football, basketball and track and field at the Modesto school, it would have been easy for Bland to be full of himself, to tell everyone how good he was. But he didn’t. No posting highlights and not much trash talk. In fact, Canepa said, he “never said much of anything.” He just worked hard.

“Nowadays, we’ve got all these kids that want to tell you how good they are, (but) they’re all show, no go,” Canepa said. “He was different. He was quiet, just took care of business. He wasn’t that guy. He didn’t tell anybody how good he was, he just showed them.”

Bland since has shown hundreds of thousands of people that his abilities translate to the game’s biggest stage as a member of the Dallas Cowboys.

In just his second NFL season, Bland finished as the single-season record holder with five pick-sixes, led the NFL in interceptions (9), interception return yards (209), was voted by his peers to the NFL Players Association’s Players vote All-Pro team, is a finalist for the NFL Defensive Player of the Year and was named Defensive Player of the Week and Defensive Player of the Month during the season.

“Did I think he’d break an NFL record? I don’t know about that,” Canepa said. “I always thought he’d made it, though.”

Bland also received his first Pro Bowl Games nod, where he will compete this weekend. The flag football game will be Sunday, Feb. 4, at noon Pacific time on ESPN, ABC, DISNEY XD, ESPN+, ESPN DEPORTES and NFL+.

Bland played receiver and defensive back and returned kicks and punts during his varsity career as a Raider. He was part of the greatest run in Stanislaus District football history, helping the program through four straight state championships. Bland made his mark in the 2015 state championship as a junior, Canepa recalls. He recorded two pick-sixes against San Marino to help the Raiders seal a 16-0 season with a 56-21 win.

“It was back-to-back pick-sixes, basically,” Canepa said.

He consistently showed his big-play ability with seven receiving touchdowns, three pick-sixes and a pair of special teams touchdowns as a junior and senior. In a matchup against Manteca during his senior season, Bland recorded a 70-yard receiving touchdown, a 104-yard pick-six and returned a kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown.

Bland spent three seasons at Sacramento State before finishing his college career at Fresno State. He recorded 137 tackles and five interceptions during his career.

Does his experience playing in all three areas of the game as a Raider help during his professional career? Canepa says yes.

“I think he’s said it. By playing that offensive position in high school and then Pop Warner, you kind of get a feel for the routes.” Canepa said.

Breaking the record

While Canepa has seen Bland flash his catching ability and fleet-footed return game since his sophomore year of high school, he will admit that even he was surprised watching Bland return an interception 63 yards on Thanksgiving against the Washington Commanders break the 30-year-old record.

Bland jumped an out-breaking route and caught the ball in a dead sprint, flashing his 4.48 up the sideline. He made a cut to shake Commanders quarterback Sam Howell, who slowed down Bland enough for a pair of Commanders players to catch up to the return. He made another cut at the 12-yard-line to shake free before coasting into the end zone.

“Every time the ball goes into the air, I go back to my offensive ways, trying to get the ball to see what I can do with the ball in my hands,” Bland said to reporters in the Cowboys locker room.

It was all narrated by the legendary Jim Nantz.

“There it is! This is history!” Nantz said. “If Bland can take it the distance, this will be the record! Bland for the fifth time has a pick-six. That’s never happened in the history of the NFL!”

And take it the distance he did.

“That was awesome,” Canepa said. “We were jumping up and down. That cut he made, I thought he was going to get tackled. I’d imagine all the Central people and his friends are the same as me when he gets a pick: ‘Go! Go!’ Then right there about the 10, I go ‘Aww, yeah!’ touchdown.”

Everyone wanted a piece of Bland after his record-breaking play. His teammates gathered around him right after the play, beating him on the helmet and on his shoulder pads in celebration. CBS interviewed him postgame and he ate the customary Thanksgiving Day turkey leg. Even the Pro Football Hall of Fame got in on the action as Bland sent in his cleats and gloves from the game.

The Dallas Cowboys made it a point to keep their decision to draft Bland quiet for as long as they could, knowing he could be the steal of the draft. Bland was selected in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL Draft as the 157th selection.

Canepa was at Bland’s draft party the day the draft prospect got the call from the Cowboys.

“He was walking around, it was like the fourth round, and then he was getting nervous,” Canepa recalled. “It was exciting, I gotta admit. There were probably 150 people, it was packed.”

Making the most of an opportunity

Canepa believes Bland’s head-down, work-hard mentality is why the fifth-round pick has had success in just his second professional season.

He made an impact his rookie year, leading the team in tackles in some games. He finished the season with five interceptions playing the nickel, substituting on when Dallas needed an extra defensive back on the field. This season, he moved to the outside after Trevon Diggs tore his ACL at practice Sept. 21 before the Cowboys’ Week 3 matchup against the Cardinals.

In addition to his league bests in interceptions, pick-sixes and interception return yards, Bland posted a regular season career high 69 total tackles (53 solo, 16 assists).

Bland is a self-described man of few words. He had to remind his Cowboys teammates of that in the locker room that record-breaking Thanksgiving day when he was presented with the game ball and pressured into giving a speech.

He is a role model for athletes hailing from the Central Valley. A product of a small school who did not attend a Power 5 college, he is a living example of the adage “If you can play, they’ll find you.” He is also an embodiment of what happens when you grab any opportunity you’re given and run with it.

“That’s it right there,” Canepa said. “In life and everywhere. “If you’re that guy, once you get a chance, if you take advantage of it, watch out.”

Quinton Hamilton

The Modesto Bee

Quinton Hamilton covers high school sports for The Modesto Bee. He is a Southern California native and received his bachelor’s degree from Pacific Union College and a master’s in journalism from Quinnipiac University in Connecticut. Quinton has worked at the Record-Journal in Meriden and helped on projects at Hearst Connecticut.