A native of Dallas, Texas, Blackmon attended the Georgia Institute of Technology and played college baseball for the Yellow Jackets.

Blackmon is a four-time MLB All-Star, a two-time Silver Slugger Award winner, and the 2017 National League batting champion.

Raised in Suwanee, Georgia, Blackmon was an outstanding baseball player at North Gwinnett High School, as a left-handed pitcher and outfielder.

[2] At Young Harris, Blackmon won 15 games and had 138 strikeouts in 127 innings for the school, and was drafted for the first time after his freshman season.

Blackmon continued to pitch until his fourth and final year at Georgia Tech, after redshirting due to elbow tendinitis.

[9] Blackmon recorded his first MLB hit on June 8 against Dustin Moseley of the San Diego Padres with a one-out single to right field.

He recorded his first MLB RBI on June 11 against Matt Guerrier of the Los Angeles Dodgers, driving in Seth Smith with a single.

Blackmon hit his first MLB home run on July 1, his 25th birthday, as a pinch hitter against Joakim Soria.

[12] After the 2013 season, the Rockies traded Dexter Fowler to the Houston Astros, creating an opening for Blackmon to win the center field job in 2014.

Entering the 2014 season, Blackmon competed for playing time in center field with Brandon Barnes, Corey Dickerson and Drew Stubbs.

[13] In the Rockies' home opener on April 4, Blackmon notched six hits from the leadoff spot in a 12–2 win over Arizona Diamondbacks.

[17] In his first full season in the majors, Blackmon finished with a .288 batting average, 28 stolen bases, and 19 home runs.

He became the first player in history to lead the major leagues in hits (213), runs scored (137), triples (14), and total bases (383) in the same season.

On September 28, the Rockies announced that Blackmon would undergo arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee, prematurely ending his season.

He also ranked second in stolen bases and caught stealing, behind Eric Young Sr.[39][40] On January 25, 2025, Blackmon was hired by the Colorado Rockies to serve as a special assistant to general manager Bill Schmidt.

[47] In 2016, Denver 7 reported that Blackmon, despite his Major League salary, drove the same 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee to spring training every day that he had as a high school senior.

[48] Blackmon used "Your Love" by The Outfield as his walkup song, with Rockies fans regularly singing the word "tonight" in the chorus.