[4] He "showed the instincts of an executive" at a young age; in high school, he managed the newspaper The Courier, was a member of ROTC, and participated in dramatic plays.

[4] He graduated from the school in 1928 with a bachelor's degree in philosophy and one year later received a prominent position at the American Trust Bank of San Francisco.

[7] He moved to Atherton, California, in 1938, and stopped work as a hotel manager by the following year, then becoming an employee at the Spreckels-Russell Dairy Company, where he eventually rose to vice president of marketing.

[7] When the San Francisco 49ers of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) were founded in 1945, Blackinger was hired as the team's general manager.

[9] He was able to receive the job due to being a college friend of team founder Tony Morabito; Blackinger hired typist and friend Louis Spadia (who ultimately was his successor) and publicist Buzz McGee to make up a three-man 49ers team office.