The 31-year-old utility had gone 12-and-a-half vote-less seasons and 209 games, in what was comfortably the record for the most matches without a career vote.
But the Saints' round 11 win over Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium proved the breakthrough round for the hard-working, low-frills player.
Blake, 189cm, stepped up in the ruck in the absence of injured pair Ben McEvoy and Rhys Stanley to help the Saints down the Suns by 95 points.
Despite giving up 12cm to Suns opponent Tom Hickey, Blake notched 28 hit-outs to ensure his side comfortably won in the ruck.
He backed that up with 21 disposals, eight tackles and a goal, to earn two votes as the game's second-best player.
There had been expectations he might break his Brownlow duck two rounds earlier, when he also had a big game in the ruck in a win over the Sydney Swans, but he was kept waiting.
Blake played only two more games after the Suns clash before injury brought an early end to his season.
The St Kilda veteran's Brownlow breakthrough came more than two years after he had moved to the top of the table for the most games without a vote.
North Melbourne defender Ross Henshaw, who played 167 vote-less matches in the 1970s and 1980s, had previously held the record, with Blake surpassing that mark by 42 matches before finally polling.
St Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt told AFL.com.au after the count he had mixed emotions about Blake polling his first Brownlow votes.
"I think the cheer was almost as big as when Jobe actually won," Riewoldt said.
"We were a little bit torn. We wanted him to get votes but also wanted the 'legend' to continue.
"So maybe we can get some 'Jason Blake two votes' T-shirts printed off or something like that."
Told AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou had incorrectly read out the name James Blake when announcing the veteran Saints utility's drought-breaking votes, Riewoldt joked: "Well there you go, that just sums it up for Blakey, doesn't it?"
