Daren K. Gilbert (October 3, 1963 – August 4, 2022) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was an

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...

for four seasons in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) with the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

. After playing

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for

Cal State Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public research university in Fullerton, California, United States. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the California State ...

, the Saints selected him in the second round (38th pick overall) of the

1985 NFL draft The 1985 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. The NFL draft, draft was held April 30 and May 1, 1985 NFL season, 1985, at the Omni Park Central Hotel in New York City, New ...

. During his four-year NFL career, Gilbert appeared in 42 games.

Early life and education

Gilbert was born on October 3, 1963, in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. As a youth, Gilbert played

and

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

. He played

right tackle A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a tackle played on both offense and Defensive tackle, defense. In the modern system of ...

as well as

left tackle A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a tackle played on both offense and Defensive tackle, defense. In the modern system of ...

in football. An injury to his left hand as a child forced him to use his right hand as well and become ambidextrous, which accounted for his ability to play on both sides of the line. Gilbert attended

Manuel Dominguez High School Manuel Dominguez High School is a four-year public high school located in Compton, California. It is part of the Compton Unified School District. Name Dominguez High School is named after Don Manuel Domínguez, a California rancher. Domínguez i ...

in Compton, and after graduating from there, enrolled at

California State University, Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public research university in Fullerton, California, United States. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the California State ...

. He was a member of their football roster in 1981, his

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

year, and became one of the two starting offensive tackles by his

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of Post-secondary school, post-secondary educatio ...

season. He continued as starter in his

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

season and was named a second-team all-conference selection. Weighing 285 pounds and standing six feet, six inches, Gilbert was described as having "extremely quick feet" and being "very agile" for his frame, which was credited from him playing soccer when young. He was named first-team all-conference as a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

in 1984.

Professional career

Gilbert was selected with the 38th overall pick of the

by the

, being a second round selection. He is the highest-selected player ever to come from Cal State, Fullerton, and was the highest-drafted lineman to come from a PCAA school. He was also selected in the

1985 USFL Territorial Draft The 1985 USFL territorial draft was the third territorial draft of the United States Football League (USFL). It took place on January 3, 1985, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York. Under the previous two territorial drafts, each team had five de ...

, but opted not to play in that league. In his first year with New Orleans, Gilbert played as a backup on both sides of the offensive line and appeared in all 16 games that season. In , Gilbert appeared in nine games, helping the Saints compile a record of 7–9. Following two years of developing while a backup, Gilbert saw his first time as a starter in early due to an injury to

Jim Dombrowski James Matthew Dombrowski (born October 19, 1963) is an American former professional football player who played his entire 11-years career as a guard and offensive tackle for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). Dombro ...

. He started five games at left tackle that year, which was the first season the Saints compiled a winning record and made the playoffs. He was re-signed for the season, In the 1988 season, he started six of the final seven games due to injuries to other linemen. Gilbert was released with an injury settlement in .

Personal life and death

Gilbert's son, Jarron, played in the NFL from to . Gilbert died in August 2022, at the age of 58. He was one of at least 345 NFL players to be diagnosed after death with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which is caused by repeated hits to the head.

Early life and education

Professional career

Personal life and death

References

Further reading