Edwin "E. J." Gaines Jr. (born February 23, 1992) is an American former 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 a

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

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). He played

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 the

Missouri Tigers The Missouri Tigers intercollegiate athletics programs represent the University of Missouri, located in Columbia. The name comes from a band of armed Union Home Guards called the "Fighting Tigers of Columbia" who, in 1864, protected Columbia ...

. He was selected by the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...

in the sixth round of the

2014 NFL draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

Early life

Gaines attended

Fort Osage High School Fort Osage High School is a high school located at 2101 N. Twyman Rd. in unincorporated Jackson County, Missouri, in the Kansas City metropolitan area, adjacent to Independence. It belongs to the Fort Osage R-1 School District and serves a se ...

Independence, Missouri Independence is a city in and one of two county seats of Jackson County, Missouri, United States. It is a satellite city of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the largest suburb on the Missouri side of the Kansas City metropolitan area. In 2020 Unite ...

. He was a two-time First-team all-state performer, and helped lead his team to the Missouri Class 5 title game as a senior in 2009, in which he ran for 1,500 yards and 20 touchdowns and caught 20 passes for 400 yards, while also starring in the secondary by making 72 tackles and two interceptions. His junior year, he had 89 tackles and added 5 interceptions (including one he returned for a score) in 2008. He recorded 88 tackles and five interceptions as a sophomore in 2007. He was also a standout performer in track and basketball for his school, as he won all-state honors in track two different years. Considered a three-star recruit by

247Sports.com 247Sports is an American network of websites that focus mainly on athletic recruitment in college football and basketball. It is owned and operated by Paramount. The website hosts a large network of team-specific subsites, with each subsite bei ...

, Gaines was listed as the No. 44 cornerback in the nation in 2010.

College career

In 2010, as a true freshman at Missouri, Gaines appeared in all 13 games recording 26 tackles, as a backup

. In 2011, he won a starting position and set a school record with 18 passes defended, while also finishing the season fifth on the team with 69 tackles, and two interceptions. He earned first-team All-

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Okla ...

honors. In 2012, he led the team with 11 pass break ups and finished with a career-high 74 tackles. He also forced two fumbles and had an interception. In his senior season, he intercepted a career-high five passes while adding 75 tackles, earning himself a first-team

All-SEC The All-SEC football team is an annual Southeastern Conference (SEC) honor bestowed on the best players in the conference following every college football season. Seasons Following is a list of all-conference teams in the history of the SEC: * ...

selection.

Professional career

St. Louis / Los Angeles Rams

The

selected Gaines in the sixth round (188th overall) of the

. Gaines was the 25th cornerback drafted in 2014. On June 23, 2014, the Rams signed Gaines to a four-year, $2.32 million

contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...

that includes a

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

of $107,672. Throughout training camp, Gaines competed to be a backup cornerback against Brandon McGee,

Quinton Pointer Quinton Jamall Pointer (born April 16, 1988) is an American former professional football cornerback. In 2012, he was signed by the St. Louis Rams as an undrafted free agent. He played college football for Nevada-Las Vegas. Early life He attend ...

, Marcus Roberson,

Greg Reid Greg Reid (born September 8, 1990) is an American former professional football cornerback who played in the Canadian Football League (CFL) and Arena Football League (AFL). He led college football in yards per punt return in 2009, and was named d ...

, and Darren Woodard. Head coach

Jeff Fisher Jeffrey Michael Fisher (born February 25, 1958) is an American professional football coach and former cornerback and return specialist. He served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 22 seasons, primarily with the Houston / ...

named Gaines the third cornerback on the Rams' depth chart, behind

Janoris Jenkins Janoris Jenkins (born October 29, 1988), nicknamed "Jackrabbit", is an American former professional American football, football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the North Alabama ...

and Trumaine Johnson. He started 15 games his rookie season in 2014, recording 70 tackles, 14 passes defensed and two interceptions, earning him a spot on the

PFWA All-Rookie Team Following each National Football League (NFL) season, the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA) compiles an honorary All-Rookie Team to recognize that season's most outstanding rookies at each position as adjudged by sportswriters of the PFWA. T ...

. After earning the starting

job the previous season and during training camp, Gaines was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

on August 15, 2015, due to a

Lisfranc injury A Lisfranc injury, also known as Lisfranc fracture, is an injury of the foot in which one or more of the metatarsal bones are displaced from the tarsus. The injury is named after Jacques Lisfranc de St. Martin, a French surgeon and gynecolog ...

, ending his season before it started. Gaines returned to the starting lineup in 2016, playing in 11 games with 10 starts, recording 56 tackles and seven passes defensed. He missed five games in 2016 due to a thigh injury.

Buffalo Bills (first stint)

On August 11, 2017, the Rams traded Gaines and their second round pick (56th overall) in the

2018 NFL draft The 2018 NFL draft was the 83rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2018 NFL season. The draft was held on April 26–28 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington southwest of Dallas; it was ...

to the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

in exchange for wide receiver

Sammy Watkins Sammy Watkins (born June 14, 1993) is a former American professional football wide receiver. He played college football for the Clemson Tigers, twice earning first-team All-American honors. Watkins was selected by the Buffalo Bills fourth overal ...

and a sixth round pick (195th overall) in the 2018 NFL draft. He started 11 games in 2017, recording 59 tackles, nine passes defensed, three forced fumbles, and one interception.

Cleveland Browns

Gaines signed with the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

on March 23, 2018, reuniting with former

Rams In engineering, reliability, availability, maintainability and safety (RAMS)Gregg Williams Gregg Williams (born July 15, 1958) is an American football coach. His most recent National Football League (NFL) experience was as the defensive coordinator for the New York Jets, from 2019 to 2020. Previously, he was head coach of the Buffal ...

. In Week 4 against the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

, Gaines intercepted quarterback

Derek Carr Derek Dallas Carr (born March 28, 1991) is an American former professional football quarterback who played 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Fresno State Bulldogs, receiving first-team All-Mou ...

and made five tackles in a 45–42 overtime loss. On November 7, 2018, Gaines was placed on injured reserve after being diagnosed with his second concussion in three weeks.

Buffalo Bills (second stint)

On March 25, 2019, Gaines signed a one-year contract with the Bills. He was placed on injured reserve on August 10, 2019 with a core muscle injury. He was released on August 18. On April 1, 2020, Gaines signed a one-year contract to return to the Bills. On August 2, 2020, Bills general manager

Brandon Beane Brandon Beane (born July 27, 1976) is an American professional football executive who is the general manager for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL), a position he has held since 2017. Prior to joining the Bills, Beane served ...

announced that Gaines would opt out of the 2020 season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He was waived after the season on January 29, 2021.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Personal life

Edwin "EJ" Gaines was born to Edwin Gaines Sr. and Alta Bailey. He is the youngest of five and only son. His siblings are as follows: Nashun Wilson, Desiree Bailey, Danielle Gaines, and Tina Gaines. Gaines brought forth his first child, Edwin "Tre" Gaines III, with Juanita Clare on January 23, 2016. The couple welcomed their second child, Juliana Gaines, July 8, 2018, and their third, Ellius Gaines, December 15, 2019.

References

External links

ESPN profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaines, E. J. Living people 1992 births American football cornerbacks Missouri Tigers football players Sportspeople from Independence, Missouri Players of American football from Missouri St. Louis Rams players Los Angeles Rams players Buffalo Bills players Cleveland Browns players