Gabriel O'Kara Northern (born June 8, 1974) 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

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

and

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

for five seasons with 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 ...

and

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

of 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 served as defensive line coach at

Prairie View A&M Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU or PV) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Prairie View, Texas, United States. Founded in 1876, it is one of Texas's two lan ...

from 2011 to 2012 and 2014, and in the same position at Grambling State from 2001 to 2003. Northern was selected in the second round of the

1996 NFL draft The 1996 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The NFL draft, draft was held April 20–21, 1996 NFL seas ...

. As a rookie in 1996, he finished the year with five sacks and 19 tackles. In his second season, he started one game and recorded 24 tackles. He made the switch to outside linebacker in 1998 and started 16 games, finishing with two sacks, one interception, one forced fumble, and 32 tackles. In 1999, he again started 16 games and finished with 3.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, and 35 tackles.

References

1974 births Living people Players of American football from Baton Rouge, Louisiana American football defensive ends American football linebackers LSU Tigers football players Buffalo Bills players Minnesota Vikings players Prairie View A&M Panthers football coaches Grambling State Tigers football coaches 20th-century American sportsmen {{linebacker-1970s-stub