Omar Gaither
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Omar Thabiti Gaither (born March 18, 1984) is a former
American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...
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 ...
who played 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 was drafted by the
Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...
in the fifth round of the
2006 NFL draft The 2006 NFL draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with additional coverage offe ...
. He was also a member of the
Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...
,
Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...
,
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 ...
, and
Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...
. 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 ...
at
Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
.


Early life

Gaither played
high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...
at
Myers Park High School Myers Park High School is a state school, public Secondary education in the United States, high school in Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte, North Carolina. It serves grades 9–12, and is a part of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools distric ...
.


College career

Gaither 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 ...
at the
University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...
from 2002 until 2005. He was a two-year starter at Tennessee, Gaither recorded 210 tackles with 6 sacks and 23 tackles for a loss. As a senior, finished with 78 tackles, 4 sacks, 7.5 tackles for a loss, and 4 forced fumbles en route to his second straight Second-team All-SEC. Had a career-high 92 tackles, including 12.5 tackles for a loss as a junior when he took over the strongside (or "Sam")
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 ...
duties.


Professional career


Philadelphia Eagles

Gaither was drafted in the fifth round of the
2006 NFL draft The 2006 NFL draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with additional coverage offe ...
by the
Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...
. Gaither received significant playing time later in the 2006 season due to the struggles and injury of starter Matt McCoy. Gaither got his first NFL start at weakside linebacker on December 4, 2006, on a ''
Monday Night Football ''Monday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''MNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that air on Monday nights. It originally ran on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from 1970 NFL season, 1970 t ...
'' win against the
Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...
. He became the starter at weakside linebacker for the final 7 games (post and regular season) and finished with 58 tackles, 1 sack, and 1 interception. Ranked second on the team in special teams tackles (30) and 4th in special teams production points (185). Gaither was named the starter at middle linebacker in 2007 after the release of
Jeremiah Trotter Jeremiah Trotter (born January 20, 1977) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons. He played college football for the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks and was se ...
, and started all 16 games at middle linebacker and tallied team highs in tackles (70) and quarterback hurries (14). He also ranked second on the team with 14 KDs, intercepting one pass, defending seven passes, and forcing one fumble. Prior to the start of 2008, Gaither was moved back to his true position of weakside linebacker to make move room for Stewart Bradley. Though not an indictment of Gaither's performance, Bradley took over the MLB spot largely in part to his phenomenal first start against 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 ...
in week 16 of 2007 (a game in which Gaither played Weakside ("Will") Linebacker). Gaither was benched prior to the week 12 game at the
Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...
in favor of Akeem Jordan. After starting middle linebacker Bradley suffered a torn ACL which caused him to be 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 ...
in 2009, Gaither beat out second-year linebacker Joe Mays for the starting position. Four weeks into the season, however, the Eagles re-signed Trotter to replace Gaither on first- and second-down plays. Gaither suffered a Lisfranc sprain during a game 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 ...
and was placed on injured reserve on October 28, 2009. Gaither was re-signed to a one-year contract on March 31, 2010.


Carolina Panthers

Gaither was signed by the
Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...
on July 31, 2011, played in all four pre-season games and ten regular season games (started four), and was released on March 13, 2012.


Houston Texans

The
Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...
signed Gaither on August 9, 2012, but released him during final cuts.


Oakland Raiders

The Raiders signed Gaither on November 14, 2012, to replace the injured
Travis Goethel Travis Peter Goethel (born July 27, 1987) is a former American football linebacker He was selected by the Oakland Raiders in the sixth round, (190th overall) of the 2010 NFL draft. He played college football for Arizona State. Early life Goethe ...
. Gaither re-signed with the Raiders on July 29, 2013, but released him during final cuts.


Atlanta Falcons

The
Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...
signed Gaither, along with fellow Eagles teammate Jamar Chaney, on September 17, 2013, to replace the injured Sean Weatherspoon.


NFL career statistics


Regular season


Playoffs


References


External links


Tennessee Volunteers bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gaither, Omar 1984 births Living people Players of American football from Charlotte, North Carolina American football linebackers Tennessee Volunteers football players Philadelphia Eagles players Carolina Panthers players Houston Texans players 21st-century American sportsmen Oakland Raiders players Atlanta Falcons players