Ricardo Darnell Gathers (born January 7, 1994) is an American

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

and 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 ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

. He was selected by the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

in the sixth round of the

2016 NFL draft The 2016 NFL draft was the 81st annual draft of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park in Chicago. The draft beg ...

. He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

Baylor University Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...

and did not play

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 ...

Early life

Gathers attended Riverside Academy. He was named Louisiana Mr. Basketball while at Riverside Academy in

Reserve, Louisiana Reserve is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is located on the east bank of the Mississippi River. The population was 9,111 at the 2000 United States Census ...

. As a sophomore, he contributed to his team winning the state title, while averaging 19.8 points, 11.5

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

, 4.5 blocks and earning Most Outstanding Player honors at the state tournament. As a junior, he averaged 20.7 points, 16.2 rebounds and 3.9 blocks per game. As a senior, he helped his team reach the Class 2A state championship game, while averaging 22 points, 17 rebounds, 4.1 blocks, 2.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game.

College career

Gathers accepted a basketball scholarship from

. He became a starter at

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

as a junior, averaging 11.6 points (second on the team), 11.6 rebounds (led the team), 1.2 steals and one block and in 29.9 minutes per game. At the end of the season, he received All-

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, 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 ...

, honorable-mention

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

and Big 12 All-Defensive Team honors. He led the conference in

double-doubles In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

with 17 and recorded a school record 28 rebounds in a win over Huston-Tillotson. As a senior, he averaged 11.4 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. He finished as Baylor's All-Time leading rebounder. He also was the first player ever to reach over 1,000+ points and 1,000+ rebounds in school history.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Although he had not played a down of football since

middle school Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...

as a 13-year-old, Gathers informed Baylor

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

Art Briles Arthur Ray Briles (born December 3, 1955) is an American football coach who is currently the head coach for the Guelfi Firenze in the Italian Football League. Briles was the head coach of the Houston Cougars from 2002 to 2007 and the Baylor B ...

that he would be joining the Bears football team for the 2016 season. However, he later decided to forgo playing for Baylor and entered the

after the Baylor men's basketball team lost in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament to

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

Dallas Cowboys

Gathers was selected by the

in the sixth round (217th overall) of the 2016 NFL draft, based on the potential he showed during his pre-draft workout. In rookie

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the team considered playing him at

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 ...

, but decided to keep him at

instead. On September 3, he was released and was signed to the

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

the next day. He signed a reserve/future contract on January 17, 2017. After a strong

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events ...

and preseason, Gathers made the Cowboys' initial 53-man roster in 2017. However, he suffered a concussion in the preseason, and was placed on the

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 September 4, which made him eligible to return in week 8 at the earliest. Despite practicing with the squad since week 9, after week 13, he was shut down for the season. It was later revealed that he also suffered jaw and neck injuries as well. In 2018, the Cowboys made the unconventional move of keeping him as the fourth tight end to avoid losing him to waivers, even though he was arrested on the eve of cuts for marijuana possession. He was the fourth-string tight end behind Geoff Swaim, Blake Jarwin and rookie Dalton Schultz. In Week 5, he recorded his first professional catch against 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 ...

. He finished with 3 receptions for 45 yards. On June 14, 2019, it was announced that Gathers was suspended for the first game of the season, after violating the NFL's policy and program on substances of abuse. On August 5, Gathers was waived by the Cowboys.

Cleveland Browns

On August 11, 2019, he was signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

by 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 ...

. He was placed on the reserve/suspended list on August 31, 2019. He was waived by the Browns on September 10, after being reinstated from the suspension.

Personal life

Gathers' father is the cousin of

Hank Gathers Eric Wilson "Hank" Gathers Jr. (February 11, 1967 – March 4, 1990) was an American college basketball player for the Loyola Marymount Lions in the West Coast Conference (WCC). As a junior in 1989, he became the second player in NCAA Division I ...

, an

and former

Loyola Marymount Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. LMU enrolls over 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students, making it the largest Catholic university on the west coast of the ...

star. Gathers is married and has a child. During his time away from football, he self-taught himself to create, arrange and produce hip-hop music under the pseudonym Rickadon. On August 31, 2018, he was arrested for possession of marijuana in Frisco, Texas.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gathers, Rico 1994 births Living people American football tight ends Basketball players from Louisiana Baylor Bears men's basketball players Cleveland Browns players Dallas Cowboys players People from LaPlace, Louisiana Players of American football from New Orleans Power forwards American men's basketball players 21st-century American sportsmen