Samuel Lee Gash Jr. (born March 7, 1969) is an American former football fullback in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

(NFL).

Professional career

He was drafted in the eighth round of the

1992 NFL Draft The 1992 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 draft was held April 26–27, 1992, at the Marriott ...

by the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

. A two time

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

er in his twelve-year career, Gash played for the Patriots (1992–1997),

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division ...

(1998–1999, 2003), and the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...

(2000–2002). In 1999, Gash earned the unique distinction of being the first back in NFL history to be selected to the

without carrying the ball at all during the regular season. He won a Super Bowl in 2000 with the Baltimore Ravens. Gash was cut by 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 league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

one day before the 2004 training camp began.

Coaching

Gash began his

coaching Coaching is a form of development in which an experienced person, called a ''coach'', supports a learner or client in achieving a specific personal or professional goal by providing training and guidance. The learner is sometimes called a ''coa ...

career in 2005 with the New York Jets as an assistant

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. The ...

s coach. In January 2007, Gash was hired as the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at For ...

' assistant

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

coach. In 2008, he became the Lions' running backs coach. Gash was fired by the Lions on December 31, 2012. On February 10, 2014, Gash was announced as the running backs coach of the Green Bay Packers. On January 19, 2016, he was fired by the Packers.

Personal life

Gash has relatives also involved with football. His younger brother, Eric, played

outside linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, pla ...

at the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sys ...

. In 2014 Eric Gash was selected as the head coach at his alma mater, Hendersonville High School, for the 2014 season. He is only the second African American hired as a head football coach at a western North Carolina high school since the late 1960s integration of public schools. The Gash brothers have a cousin,

Thane Thane (; also known as Thana, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city in Maharashtra, India. It is situated in the north-eastern portion of the Salsette Island. Thane city is entirely within Thane taluka, one of the seven talu ...

, who played

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly di ...

for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

and

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

.Gash: 'I owe it all to Pardue' , Serving Henderson, Transylvania and Polk Counties , North Carolina , BlueRidgeNow.com
/ref> His son, Isaiah, plays college football for the

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except women's water polo, which competes in the NCAA inter-divisio ...

Notes and references

External links

Detroit Lions Bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gash, Sam 1969 births Living people People from Hendersonville, North Carolina African-American players of American football African-American coaches of American football American football fullbacks Penn State Nittany Lions football players New England Patriots players Buffalo Bills players Baltimore Ravens players New Orleans Saints players American Conference Pro Bowl players New York Jets coaches Detroit Lions coaches Green Bay Packers coaches 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople Ed Block Courage Award recipients