David Alexander Gettis (born August 27, 1987) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

wide receiver. He was selected 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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

in the sixth round of the

2010 NFL Draft The 2010 NFL Draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The 2010 draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, with the firs ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...

High school career

David Gettis was a three-time CIF California State Meet champion (2003, 2004, 2005) in the

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor runn ...

for

Susan Miller Dorsey High School Susan Miller Dorsey High School is a high school located in the Crenshaw, Los Angeles, Crenshaw District of Los Angeles, California. It is a part of the Los Angeles Unified School District. The school serves Baldwin Hills, Los Angeles, California, ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

College career

Gettis attended

, where he played football for the

Baylor Bears football The Baylor Bears football team represents Baylor University in Division I FBS college football. They are a member of the Big 12 Conference. After 64 seasons at the off-campus Baylor Stadium, renamed Floyd Casey Stadium in 1989, the Bears opened ...

Track and field

Gettis was also a standout track athlete in high school. He was the California's first-ever three-time prep state

400 meters The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is on ...

champion. He was named 2005 Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year by the

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

. He also anchored Dorsey's victorious 4 x 400 meter relay team, and ran second leg of its gold-medal 4 x 100 meter relay team at the 2005 state meet. He won the state

title in 47.1 seconds as a sophomore, then ran in 46.3 seconds to claim his second state

gold medal and ran a personal-best time of 45.84 seconds to win the 2005 state crown, beating

Bryshon Nellum Bryshon Lorenzo Nellum (born May 1, 1989) is an American sprinter. He graduated from University of Southern California in 2012 with a degree in Public Administration and Social Service Professions and is currently a graduate student. Career A ...

, while his time was at the time a high school state record. His personal bests are 45.84 seconds in the

and 20.60 seconds in the

200 meters The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

Personal bests

Professional career

2010 NFL Combine

2010 NFL Draft

Gettis was selected by the

in the 6th round (198th overall) of the

Carolina Panthers

2010 season

Gettis was first active in week 2 of the 2010 season against the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

. He started as the no. 2 receiver, beating out fellow rookie Brandon LaFell, and recorded 18 yards on 2 catches. He had a breakout game in week 7 against

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, recording 8 catches for 125 yards and a season high 2 touchdown catches in a 23–20 Panthers victory. Gettis was nominated for the

Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week is an award given to the best performing rookie players in the National Football League (NFL). It was first awarded in 2002 and is sponsored by Pepsi. Winners are chosen among five finalists every week during the seaso ...

for his efforts. At the time, 125 receiving yards was a Panthers single-game rookie record. It has since been surpassed by D. J. Moore, while Gettis's single-game rookie record of 2 receiving touchdowns was tied by

Kelvin Benjamin Kelvin Benjamin (born February 5, 1991) is an American football wide receiver who is a free agent. He played college football at Florida State and was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He also played for ...

. Gettis continued as starter for the rest of the season, excluding the week 12 and 13 matchups against

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

and

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

. He finished the season with a team-high 3 touchdown catches, as well as 508 receiving yards on 37 catches, which ranked as second and third on the team, respectively. He also returned 8 kickoffs for 145 yards, and recorded an 88-yard touchdown reception against Baltimore in week 11 – the second longest touchdown reception in Panthers history.

2011 season

Gettis injured his left knee in practice in August 2011. After an MRI showed a torn ACL, he was declared out for the entire season and 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 th ...

on August 30.

2012 season

Gettis came back from his injury and played in 2 games but did not record a reception.

2013 season

Gettis was released with an injury settlement on August 31, 2013.

Washington Redskins

2014 season

Gettis was signed by the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

to a reserve/future contract on January 7, 2014. He was released on May 12.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

On June 17, 2014, Gettis was signed by the

. He was waived on August 4, 2014.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

On May 27, 2015, David Gettis was signed by the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fiel ...

. He was waived on Saturday, May 30, 2015.

Career statistics

Personal life

Gettis is the cousin of

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

Adam Gettis Adam Gettis (born December 9, 1988) is a former American football guard. He was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the fifth round of the 2012 NFL Draft. He played college football for the University of Iowa. Early years From 2004 to 2006, ...

, who was drafted in fifth round of the

2012 NFL Draft The 2012 NFL draft was the 77th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players for their rosters. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held ...

by the

. The two were briefly teammates during the 2014 offseason.

References

External links

Carolina Panthers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gettis, David 1987 births Living people American football wide receivers Baylor Bears football players Carolina Panthers players Players of American football from Los Angeles Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Track and field athletes from California Washington Redskins players Susan Miller Dorsey High School alumni Players of Canadian football from Los Angeles