DeJon "D.J." Gomes (born November 17, 1989) 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 ...

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

. He was drafted in the fifth round of the

2011 NFL Draft The 2011 NFL Draft was the 76th installment of the annual NFL Draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York C ...

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 ...

. Gomes 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 the

University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a public land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the Morrill Act of 1862, the school was known as the Universit ...

. He was also a member of 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 Ford ...

High school career

Dejon Gomes attended high school at

James Logan High School James Logan High School (also known as JLHS or Logan) is a public high school located in Union City, California. It is part of the New Haven Unified School District in the San Francisco Bay Area. Awards In 1994 and 1998, Logan was recognized as ...

Union City, California Union City is a city in the San Francisco Bay Area in Alameda County, California, United States, located approximately south of Oakland, from San Francisco, and north of San Jose. Incorporated in 1959, combining the communities of Alvarad ...

where he started for one year on the varsity football team, after sitting out the previous year with an injury. After graduating in 2007, he did not receive any top scholarship offers, so he decided to attend

City College of San Francisco City College of San Francisco (CCSF or City College) is a State school#United States, public community college in San Francisco, California. Founded as a Junior college#United States, junior college in 1935, the college plays an important local ...

College career

While at the City College of San Francisco, Gomes lead the state in interceptions, tackles, and fumble returns. Later on, Gomes transferred to Nebraska. Once Gomes started his career at Nebraska, he quickly became a starter for two years and lead the team in interceptions and tackles. He was billed as one of the top

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

prospects for the

by many NFL Draft experts and analysts.

Professional career

2011 NFL Combine

Washington Redskins

2011 season

Gomes was drafted by the

146th overall in the

, joining college teammates,

Roy Helu Roy Ziegler Helu Jr. (born December 7, 1988) is a former American football running back. He was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the fourth round of the 2011 NFL Draft. He played college football at Nebraska. Helu set the Redskins' franc ...

, who was drafted earlier in the fourth round, and

Niles Paul Niles Paul (born August 9, 1989) is a former American football tight end. He played college football as a wide receiver at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and was selected in the fifth round of the 2011 NFL Draft by the Washington Redskin ...

, who was drafted after him. Throughout the season, he played as the backup to both

free safety Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their dut ...

Oshiomogho Atogwe Oshiomogho Isaac "O.J." Atogwe (born June 23, 1981) is a Canadian former professional football player who was a free safety in the National Football League (NFL). He most recently served as the secondary coach for the Memphis Express of the A ...

, and

strong safety Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their dut ...

LaRon Landry LaRon Louis Landry (born October 14, 1984) is a former American football safety (American football position), safety. He played college football for LSU Tigers football, Louisiana State University (LSU), and earned consensus All-American honors ...

, splitting the responsibility with

Reed Doughty Reed Doughty (born November 4, 1982) is a former American football safety who played in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the sixth round, with the 173rd overall pick, of the 2006 NFL Draft. He played co ...

. Gomes made his NFL debut in Week 1 against the

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

. He then had his first career start as a free safety in Week 11 against 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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

, where he made 14 tackles. After Landry was put on injured reserve, Gomes became the starting strong safety for the rest of the season. On December 24, 2011, while playing against the

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

, Gomes tackled

Adrian Peterson Adrian Lewis Peterson (born March 21, 1985) is an American football running back who is a free agent. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest running backs in football history. He played college football at Oklahoma, where he set the ...

which resulted in Peterson tearing his ACL and

MCL The litre (international spelling) or liter (American English spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: ℓ) is a metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubic metre (m3) ...

. Gomes finished the 2011 season playing 15 games, starting five of them, and recording 35 tackles and two pass breakups.

2012 season

By the start of the 2012 season, Gomes was made the starting strong safety in place of an injured

Brandon Meriweather Brandon Meriweather (born January 14, 1984) is a former American football free safety. He played college football at the University of Miami, and was drafted by the New England Patriots in the first round of the 2007 NFL Draft. Meriweather has ...

. In the season opener win 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 league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

, he recorded his first pass deflection and first interception on

Drew Brees Drew Christopher Brees (; born January 15, 1979) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. A member of the New Orleans Saints for most of his career, Brees is the NFL leader in ...

. By Week 4 of the 2012 season, he lost the starting strong safety position to

. After Meriweather was placed on injured reserve, Gomes was made the starting strong safety again in the Week 12 win against the

, where he recovered a fumble after Josh Wilson stripped the ball and recorded six tackles.

2013 season

Gomes was waived during the final roster cuts before the start of the 2013 season on August 31, 2013.

Detroit Lions

2013 season

Gomes was claimed off waivers by the

on September 1, 2013.

2014 season

On August 26, 2014, the Lions placed Gomes 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 th ...

due to a neck and shoulder injury he suffered in the second preseason game against the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

when he took on a helmet-to-helmet collision with Raiders tight end Scott Simonson. Three days later, the Lions released him off injured reserve with an injury settlement.

References

External links

*
Detroit Lions bio

Nebraska Cornhuskers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gomes, Dejon 1989 births Living people American football safeties City College of San Francisco Rams football players Nebraska Cornhuskers football players Washington Redskins players Detroit Lions players Players of American football from Alameda County, California Sportspeople from Hayward, California James Logan High School alumni