Gerard Thurston Warren (born July 25, 1978) is an American former college and professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who was a

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

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 ...

(NFL) for eleven seasons. 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 the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

. He was drafted by 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 ( ...

third overall in the

2001 NFL Draft The 2001 NFL Draft was the 66th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft, which is officially referred to as the "NFL Player Selection Meeting," was held at the ...

, and has also played professionally for the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

of the NFL.

Early years

Warren was born in

Lake City, Florida Lake City is a city in northern Florida. It is the county seat of Columbia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 12,329. It is the principal city of the Lake City Micropolitan Statistical Area, which ...

. He attended Union County High School in Lake Butler, Florida, where he played for the Union County Tigers high school football team. FHSAA unveils '100 Greatest Players of First 100 Years' as part of centennial football celebration
," Florida High School Athletic Association (December 4, 2007). Retrieved May 26, 2011. He finished his high school career with 36 sacks, and was ranked among the top ten defensive linemen nationally. During his four years in high school, the Union County High School Tigers had an overall win–loss record of 49–4 and won three consecutive Florida Class 3A state championships in 1994, 1995 and 1996. Warren was named to the Prep Stars and ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'' high school

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

teams. In 2007, ten years after he graduated from high school, the

Florida High School Athletic Association The Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) is an organization whose purpose is to organize sports competition for high schools in Florida. It is a member of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). Florida uses ...

(FHSAA) recognized Warren as one of the "100 Greatest Players of the First 100 Years" of Florida high school football.

College career

Warren attended the

in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach

Steve Spurrier Stephen Orr Spurrier (born April 20, 1945) is an American former American football, football quarterback and coach who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons before coaching for 38 years, primarily in college. He is often ...

Florida Gators football The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida (UF) in American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of ...

team from

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

.
2011 Florida Gators Football Media Guide
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 97, 125, 186 (2011). Retrieved August 31, 2011. As a junior team captain in 2000, Warren posted 76 tackles and 4.5 quarterback sacks at defensive tackle and was a second-team All-

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC) selection and a second-team All-American.GatorZone.com, Football History, 2000 Roster
Gerard Warren
. Retrieved April 11, 2011. He finished his three-season career as a Gator with 159 tackles, 9.5 sacks, and 30 tackles for a loss in 35 games and 22 starts.

Professional career

Cleveland Browns

Warren was drafted by the

with the third overall selection in the

. He played in 15 games as a rookie in

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, all starts, and finished with 61 tackles and five sacks.Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players
Gerard Warren
Retrieved March 22, 2012. In

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, Warren started all 16 games, recording 40 tackles, two sacks, and two forced fumbles. He started 15 games for the Browns in

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, picking up 32 tackles and a career-high 5.5 sacks. In his final season in Cleveland,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, Warren played in and started 13 games, missing three to injury, and finished with 19 tackles and four sacks.

Denver Broncos

In March 2005, Warren was traded to the

for a fourth-round pick in the

2005 NFL Draft The 2005 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 NFL draft, draft was held April 23–24, 2005 NFL seaso ...

. In addition to Warren, the Broncos also acquired defensive linemen Michael Myers,

Ebenezer Ekuban Ebenezer Ekuban Jr. (born May 29, 1976) is a former American football defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys, Cleveland Browns, and Denver Broncos. He played college football at the University of North Carolina ...

, and Courtney Brown from the Browns, leading some to dub the new Broncos defensive line the "Browncos." Warren finished the

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

season with 42 tackles and three sacks in 16 starts. In

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, Warren started 15 games and recorded 30 tackles and 2.5 sacks on the season.

Oakland Raiders

In August 2007, during the preseason, Warren was traded by the Broncos to the

in exchange for a conditional fifth-round draft pick in the

2008 NFL Draft The 2008 NFL Draft was the 73rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 26 and April 27, ...

. In

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, Warren played in 12 games (five starts) for the Raiders, posting 22 tackles, four sacks, and one forced fumble. Warren started all 16 games in the

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

season, finishing with 39 tackles, four sacks, and one forced fumble. In his final season with the Raiders,

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, Warren again started all 16 games and finished the year with 35 tackles and two sacks. He was released by the Raiders on March 11, 2010.

New England Patriots

On April 24, 2010, during the final day 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 ...

, Warren signed with the

. Despite being a late free agent signing, Warren made the Patriots' roster and began the season as a starter at defensive end before moving to

nose tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

in Week 6. After two games at nose tackle, Warren moved back to defensive end but did not start the team's Week 8 game 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 ...

. He returned to the starting lineup in Week 12 against 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 ...

Thanksgiving Day Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden a ...

, and went on to start four of the team's final five games after Thanksgiving. Warren finished the regular season with 28 tackles and 3.5 sacks in 16 games (10 starts). The Patriots re-signed him on August 8, 2011 after he had been a free agent for most of the offseason. During the 2011 season, he played in eleven games, all off the bench, and compiled a sack and 15 tackles. Afterward, he again became a free agent, but he re-signed with the Patriots on April 30, 2012.Mary Paoletti,
Paoletti: Warren to re-sign with Patriots
" Comcast SportsNet New England (April 30, 2012). Retrieved April 30, 2012. He was again released on August 26, 2012.

NFL statistics

Regular season

Postseason

Personal life

Gerard Warren is the second-cousin of Mahailya Reeves, the weightlifting sensation from Lake Butler, who, at only 15 years of age, recently set a Florida women's bench press record of 355 pounds.

References

External links

Gerard Warren
– Florida Gators player profile
Gerard Warren
– New England Patriots player profile {{DEFAULTSORT:Warren, Gerard 1978 births Living people All-American college football players American football defensive tackles American football defensive ends Florida Gators football players Cleveland Browns players Denver Broncos players Oakland Raiders players New England Patriots players People from Lake City, Florida Players of American football from Florida