Ian Maurice Gold (born August 23, 1978) 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 wi ...

player. Gold played eight seasons of professional football as a

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, ...

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 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 headquar ...

from

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 S ...

to 2003 and 2004 to 2007 and for 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) South division. The cl ...

in 2004. He appeared in 115 NFL games, 80 as a starter, registered 422

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking u ...

, and was selected to play in the 2002 Pro Bowl. Gold played college football as a linebacker for the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

from 1996 to

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

and was a member of the undefeated

1997 Michigan Wolverines football team The 1997 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1997 Big Ten Conference football season. In its third year under head coach Lloyd Carr, Michigan compiled a perfect 12–0 record, won the Big Ten Conferen ...

that was ranked #1 in the final

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broad ...

. He was selected as a first-team linebacker on both the

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 s ...

and 1999 All-Big Ten teams.

Early years

In August 1978, Gold was born at University Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where his parents were both students at the

. He attended

middle school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In middle school, he developed a passion for the arts, while enjoying time with his friends. As a high school senior in 1995, Gold rushed for 950 yards and 21 TDs on 98 carries, giving him an average of 9.6 yards per rush. Gold earned All-West Wayne Offensive MVP and was selected to the

Detroit News ''The Detroit News'' is one of the two major newspapers in the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan. The paper began in 1873, when it rented space in the rival ''Detroit Free Press'' building. ''The News'' absorbed the ''Detroit Tribune'' on Februar ...

All-State Dream Team after his senior campaign.

University of Michigan

Gold enrolled at the

in 1996 and played college football for head coach

Lloyd Carr Lloyd Henry Carr Jr. (born July 30, 1945) is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Michigan from 1995 through the 2007 season. Under Carr, the Michigan Wolverines compiled a record ...

's Michigan Wolverines football teams from 1996 to 1999. As a sophomore, Gold started one game at inside linebacker for the undefeated

that outscored opponents 322–144, won the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

championship, defeated

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

in the

1998 Rose Bowl The 1998 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game, part of the 1997–98 college bowl season, played on January 1 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The 84th Rose Bowl Game, it featured top-ranked Michigan beating Washington State 21 ...

, and was ranked #1 in the final

. Gold had 34 tackles in 1997, including three solo tackles in the

.(to retrieve Gold's statistics, enter "gold" in the box for the player's last name and "russell" in the box for player's first name) Gold started eight games at inside linebacker in

, and then, as a senior, started all 12 games at the position for the 1999 Michigan team that compiled a 10-2 record and was ranked #5 in the final AP and ESPN/Coaches Polls. Gold led the 1999 team with 95 tackles, including 71 solo tackles, and was selected by the conference coaches as a first-team linebacker on the

1999 All-Big Ten Conference football team The 1999 All-Big Ten Conference football team consists of American football players chosen as All-Big Ten Conference players for the 1999 NCAA Division I-A football season. The conference recognizes two official All-Big Ten selectors: (1) the Big ...

. He won the 1999

Roger Zatkoff Roger Zatkoff (March 25, 1931 – November 4, 2021) was an American professional football player and businessman. A native of Hamtramck, Michigan, Zatkoff played college football for the Michigan Wolverines from 1950 to 1952 and was selected ...

Award as the team's top linebacker.

Professional football

Gold was selected by the

in the second round (40th overall pick) of the

2000 NFL Draft The 2000 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur U.S. college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 15– 16, 2000, at the Thea ...

. He appeared in all 32 regular season games for the Broncos in 2000 and 2001, but was not a starter. In 2002, Gold started all 16 games at

weakside 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, p ...

and totaled 85 tackles and 6.5 quarterback sacks. Gold began the 2003 season on a strong note with 10 tackles and his first career interception return for a touchdown in the opening game against the Cincinnati Bengals. However, he sustained an anterior cruciate ligament injury in his right leg on a special teams play during the sixth game of the 2003 season against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He missed the remainder of the season and underwent surgery to repair the injury. In April 2004, the Broncos stopped contract negotiations with Gold after drafting D. J. Williams in the first round of the

2004 NFL Draft The 2004 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 24–25, 2004 at the Theater at ...

. Four days later, Gold signed as a free agent with the

. The contract was for seven years and $38 million with a $1.3 million signing bonus, though the contract only guaranteed the signing bonus and gave the team the option to release him after the 2004 season. Gold appeared in all 16 games for the Buccaneers, including 13 as the team's starting

strongside 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 ...

. In early March 2005, the Buccaneers cut Gold to the free agent market rather than pay him a reported $9.6 million option bonus. After being cut by the Buccaneers, Gold re-joined the Broncos in March 2005. He appeared in all 16 regular season games and registered 72 tackles and three sacks. He helped lead the 2005 Broncos to a 13-3 record and a spot in the AFC Championship Game. He remained with the Broncos for two more seasons, starting 15 games in 2006 and 14 games in 2007. On February 29, 2008 the Broncos released him after three seasons.

Later years

In 2012, Gold's autobiography, "Plant Water Grow" was published.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gold, Ian 1978 births American Conference Pro Bowl players American football linebackers Denver Broncos players Living people Michigan Wolverines football players Players of American football from Ann Arbor, Michigan Tampa Bay Buccaneers players