Ricardo Darnell Gathers (born January 7, 1994) is an American

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

and 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 ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

. He was drafted by 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 ...

in the sixth round (217th overall) in the

2016 NFL Draft The 2016 NFL Draft was the 81st annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park in Chicago. The draft beg ...

. He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

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 ...

and did not play

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 ...

Early years

Gathers attended Riverside Academy. He was named Louisiana Mr. Basketball while at Riverside Academy in

Reserve, Louisiana Reserve is an unincorporated community in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is located on the east bank of the Mississippi River. The population was 9,111 at the 2000 census. For statistical purposes, the United States Cen ...

. As a sophomore, he contributed to his team winning the state title, while averaging 19.8 points, 11.5 rebounds, 4.5 blocks and earning Most Outstanding Player honors at the state tournament. As a junior, he averaged 20.7 points, 16.2 rebounds and 3.9 blocks per game. As a senior, he helped his team reach the Class 2A state championship game, while averaging 22 points, 17 rebounds, 4.1 blocks, 2.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game.

College career

Gathers accepted a basketball scholarship from

. He became a starter at

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers. When on Of ...

as a junior, averaging 11.6 points (second on the team), 11.6 rebounds (led the team), 1.2 steals and one block and in 29.9 minutes per game. At the end of the season, he received All-Big 12, honorable-mention All-American and Big 12 All-Defensive Team honors. He led the conference in double-doubles with 17 and recorded a school record 28 rebounds in a win over Huston-Tillotson. As a senior, he averaged 11.4 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. He finished as Baylor's All-Time leading rebounder. He also was the first player ever to reach over 1,000+ points and 1,000+ rebounds in school history.

Professional career

Although he had not played a down of football since

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. ...

as a 13-year-old, Gathers informed Baylor

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

Art Briles Arthur Ray Briles (born December 3, 1955) is an American football coach who is currently the head coach for the Guelfi Firenze in the Italian Football League. Briles was the head coach of the Houston Cougars football, Houston Cougars from 2002 ...

that he would be joining the Bears football team for the

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season. However, he later decided to forgo playing for Baylor and entered the 2016 NFL draft after the Baylor men's basketball team lost in the first round of the

2016 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 2016 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 68 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the men's National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college basketball national champion for the 20 ...

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

Dallas Cowboys

Gathers was selected by the

in the sixth round (217th overall) of the

, based on the potential he showed during his pre-draft workout. In rookie minicamp the team considered playing him at

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

, but decided to keep him at

instead. On September 3, he was released and was signed to the

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

the next day. He signed a reserve/future contract on January 17,

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. After a strong training camp and preseason, Gathers made the Cowboys' initial 53-man roster in

. However, he suffered a concussion in the preseason, and was placed on the injured reserve on September 4, which made him eligible to return in week 8 at the earliest. Despite practicing with the squad since week 9, after week 13, he was shut down for the season. It was later revealed that he also suffered jaw and neck injuries as well. In

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, the Cowboys made the unconventional move of keeping him as the fourth tight end to avoid losing him to waivers, even though he was arrested on the eve of cuts for marijuana possession. He was the fourth-string tight end behind

Geoff Swaim Geoff Swaim (born September 16, 1993) is an American football tight end for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Texas and was selected in the seventh round of the 2015 NFL draft by the Dalla ...

Blake Jarwin Blake Jarwin (born July 16, 1994) is an American football tight end who is a free agent. He played college football at Oklahoma State and signed with the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2017. Early years Jarwin attended Tuttle Hi ...

and rookie

Dalton Schultz Dalton Chase Schultz (born July 11, 1996) is an American football tight end for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Stanford. Early years Schultz attended Bingham High School in South Jordan ...

. In Week 5, he recorded his first professional catch against the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

. He finished with 3 receptions for 45 yards. On June 14,

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, it was announced that Gathers was suspended for the first game of the season, after violating the NFL's policy and program on substances of abuse. On August 5, Gathers was waived by the Cowboys.

Cleveland Browns

On August 11,

, he was signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

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 ( ...

. He was placed on the reserve/suspended list on August 31, 2019. He was waived by the Browns on September 10, after being reinstated from the suspension.

Personal life

Gathers' father is the cousin of the late

Hank Gathers Eric Wilson "Hank" Gathers Jr. (February 11, 1967 – March 4, 1990) was an American college basketball player for the Loyola Marymount Lions in the West Coast Conference (WCC). As a junior in 1989, he became the second player in NCAA Division I ...

, an All-American and former

Loyola Marymount Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. It is located on the west side of the city near Playa Vista. LMU is the parent school to Loyola Law School, which is located ...

star. Gathers is married and has a child. During his time away from football, he self-taught himself to create, arrange and produce hip-hop music under the pseudonym Rickadon. On August 31, 2018, he was arrested for possession of marijuana in Frisco, Texas.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gathers, Rico 1994 births Living people American football tight ends Basketball players from Louisiana Baylor Bears men's basketball players Cleveland Browns players Dallas Cowboys players People from LaPlace, Louisiana Players of American football from New Orleans Power forwards (basketball) American men's basketball players