Taylor James Gabriel (born February 17, 1991) 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 who played for six seasons 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). After playing

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 ...

at Abilene Christian, he signed with 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 ( ...

as an

undrafted 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 ...

in 2014. He also played with the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

and

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

Early years

Gabriel attended

John Horn High School Dr. John D. Horn High School is a secondary school in Mesquite, Texas, United States. The school serves the southern portion of Mesquite and the Mesquite ISD portion of Seagoville. John Horn High School, which serves grades 9 through 12, is a ...

Mesquite, Texas Mesquite is a suburban city located east of the city of Dallas, Texas, in the United States. Most of the city is located in Dallas County, though a small portion extends into Kaufman County. As of 2019 census estimates, the population was 140 ...

, where he played

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 ...

, basketball, and ran track for the Jaguars athletic teams. In

, he was a three-year letterman at wide receiver,

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

, and

kick returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position ...

. He was an All-District selection as a junior after he had 47 catches for 588 yards and four touchdowns. He earned Class 5A TSWA All-State as senior in 2008 after totalling 90 catches for 1,354 yards with 13

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

for a 4–7 team with the school’s first playoff bid. He was also named APSE second team all-state and was the District 11-5A MVP.

College career

Gabriel enrolled to play

Abilene Christian University Abilene Christian University (ACU) is a Private university, private Churches of Christ, Christian university in Abilene, Texas. It was founded in 1906 as ''Childers Classical Institute''. ACU is one of the largest private universities in the Sout ...

, where he holds the record for most career touchdowns, from 2010 to 2013. In the 2010 season, he finished with 26 receptions for 295 receiving yards. In the 2011 season, he had 64 receptions for 988 receiving yards and ten touchdowns. In the 2012 season, he finished with 52 receptions for 684 receiving yards and seven touchdowns. In his final season with the team in 2013, he had 73 receptions for 1,060 receiving yards and ten touchdowns. He finished his career, second in school history with 215 receptions for 3,027 yards and 27

Professional career

left, 200px, Gabriel with the Cleveland Browns in 2015

Cleveland Browns

Gabriel was signed by the

after going

undrafted 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 ...

in the

2014 NFL Draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

. Gabriel made his NFL debut on September 7, 2014, against the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

, recording one reception for five yards. In Week 9, 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 caught 34-yard pass from quarterback

Brian Hoyer Axel Edward Brian Hoyer (born October 13, 1985) is an American football quarterback for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). Since joining the NFL in 2009 as an undrafted free agent, he has started for seven different ...

for his first career touchdown reception. He finished the 2014 season with 36 receptions for 621 yards and a touchdown. In the 2015 season, he recorded 28 receptions for 241 yards. On September 3, 2016, Gabriel was released by the Browns.

Atlanta Falcons

Gabriel was claimed off waivers by the

on September 4, 2016. In Atlanta's Week 12 game against the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

, he scored two touchdowns, helping to lead the Falcons to a 38–19 win. In Week 14 against the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

, he had three receptions for 82 yards and scored one touchdown in the 42–14 victory. He played a significant role for the Falcons throughout the season, which was successful and resulted in an appearance in

Super Bowl LI Super Bowl LI was an American football game played at NRG Stadium in Houston, Houston, Texas, on February 5, 2017, to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2016 NFL season, 2016 season. The American Football Confer ...

, where they lost to the

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 ...

in overtime by a score of 34–28. Gabriel had three receptions for 76 yards in the

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

. Overall, in the 2016 regular season, Gabriel recorded 35 receptions for 579 yards and six touchdowns. On March 8, 2017, the Falcons placed a second-round tender on Gabriel. He officially signed his tender on April 22, 2017. In the 2017 season, Gabriel played in 16 games with four starts, recording 33 receptions for 378 yards and one touchdown.

Chicago Bears

On March 14, 2018, Gabriel signed a four-year $26 million contract with the

2018 season

On September 9, Gabriel made his Bears debut, catching five passes for 25 yards in the season-opening 24–23 road loss to the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

. On September 30, 2018, he caught a season-high seven passes for 104 yards and two touchdowns in a 48–10 victory over the

. This was the second time he caught two touchdowns in a single game, the last time was with the Atlanta Falcons in 2016. On October 14, Gabriel had five receptions for 110 yards in the 31–28 overtime loss to the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

in Week 6. Gabriel finished the 2018 season with the Bears with 67 catches for 688 yards and two touchdowns.

2019 season

During Week 3 against 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 ...

, Gabriel caught six passes for 75 yards and three touchdowns in the 31–15 road victory, though he exited the game with a concussion. He was the 35th player in NFL history to score three receiving touchdowns in the first half of a game and the first Bears player to do so in the Super Bowl era. Gabriel was also the fourth player in Bears history to accomplish the feat in one quarter after Red Pollock (

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * ...

), Frank Minini (

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

), and

Gale Sayers Gale Eugene Sayers (May 30, 1943September 23, 2020) was an American professional football player who was both a halfback and return specialist in the National Football League (NFL). In a relatively brief but highly productive NFL career, Saye ...

(

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

). Gabriel was forced to miss the following week's 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 ...

. Without Gabriel, the Bears won 16–6. He finished the 2019 season with 29 receptions for 353 yards and four touchdowns along with 20 rushing yards. On February 21, 2020, Gabriel was released by the Bears after two seasons in a move to create cap space. On April 9, 2021, Gabriel announced his retirement.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Postseason

References

External links

Abilene Christian Wildcats bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gabriel, Taylor 1991 births Living people Abilene Christian Wildcats football players American football wide receivers Atlanta Falcons players Chicago Bears players Cleveland Browns players John Horn High School alumni People from Mesquite, Texas Players of American football from Texas Sportspeople from the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex