Thomas Gatewood, Jr. (born March 7, 1950) 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 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 ...

. He was drafted by 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. ...

in the fifth round of the

1972 NFL Draft The 1972 NFL draft was held February 1–2, 1972, at the Essex House in New York City, New York. With the first overall pick of the draft, the Buffalo Bills selected defensive end Walt Patulski. Player selections Round one Round two ...

. 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 ...

at Notre Dame.

College career

While at Notre Dame, Gatewood set many receiving records, many of which were not broken until at least 30 years later. During his career he had 157 receptions for 2,283 yards and 19

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 ...

. In 1970, he was a consensus All-American after a then school record 77 receptions for 1,123 yards. The record was broken in 2006 by

Jeff Samardzija Jeffrey Alan Samardzija (; born January 23, 1985), nicknamed "Shark", is an American professional former baseball pitcher. He played college baseball and football for the University of Notre Dame, and was recognized as a two-time All-American ...

who had 78. His 157 career receptions were also a record until 2006 when both Samardzija and

Rhema McKnight Rhema Lee McKnight (born March 6, 1984 in Inglewood, California) is a former wide receiver for the University of Notre Dame's American Football team and signed with the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent on April 29, 2007. He was su ...

broke it. Gatewood still holds the record for the most catches per game in a season with 7.7.

Professional career

Gatewood was drafted by the

in the fifth round of the

. He played in seventeen games over two seasons, recording no receptions.

College Football Hall of Fame

On January 9, 2015, the

National Football Foundation The National Football Foundation (NFF) is a non-profit organization to promote and develop amateur American football on all levels throughout the United States and "developing the qualities of leadership, sportsmanship, competitive zeal and the dr ...

announced that Gatewood would be inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

later that year.

Personal life

His grandson, A.J. Dillon, is an American football

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

for 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 ...

, he played college football for

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

References

External links

Notre Dame Fighting Irish bioCollege Football Hall of Fame bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gatewood, Thom 1950 births Living people Players of American football from Baltimore All-American college football players American football tight ends American football wide receivers New York Giants players Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players