Gale Reed Gilbert (born December 20, 1961) 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 ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

who played eight 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) for the Seattle Seahawks, Buffalo Bills, and San Diego Chargers. He is the only player in NFL history to be on five consecutive Super Bowl teams, none of which won.

Early life

Gilbert was born and raised in

Red Bluff, California Red Bluff is a city in and the county seat of Tehama County, California, United States. The population was 14,710 at the 2020 census, up from 14,076 at the 2010 census. It is located north of Sacramento, south of Redding, and it is bisect ...

; at age twelve, he was the

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

for a

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

team that advanced to the 1974 Little League World Series in

Williamsport, Pennsylvania Williamsport is a city in, and the county seat of, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, United States. It recorded a population of 27,754 at the 2020 Census. It is the principal city of the Williamsport Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a popul ...

. They lost the nationally televised championship game to a team from

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. Gilbert played college football at the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Franci ...

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

under head coach

Joe Kapp Joseph Robert Kapp (born March 19, 1938) is an American former football player, coach, and executive. He played college football as a quarterback at the University of California, Berkeley. Kapp played professionally in the Canadian Football Lea ...

. As a sophomore in 1982, he was the starter for the Golden Bears in the famous Big Game against Stanford, led by quarterback John Elway. Down by a point with four seconds remaining, The Play occurred; California executed five laterals on a kickoff return that scored the winning touchdown, through the Stanford Band.

Professional career

Seattle Seahawks

Gilbert was signed by the Seattle Seahawks 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 ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, beginning his career as the third-string quarterback behind

Dave Krieg David Michael Krieg ( ; born October 20, 1958) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He attended Milton College in his home state of Wisconsin and made the Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted free agent. ...

and

Jim Zorn James Arthur Zorn (born May 10, 1953) is a former American football player and coach. Zorn was a left-handed quarterback, and is best known as the starting quarterback of the Seattle Seahawks for their first eight seasons. He was the quarterback ...

. Gilbert became the backup to Krieg when Zorn was released on September 2,

. He also became the holder for placekicks, as Zorn's release opened that job up as well. Gilbert threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to Daryl Turner in the final seconds of a game against the Los Angeles Rams on September 23. Against the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

on September 29, Gilbert took over at quarterback for Krieg, who threw four interceptions. Gilbert threw an additional interception to end the game. Gilbert played in nine games in 1985, going 19-for-40 for 218 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. He played for the Seahawks from 1985 to

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

Buffalo Bills

Gilbert played for the Buffalo Bills from

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

, where he was the third-string quarterback, behind

Jim Kelly James Edward Kelly (born February 14, 1960) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He also spent two seasons with the Houston Gamblers of the United Stat ...

and

Frank Reich Frank Michael Reich Jr. (; ; born December 4, 1961) is an American football coach and former quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons, primarily with the Buffalo Bills. He played college football at Maryland a ...

. In his seasons with Buffalo, Gilbert appeared in only two games and attempted fifteen passes.

San Diego Chargers

Gilbert played for the San Diego Chargers from 1994 to 1995 where he backed up

Stan Humphries William Stanley Humphries (born April 14, 1965) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Washington Redskins and San Diego Chargers.. He played high school football a ...

. In San Diego, Gilbert saw increased playing time, appearing in 31 games over the course of the two seasons and starting one game each season. In these two seasons, Gilbert attempted 128 passes. He played briefly at the end of the Chargers' loss in Super Bowl XXIX. Gilbert's career ended on Sunday, December 31, 1995, during San Diego's 35–20 loss to the Indianapolis Colts in the wild card round of the playoffs. Gilbert did not play in his final game on an NFL roster. Gilbert is the only player in NFL history to be a member of five straight Super Bowl teams; four with the Bills ( XXV– XXVIII) and one with the Chargers ( XXIX). All five teams lost.

Personal life

On June 1, 1988, Gilbert was found not guilty of second-degree rape and indecent liberties. The accusations were made by a 21-year-old female he met at a bar in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood. Two days after his acquittal, he pled guilty to second-degree attempted sexual assault against a second woman and was subsequently sentenced to 240 hours of community service. Gilbert's son Garrett is currently on the New England Patriots Practice Squad.

in the NFL. He was originally selected by the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

in the sixth round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He played college football at

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

and SMU and competed in the

2010 BCS National Championship Game The 2010 Citi BCS National Championship Game was a college football bowl game to determine the national champion of the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season, and was played between the Texas Longhorns and the Alabama Crimson Tide. It was ...

. Gilbert has also been a member of the New England Patriots, Detroit Lions, Oakland Raiders,

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

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 divi ...

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West div ...

, and

Orlando Apollos The Orlando Apollos were a professional American football franchise based in Orlando, Florida, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF), which began play in February 2019. The team played its home games at Spectru ...

in the Alliance of American Football. Gilbert is also the father of former

Texas Christian University Horned Frogs The TCU Horned Frogs are the athletic teams that represent Texas Christian University. The 18 varsity teams participate in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA Division I and in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for football, competi ...

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. Lik ...

Griffin Gilbert.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilbert, Gale 1961 births Living people American football quarterbacks California Golden Bears football players Seattle Seahawks players Buffalo Bills players San Diego Chargers players People from Red Bluff, California Players of American football from California