Samuel Lee Gash Jr. (born March 7, 1969) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a fullback in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the Penn State Nittany Lions.

Professional career

Gash was drafted in the eighth round of the 1992 NFL draft by the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

. A two time

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...

er in his twelve-year career, Gash played for the Patriots (1992–1997),

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

(1998–1999, 2003), and the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

(2000–2002). In 1999, Gash earned the unique distinction of being the first back in NFL history to be selected to the

without carrying the ball at all during the regular season. He won a

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

in 2000 with the Baltimore Ravens. Gash was cut by the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

one day before the 2004 training camp began.

Coaching

Gash began his coaching career in 2005 with the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

as an assistant

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s coach. In January 2007, Gash was hired as the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

' assistant special teams coach. In 2008, he became the Lions' running backs coach. Gash was fired by the Lions on December 31, 2012. On February 10, 2014, Gash was announced as the running backs coach of the Green Bay Packers. On January 19, 2016, he was fired by the Packers.

Personal life

Gash has relatives also involved with football. His younger brother, Eric, played outside linebacker at the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...

. In 2014 Eric Gash was selected as the head coach at his alma mater, Hendersonville High School, for the 2014 season. He is only the second African American hired as a head football coach at a western North Carolina high school since the late 1960s integration of public schools. The Gash brothers have a cousin,

Thane Thane (; previously known as Thana, List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city located on the northwestern side of the list of Indian states, state of Maharashtra in India and on ...

, who played

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for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

and

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

. His son, Isaiah, played college football for the Michigan Wolverines. Another son, Elijah, played college lacrosse for the

Albany Great Danes The Albany Great Danes are the NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic programs of the University at Albany, SUNY, located in Albany, New York, United States. A member of the America East Conference, the University at Albany, SUNY sponsors tea ...

and was drafted 30th overall in the 2023 Premier Lacrosse League draft by Whipsnakes Lacrosse Club. Elijah was drafted 46th overall in the 2023

National Lacrosse League The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league comprises 14 teams8 in the United States and 6 in Canada. The NLL is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

draft by Panther City Lacrosse Club before being picked up the Toronto Rock in a dispersal draft after Panther City ceased operations in 2024.

Notes and references

External links

Detroit Lions Bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gash, Sam 1969 births Living people Sportspeople from Hendersonville, North Carolina African-American coaches of American football American football fullbacks Penn State Nittany Lions football players New England Patriots players Buffalo Bills players Baltimore Ravens players New Orleans Saints players American Conference Pro Bowl players New York Jets coaches Detroit Lions coaches Green Bay Packers coaches 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen