Rico Gathers

Rico Gathers

No. 80 Dallas Cowboys
Position:	Tight end
Personal information
Date of birth:	(1994-01-07) January 7, 1994
Place of birth:	New Orleans, Louisiana
Height:
Weight:
Career information
High school:	Riverside Academy (LA)
College:	Baylor
NFL draft:	2016 / Round: 6 / Pick: 217
Career history
Dallas Cowboys (2016–present)
Roster status:	Active
Career highlights and awards
AP honorable-mention All-American (2015) First-team All-Big 12 (2015) Third-team All-Big 12 (2016) Big 12 All-Defensive Team (2015) Louisiana Mr. Basketball (2011)
Career NFL statistics
Player stats at NFL.com
Player stats at PFR

Ricardo Darnell "Rico" Gathers (born January 7, 1994) is an American football tight end for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college basketball at Baylor University and did not play college football.

Early years

Gathers was named Louisiana Mr. Basketball while at Riverside Academy in Reserve. 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 scholarship from Baylor University. He became a starter at power forward 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 also led the conference in double-doubles with 16. He recorded a school record 28 rebounds in a win over Huston-Tillotson. In his final year he averaged 11.4 points and 9.1 rebounds.

Head coach Art Briles encouraged him to spend his last year of college eligibility with the football team, but he still chose to declare for the NFL Draft.

Professional career

Although he had not played a down of football since middle school as a 13-year-old, he was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the sixth round (217th overall) of the 2016 NFL Draft, based on the potential he showed during his pre-draft workout. He is following in the foot steps of Cornell Green, Peter Gent, Percy Howard, Ken Johnson, Ron Howard and Manny Hendrix, as basketball players that were converted by the Cowboys to play professional football.

Personal life

Gather's father is the cousin of the late Hank Gathers, an All-American and former Loyola Marymount star. He is married and has a 1-year-old son as of 2015.

External links

• Dallas Cowboys bio
• Baylor bio