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Omar Gaither

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Omar Gaither
refer to caption
Gaither with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2007
No. 96, 59, 53, 55, 47
Position:Linebacker
Personal information
Born: (1984-03-18) March 18, 1984 (age 40)
Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S.
Height:6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:235 lb (107 kg)
Career information
High school:Myers Park
(Charlotte, North Carolina)
College:Tennessee (2002–2005)
NFL draft:2006 / round: 5 / pick: 168
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Total tackles:344
Sacks:6.0
Forced fumbles:2
Fumble recoveries:3
Interceptions:2
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Omar Thabiti Gaither (born March 18, 1984) is a former American football linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fifth round of the 2006 NFL draft. He was also a member of the Carolina Panthers, Houston Texans, Oakland Raiders, and Atlanta Falcons. He played college football at Tennessee.

Early life

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Gaither played high school football at Myers Park High School.[1]

College career

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Gaither played college football at the University of Tennessee from 2002 until 2005.[2] He was a two-year starter at Tennessee, Gaither recorded 210 tackles with 6 sacks and 23 tackles for a loss. As a senior, finished with 78 tackles, 4 sacks, 7.5 tackles for a loss, and 4 forced fumbles en route to his second straight Second-team All-SEC. Had a career-high 92 tackles, including 12.5 tackles for a loss as a junior when he took over the strongside (or "Sam") linebacker duties.

Professional career

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Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand span 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump Bench press
6 ft 1 in
(1.85 m) 		234 lb
(106 kg) 		31+3⁄8 in
(0.80 m) 		9+1⁄2 in
(0.24 m)		 4.73 s 1.66 s 2.79 s 4.28 s 6.97 s 37.0 in
(0.94 m)		 9 ft 8 in
(2.95 m)		 23 reps
All values from NFL Combine/Pro Day[3][4]

Philadelphia Eagles

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Gaither was drafted in the fifth round of the 2006 NFL draft by the Philadelphia Eagles.[5] Gaither received significant playing time later in the 2006 season due to the struggles and injury of starter Matt McCoy. Gaither got his first NFL start at weakside linebacker on December 4, 2006, on a Monday Night Football win against the Carolina Panthers. He became the starter at weakside linebacker for the final 7 games (post and regular season) and finished with 58 tackles, 1 sack, and 1 interception.[6] Ranked second on the team in special teams tackles (30) and 4th in special teams production points (185).

Gaither was named the starter at middle linebacker in 2007 after the release of Jeremiah Trotter, and started all 16 games at middle linebacker and tallied team highs in tackles (70) and quarterback hurries (14).[7] He also ranked second on the team with 14 KDs, intercepting one pass, defending seven passes, and forcing one fumble.

Prior to the start of 2008, Gaither was moved back to his true position of weakside linebacker to make move room for Stewart Bradley. Though not an indictment of Gaither's performance, Bradley took over the MLB spot largely in part to his phenomenal first start against the New Orleans Saints in week 16 of 2007 (a game in which Gaither played Weakside ("Will") Linebacker). Gaither was benched prior to the week 12 game at the Baltimore Ravens in favor of Akeem Jordan.[8]

After starting middle linebacker Bradley suffered a torn ACL which caused him to be placed on injured reserve in 2009, Gaither beat out second-year linebacker Joe Mays for the starting position. Four weeks into the season, however, the Eagles re-signed Trotter to replace Gaither on first- and second-down plays. Gaither suffered a Lisfranc sprain during a game against the Oakland Raiders and was placed on injured reserve on October 28, 2009.[9]

Gaither was re-signed to a one-year contract on March 31, 2010.[10]

Carolina Panthers

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Gaither was signed by the Carolina Panthers on July 31, 2011, played in all four pre-season games and ten regular season games (started four), and was released on March 13, 2012.[11][12]

Houston Texans

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The Houston Texans signed Gaither on August 9, 2012, but released him during final cuts.[13][14]

Oakland Raiders

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The Raiders signed Gaither on November 14, 2012, to replace the injured Travis Goethel.[15]

Gaither re-signed with the Raiders on July 29, 2013, but released him during final cuts.[16][17]

Atlanta Falcons

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The Atlanta Falcons signed Gaither, along with fellow Eagles teammate Jamar Chaney, on September 17, 2013, to replace the injured Sean Weatherspoon.[18]

NFL career statistics

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Legend
Bold Career high

Regular season

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Year Team Games Tackles Interceptions Fumbles
GP GS Cmb Solo Ast Sck TFL Int Yds TD Lng PD FF FR Yds TD
2006 PHI 16 5 64 51 13 1.0 1 1 16 0 16 3 0 0 0 0
2007 PHI 16 16 102 70 32 0.0 4 1 49 0 49 9 1 0 0 0
2008 PHI 16 10 59 51 8 2.5 10 0 0 0 0 6 1 2 6 0
2009 PHI 5 3 30 24 6 1.5 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0
2010 PHI 14 2 36 32 4 0.0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2011 CAR 10 4 31 24 7 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
2012 OAK 7 4 14 9 5 0.0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2013 ATL 8 1 8 3 5 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Career 92 45 344 264 80 6.0 24 2 65 0 49 20 2 3 6 0

Playoffs

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Year Team Games Tackles Interceptions Fumbles
GP GS Cmb Solo Ast Sck TFL Int Yds TD Lng PD FF FR Yds TD
2006 PHI 2 2 13 11 2 0.0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
2008 PHI 3 0 4 3 1 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2010 PHI 1 0 1 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Career 6 2 18 15 3 0.0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0

References

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  1. ^ "Omar Gaither to raise money for Myers Park High". QCity Metro. April 14, 2009. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
  2. ^ "Omar Gaither - Football". University of Tennessee Athletics. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
  3. ^ "Omar Gaither Draft and Combine Prospect Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved December 28, 2024.
  4. ^ "Omar Gaither, DS #24 OLB, Tennessee". DraftScout.com. Retrieved March 31, 2010.
  5. ^ "2006 NFL Draft Listing". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  6. ^ "Omar Gaither 2006 Game Log". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
  7. ^ "2007 Philadelphia Eagles Rosters, Stats, Schedule, Team Draftees". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
  8. ^ Nalbone, John (November 23, 2008). "Eagles' LB Omar Gaither benched". NJ.com. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
  9. ^ Bowen, Les (October 22, 2009). "Surgery for Omar; Crash Course for Witherspoon". Inquirer.com. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
  10. ^ Wilson, Brad (April 1, 2010). "Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Omar Gaither signs a one-year deal with the team". Lehigh Valley Live. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
  11. ^ "New Panther Profile: LB Omar Gaither". Cat Scratch Reader. August 9, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
  12. ^ "Panthers release G Wharton, sign G Hangartner". NFL.com. Associated Press. March 13, 2012. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
  13. ^ Godfrey, Steven (August 10, 2012). "Houston Texans Sign Omar Gaither To Replace Keyaron Fox". SB Nation Houston. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
  14. ^ Gantt, Darin (August 27, 2012). "Texans cut LB Omar Gaither, WR Bryant Johnson to get to limit". NBC Sports. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
  15. ^ "Raiders sign Gaither, place Goethel on IR". ESPN.com. Associated Press. November 14, 2012. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
  16. ^ "Raiders Add Veteran LB Omar Gaither". Raiders.com. July 29, 2013. Archived from the original on August 6, 2013. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  17. ^ Brady, James (August 31, 2013). "Raiders make it to 53 players". SBNation.com. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
  18. ^ Bouda, Nate (September 17, 2013). "Falcons Sign LBs Omar Gaither & Jamar Chaney". NFLTradeRumors.co. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
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