DeMarquis Gates

DeMarquis Gates
No. 47 – Birmingham Stallions
Position:Linebacker
Personal information
Born: (1996-03-07) March 7, 1996 (age 28)
Hampton, Georgia, U.S.
Height:6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:221 lb (100 kg)
Career information
High school:Lovejoy (Hampton, Georgia)
College:Ole Miss
Undrafted:2018
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of 2023
Total tackles:2
Stats at Pro Football Reference

DeMarquis Larenz Gates (born March 7, 1996) is an American professional football linebacker for the Birmingham Stallions of the United Football League (UFL). He played college football for the Ole Miss Rebels.

Early life

Gates attended Lovejoy High School in Hampton, Georgia. As a junior at Lovejoy, Gates made 132 tackles and was named All-Region. He missed his senior season with a torn ACL.[1] Ranked the No. 16 outside linebacker in his class by 247Sports, Gates signed with Ole Miss on March 28, 2013.[2]

College career

Gates played linebacker at Ole Miss Rebels. In November 2015, Gates made his second career start against LSU in place of the injured Denzel Nkemdiche. Gates finished with 14 tackles, a pass breakup, and a quarterback hurry and was named Southeastern Conference (SEC) Defensive Player of the Week.[3] He led the team in tackles from 2015 to 2017, becoming the first Ole Miss player to do so since Abdul Jackson from 1992 to 1994.[4] Prior to the 2017 season, he was named to the Dick Butkus Award watchlist.[5] During his senior season in 2017, Gates made 114 tackles, including an SEC-best 70 solo tackles that ranked 13th in FBS. He became the first Ole Miss player with more than 100 tackles since Patrick Willis in 2006.[6] In 49 career games, Gates made 282 tackles, nine pass breakups, six sacks, four forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.[4]

Professional career

Cleveland Browns

After going undrafted in the 2018 NFL draft, Gates was signed by the Cleveland Browns on May 22, 2018.[4] He was waived on June 14.[7]

Memphis Express

Gates joined the Memphis Express of the Alliance of American Football (AAF). On March 28, 2019, Gates was named AAF Defensive Player of the Week.[8] The AAF abruptly folded on April 2 after eight games. Gates led the AAF in tackles with 52 and forced fumbles with five.[9]

Washington Redskins

On April 11, 2019, Gates was signed by the Washington Redskins.[10] He was waived on June 11.[11]

Houston Roughnecks

Gates was selected by the Houston Roughnecks of the XFL in Phase 3 Round 8 of the 2020 XFL Draft.[12] Before the season was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, Gates had 32 tackles (second on the team) and 2.0 sacks (tied for the team lead) for the Roughnecks. He had a game-winning fumble recovery against the Dallas Renegades and forced a fumble late versus the Seattle Dragons. He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020.[13]

Minnesota Vikings

On March 25, Gates signed with the Minnesota Vikings.[6] He was waived on August 13, 2020.[14]

TSL Blues

Gates was selected by the Blues of The Spring League during its player selection draft on October 12, 2020.[15]

Saskatchewan Roughriders

He signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League (CFL) on December 17, 2020.[16] He played in five games during the CFL's shortened 2021 regular season, recording five tackles and three special teams tackles.

Birmingham Stallions (first stint)

Gates was selected by the Birmingham Stallions of the United States Football League (USFL) with the second pick in the 29th round of the 2022 USFL draft.[17] He was ruled inactive for the team's game against the Tampa Bay Bandits on May 7, 2022.[18] He was moved back to the active roster on May 14.[19]

Chicago Bears

On August 6, 2022, Gates signed with the Chicago Bears.[20] He was waived on August 30, 2022, and signed to the practice squad the next day.[21][22] On January 4, 2023, the Bears signed him to the active roster.[23]

On August 29, 2023, Gates was waived by the Bears and re-signed to the practice squad.[24][25] He was promoted to the active roster on December 16.[26] Gates was released on January 4, 2024.[27]

Birmingham Stallions (second stint)

On February 13, 2024, Gates re-signed with the Stallions, now with the United Football League (UFL).[28] He re-signed with the team on September 20, 2024.[29]

Statistics

Year League Team Games Tackles Interceptions Fumbles
GP Cmb Solo Ast Sck Int Yds Avg Lng TD FF FR Yds TD
2019 AAF MEM 8 72 53 19 1.0 0 0 0.0 0 0 5 2 1 0
2020 XFL HOU 5 32 25 7 2.0 1 9 9.0 9 0 1 3 – –
2021 CFL SSK 5 5 5 0 0.0 0 0 0.0 0 0 1 0 0 0
2022 USFL BHAM 9 68 44 24 6.5 1 19 19.0 19 0 2 1 – 0
2022 NFL CHI 3 1 0 1 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2023 NFL CHI 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Career 34 179 128 51 9.5 2 28 14.0 19 0 9 7 1 0

References

  1. ^ Young, Lindsey (March 27, 2020). "5 Things to Know About New Vikings LB DeMarquis Gates". Vikings.com. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
  2. ^ Kulha, Andrew (March 28, 2013). "DeMarquis Gates Commits to Ole Miss: Rebels Land Talented 4-Star LB". Bleacher Report. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
  3. ^ "DeMarquis Gates wins SEC Defensive Player of Week Award". Fox Sports. November 23, 2015. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
  4. ^ a b c Williams, Charean (May 22, 2018). "Browns sign DeMarquis Gates". NBC Sports. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  5. ^ "Lovejoy alum and current Ole Miss Rebel DeMarquis Gates named to Butkis [sic] Award preseason watch list". Clayton News-Daily. July 20, 2017. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
  6. ^ a b Peters, Craig (March 25, 2020). "Vikings Agree to Terms with XFL LB DeMarquis Gates". Vikings.com. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  7. ^ Labbe, Dan (June 14, 2018). "Browns sign Solon native, former Walsh Jesuit kicker Ross Martin". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
  8. ^ Skipper, Daniel (March 28, 2018). "Ole Miss Football: DeMarquis Gates Named AAF Player Of The Week". OleHottyToddy.com. FanSided. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
  9. ^ Johnson, David (April 10, 2019). "What's Next For DeMarquis Gates In Wake Of AAF Collapse?". 247 Sports. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
  10. ^ "Redskins Sign Linebacker DeMarquis Gates". Redskins.com. April 11, 2019. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
  11. ^ "Redskins Sign DB Ashton Lampkin, Waive LB DeMarquis Gates". Redskins.com. June 11, 2019. Archived from the original on July 13, 2020. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
  12. ^ Bender, Bill (October 21, 2019). "XFL Draft picks 2019: Complete results, rosters, players for new football league". Sporting News. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
  13. ^ Condotta, Bob (April 10, 2020). "XFL suspends operations, terminates all employees, but Jim Zorn says he has hopes league will continue". SeattleTimes.com. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  14. ^ Ragatz, Will. "Vikings Waive DeMarquis Gates, Activate Oli Udoh From COVID-19 List". Sports Illustrated Minnesota Vikings News, Analysis and More. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  15. ^ @TheSpringLeague (October 12, 2020). "The #TSL2020 Blues LB group!" (Tweet). Retrieved November 3, 2020 – via Twitter.
  16. ^ "Riders Add Two On Defence". Riderville.com. December 17, 2020. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
  17. ^ King, Ben (February 23, 2022). "Three More Ole Miss Alumni Selected in 2022 USFL Draft". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  18. ^ @USFLStallions (May 7, 2022). "Tonight's inactives vs the Bandits" (Tweet). Retrieved May 9, 2022 – via Twitter.
  19. ^ @USFLStallions (May 14, 2022). "Roster Updates" (Tweet). Retrieved May 16, 2022 – via Twitter.
  20. ^ Barbieri, Alyssa (August 6, 2022). "Bears sign LB DeMarquis Gates, waive LB Christian Albright with injury designation". USAToday.com. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
  21. ^ Mayer, Larry (August 30, 2022). "Roster Moves: Bears reach NFL's 53-man roster limit". ChicagoBears.com.
  22. ^ Mayer, Larry (August 31, 2022). "Roster Moves: Bears place 14 on practice squad". ChicagoBears.com.
  23. ^ Mayer, Larry (January 4, 2023). "Bears put three on IR, sign three from practice squad | Roster Moves". ChicagoBears.com. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
  24. ^ Mayer, Larry (August 29, 2023). "Roster Moves: Bears reach NFL's 53-man roster limit". ChicagoBears.com.
  25. ^ Mayer, Larry (August 30, 2023). "Roster Moves: Bears sign 11 players to practice squad". ChicagoBears.com.
  26. ^ "Bears sign linebacker DeMarquis Gates to the active roster". Windy City Gridiron. December 16, 2023.
  27. ^ "DeMarquis Gates: Gets let go". CBS Sports. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  28. ^ Burke, Aidan (February 14, 2024). "UFL Free Agency Roundup: Feb. 13". UFL News and Discussion. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  29. ^ @UFL_PR (September 20, 2024). "The #UFL has announced the following transactions" (Tweet). Retrieved September 21, 2024 – via Twitter.