 Gay practices with theNew Orleans Saints in 2011 | |||||||||||||||
| No. 21, 20 | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Cornerback | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | (1982-05-05)May 5, 1982 (age 43) Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight | 190 lb (86 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school | Brusly(Brusly, Louisiana) | ||||||||||||||
| College | LSU | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 2004: undrafted | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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Randall Jerome Gay Jr. (born May 5, 1982) is an American former professionalfootball player who was acornerback in theNational Football League (NFL). He playedcollege football for theLSU Tigers. He was signed by theNew England Patriots as anundrafted free agent in 2004.
Gay also played for theNew Orleans Saints. He played on aSuper Bowl winning team with both the Patriots and the Saints, and is also noted for being one of the two Louisianan-born (other being former LSU and Saints teammate, Devery Henderson) having won a championship at both the college and pro level for teams of Louisiana, his home state.
At Brusly High School inBrusly, Louisiana, Randall Gay was a four-yearletterman in football. He also lettered inweight lifting (three years) andtrack (one year). He was a first-team All-Metro selection, and a first-team All-District selection in football during his last two years of high school. As a senior, in only eight games, he rushed for 1,067 yards and 13 touchdowns, caught three touchdown passes, and returned two punts for touchdowns.
He playedcollege football atLouisiana State University. He won aBCS National Championship with theTigers in2003 as anickel back.
On April 29,2004, he was signed by the Patriots shortly after theNFL draft as anundrafted free agent. His rookie year, Gay beat out cornerbackChristian Morton, the Patriots' 7th-round draft pick, for a place on the roster. Later in the season, Gay was placed into the starting lineup because of injuries to veteransTy Law andTyrone Poole. Gay's rookie season concluded with a victory inSuper Bowl XXXIX, in which he started oppositeAsante Samuel where he was the leading tackler with 11 solo tackles. Gay was involved in several low level controversies as a Patriot: He failed to make a full contribution in2005 and2006, due to injuries that landed him oninjured reserve. This led to some long running criticisms from the tough vocal New England fans and repeated questions about him on the region's talk shows and in the papers. Hence, after failing to deliver up to expectations ofNew England Patriots fans in both the 2005 and 2006 seasons, before the 2007 training camp, Gay was quoted as saying:[1]
You know how it is, It's like, 'Oh man, you're still getting a paycheck?' and 'Two years in a row!?!' That's the kind of stuff you really don't want to hear, because in your heart you want to be back out there.I can say this, I'm the most anxious person for training camp. I'm about the only one here that's ready for it to come.
Gay returned in 2007 and played primarily as a nickel back and a backup safety. He did start several games, including the AFC Divisional Game against theJacksonville Jaguars. Gay intercepted a career-high three passes while playing in every game of the 2007 season en route to a perfect regular season that ended with the Patriots' defeat at the hands of theNew York Giants inSuper Bowl XLII.
On March 2, 2008, Gay signed a four-year, $17.8 million contract with theNew Orleans Saints. The deal included a $3.75 million signing bonus and $6.9 million in guaranteed money.[2] He was a member of the Saints'2009Super Bowl XLIV Championship team. Gay suffered a concussion early in the2010 season that eventually led to him being placed oninjured reserve on October 20, 2010.[3]
Gay was released by New Orleans on July 28, 2011, and retired thereafter.[4] In 2012, he was a named plaintiff in one of thelawsuits filed by former players against the NFL regarding the league's history of players sufferingconcussions.[5]
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | TFL | Int | Yds | TD | Lng | PD | FF | FR | Yds | TD | ||
| 2004 | NWE | 15 | 9 | 34 | 29 | 5 | 0.0 | 1 | 2 | 23 | 0 | 13 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 41 | 1 |
| 2005 | NWE | 5 | 2 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2006 | NWE | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2007 | NWE | 16 | 3 | 37 | 32 | 5 | 0.0 | 1 | 3 | 52 | 0 | 31 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 1 |
| 2008 | NOR | 14 | 13 | 53 | 49 | 4 | 1.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2009 | NOR | 14 | 7 | 37 | 32 | 5 | 1.0 | 2 | 1 | 25 | 0 | 25 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2010 | NOR | 4 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 71 | 34 | 180 | 157 | 23 | 2.0 | 7 | 6 | 100 | 0 | 31 | 34 | 1 | 3 | 56 | 2 | ||
| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | TFL | Int | Yds | TD | Lng | PD | FF | FR | Yds | TD | ||
| 2004 | NWE | 3 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2007 | NWE | 3 | 1 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2009 | NOR | 3 | 1 | 17 | 17 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | 5 | 32 | 29 | 3 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
