Sean Gilbert
Encyclopedia
Sean Gilbert is a former professional American football
defensive lineman who was selected by the Los Angeles Rams
as the third overall pick of the 1992 NFL Draft
. A 6'5", 318-lb. defensive tackle from the University of Pittsburgh
, Gilbert played in 11 NFL
seasons from 1992 to 2003 for the Rams, Washington Redskins
, Carolina Panthers
, and Oakland Raiders
. He was a 1993 Pro Bowl
selection for the Rams, recording 10.5 sacks. He is also the uncle of and advisor to New York Jets
cornerback
Darrelle Revis
.
Quips. As a senior Gilbert was a Parade Magazine All-America and the USA Today
Prep Defensive Player of the Year and the Associated Press named him to its First-team All-state after leading the "Quips" to a 14-1 record and a Western Pennsylvania AAA championship. He made 91 tackles as a senior and recovered two fumbles for touchdowns. He also played guard on offense for Aliquippa.
choice in 1991. He had 99 tackles (21 for a loss) and 6 sacks in his final two seasons at Pitt. In 1991 against Penn State, Gilbert totalled 11 tackles (6 for a loss) and 1 sack. One observer said Gilbert, "played like a man possessed". As a senior Gilbert had 17 tackles for a loss and 4 sacks. Gilbert played in 6 games, missing almost half of the season with a knee injury. He did not play as a freshman due to the NCAA "Prop 48 rule".
While playing at the University of Pittsburgh, he played with a stellar list of teammates and coaches. On the coaching staff while he was there were Jon Gruden, Mike McCarthy and Marvin Lewis; all who later became NFL head coaches. His teammates included NFL standouts Curtis Martin, Billy Davis, Keith Hamilton, Anthony Dorsett, Jr., former WWF wrestler Matt Bloom as well as sports and entertainment attorney E. Lindsey Maxwell II, Esq.
40-yard time: 4.8
Bench Press: 400 lbs.
Gilbert entered the 1992 NFL Draft as a junior after only two collegiate seasons.
first-round pick Terrell Buckley
wanted a deal higher than the Rams paid defensive end Sean Gilbert, the third player taken, and held out 50 days as a result. "The real problem is that Sean Gilbert signed such a bad deal, and now they're trying to sign bad deals for everyone taken after him," NFL agent Carl Poston said.
Gilbert started as a rookie, recorded 5 sacks, and was named All-rookie by Pro Football Writers Association
. In 1993 Gilbert was voted to his first Pro Bowl and recorded 10.5 sacks. He was also an All-NFC choice by UPI
and Pro Football Weekly
. In addition he was named All-Madden and was the NFC Defensive Player of the Week after a 4 sack performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers
.
In 1995 Gilbert moved to right defensive end (RDE) and was a Pro Bowl alternate, recording 5.5 sacks. The signing of Pro Bowl RDE Leslie O'Neal
made Gilbert expendable. "We've got Kevin Carter, D'Marco Farr
, Jimmie Jones
, and Leslie O'Neal," Rams vice president and director of football operations Steve Ortmayer said.
.
With the Redskins, Gilbert was again an alternate to the Pro Bowl. He had 68 tackles and 3 sacks and was a force against the run. As Rams quarterback Steve Walsh said, "Sean Gilbert is playing like a monster." He also helped the defense by drawing double-team blocking. He sprained his knee against the Dallas Cowboys
on Thanksgiving Day.
Gilbert rejected the Redskins' five-year, $20 million offer that included a $5 million signing bonus. He demanded approximately $22.5 million over five years, including an $8 million signing bonus that was to be paid immediately. As a result, the Redskins made Gilbert their franchise player, but rather than sign the one-year $3.4 million tender offer, Gilbert sat out the 1997 season. After the 1997 season the Redskins again made Gilbert a franchise player, this time offering a one-year contract for $2.97 million (the average of the 5 highest paid DTs). Gilbert objected and asked for arbitration saying the Redskins did not have the right to place their franchise player tag on him for a second straight year. On March 17, 1998, the NFLPA and the NFL had an all-day hearing to resolve the case.
in 1998 for the Panthers' first round picks in 1999 and 2000. On April 21, 1998, the trade became final when he signed an offer sheet for a seven-year contract worth $46.5 million.
Gilbert returned to RDE in 1998 and recorded 53 tackles and 6 sacks, starting all 16 games. In 1999 and 2000 Gilbert moved to his preferred right defensive tackle position and averaged 50 tackles and 3 sacks during those two seasons. In 2001 Gilbert switched to left defensive tackle and recorded 25 tackles and 2 sacks. He was injured and played in only nine games (starting all of them).
Gilbert broke his right hip on October 27, 2002 during a game versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
and missed the last eight games of the season. Gilbert totaled only 5 tackles during the injury-shortened season.
The giving up of two first-round picks and paying Gilbert over $6 million a year was called a "debacle" by ESPN who reported that Former Panthers coach Dom Capers
regretted that move, stating:
On March 10, 2003, the Panthers released Gilbert.
Gilbert is also President and CEO of I GOT Records whose "mission is to bring new and exciting music right to the consumers." Gilbert now resides in Charlotte with his wife, Nicole, and their four children, Deshaun, A’lexus, Zaccheaus and A’lea.
Gilbert, who is Darrelle Revis' uncle, advised the Jet cornerback during his 2010 holdout. Revis eventually signed prior to Week one in 2010 but pulled a hamstring against the New England Patriots.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
defensive lineman who was selected by the Los Angeles Rams
St. Louis Rams
The St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Rams have won three NFL Championships .The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland,...
as the third overall pick of the 1992 NFL Draft
1992 NFL Draft
The 1992 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 26–27, 1992. The league also held a supplemental draft after the regular draft...
. A 6'5", 318-lb. defensive tackle from the University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
, Gilbert played in 11 NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
seasons from 1992 to 2003 for the Rams, Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
, Carolina Panthers
Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are currently members of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Panthers, along with the Jacksonville Jaguars, joined the NFL as expansion...
, and Oakland Raiders
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
. He was a 1993 Pro Bowl
1993 Pro Bowl
The 1993 AFC-NFC Pro Bowl was played on February 7, 1993 at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. The final score was AFC — 23, NFC — 20. Steve Tasker of the Buffalo Bills was the game's MVP. This was the first Pro Bowl to go into overtime...
selection for the Rams, recording 10.5 sacks. He is also the uncle of and advisor to New York Jets
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
cornerback
Cornerback
A cornerback is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in American and Canadian football. Cornerbacks cover receivers, to defend against pass offenses and make tackles. Other members of the defensive backfield include the safeties and occasionally linebackers. The cornerback position...
Darrelle Revis
Darrelle Revis
Though Revis was not the first defensive back drafted in the 2007 NFL Draft , he was the first cornerback taken that year...
.
Early life
Gilbert played football for the AliquippaAliquippa High School
Aliquippa Jr./Sr. High School is located in the city of Aliquippa in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. in 2007, The Jr./Sr. High supports grades 9–12 with an enrollment of 465 students. By 2010 the grade 9–12 enrollment declined to 329 pupils with further decline projected through 2019...
Quips. As a senior Gilbert was a Parade Magazine All-America and the USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
Prep Defensive Player of the Year and the Associated Press named him to its First-team All-state after leading the "Quips" to a 14-1 record and a Western Pennsylvania AAA championship. He made 91 tackles as a senior and recovered two fumbles for touchdowns. He also played guard on offense for Aliquippa.
College career
As a defensive tackle Gilbert was an All-AmericaAll-America
An All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...
choice in 1991. He had 99 tackles (21 for a loss) and 6 sacks in his final two seasons at Pitt. In 1991 against Penn State, Gilbert totalled 11 tackles (6 for a loss) and 1 sack. One observer said Gilbert, "played like a man possessed". As a senior Gilbert had 17 tackles for a loss and 4 sacks. Gilbert played in 6 games, missing almost half of the season with a knee injury. He did not play as a freshman due to the NCAA "Prop 48 rule".
While playing at the University of Pittsburgh, he played with a stellar list of teammates and coaches. On the coaching staff while he was there were Jon Gruden, Mike McCarthy and Marvin Lewis; all who later became NFL head coaches. His teammates included NFL standouts Curtis Martin, Billy Davis, Keith Hamilton, Anthony Dorsett, Jr., former WWF wrestler Matt Bloom as well as sports and entertainment attorney E. Lindsey Maxwell II, Esq.
Pre-draft
Height: 6-4½ Weight:31540-yard time: 4.8
Bench Press: 400 lbs.
Gilbert entered the 1992 NFL Draft as a junior after only two collegiate seasons.
Rams
On April 27, 1992, Gilbert signed a five-year $7.5 million contract, including a $3 million signing bonus. Other agents were critical of Gilbert's contract because it set values for the players in the draft taken after him. The Green Bay PackersGreen Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...
first-round pick Terrell Buckley
Terrell Buckley
Douglas Terrell Buckley is a former American football cornerback in the National Football League....
wanted a deal higher than the Rams paid defensive end Sean Gilbert, the third player taken, and held out 50 days as a result. "The real problem is that Sean Gilbert signed such a bad deal, and now they're trying to sign bad deals for everyone taken after him," NFL agent Carl Poston said.
Gilbert started as a rookie, recorded 5 sacks, and was named All-rookie by Pro Football Writers Association
Pro Football Writers Association
Technically known as the Pro Football Writers of America, this organization purports to be "The official voice of pro football writers, promoting and fighting for access to NFL personnel to best serve the public." Goals of the organization include improving access to practices and locker rooms,...
. In 1993 Gilbert was voted to his first Pro Bowl and recorded 10.5 sacks. He was also an All-NFC choice by UPI
United Press International
United Press International is a once-major international news agency, whose newswires, photo, news film and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations for most of the twentieth century...
and Pro Football Weekly
Pro Football Weekly
Pro Football Weekly is an American sports magazine, founded in 1967, that covers the National Football League...
. In addition he was named All-Madden and was the NFC Defensive Player of the Week after a 4 sack performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...
.
In 1995 Gilbert moved to right defensive end (RDE) and was a Pro Bowl alternate, recording 5.5 sacks. The signing of Pro Bowl RDE Leslie O'Neal
Leslie O'Neal
Leslie O'Neal is a former football defensive end who played 13 years in the National Football League for the San Diego Chargers, St. Louis Rams, and the Kansas City Chiefs from 1986 to 1999....
made Gilbert expendable. "We've got Kevin Carter, D'Marco Farr
D'Marco Farr
D'Marco Farr is a former American football player with the Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams in the National Football League. Farr played defensive tackle for the Rams from 1994–2000 and recorded 36.5 career sacks. He was a member of the Rams team that won Super Bowl XXXIV...
, Jimmie Jones
Jimmie Jones
Jimmie Sims Jones is a former professional American football player who played defensive tackle in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys, the Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams, and the Philadelphia Eagles. He played in 121 games and had 32 sacks...
, and Leslie O'Neal," Rams vice president and director of football operations Steve Ortmayer said.
Redskins
On April 8, 1996, he was traded to the Washington Redskins for a first-round pick (the sixth overall) in the 1996 NFL Draft1996 NFL Draft
The 1996 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 20–21, 1996...
.
With the Redskins, Gilbert was again an alternate to the Pro Bowl. He had 68 tackles and 3 sacks and was a force against the run. As Rams quarterback Steve Walsh said, "Sean Gilbert is playing like a monster." He also helped the defense by drawing double-team blocking. He sprained his knee against the Dallas Cowboys
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...
on Thanksgiving Day.
Gilbert rejected the Redskins' five-year, $20 million offer that included a $5 million signing bonus. He demanded approximately $22.5 million over five years, including an $8 million signing bonus that was to be paid immediately. As a result, the Redskins made Gilbert their franchise player, but rather than sign the one-year $3.4 million tender offer, Gilbert sat out the 1997 season. After the 1997 season the Redskins again made Gilbert a franchise player, this time offering a one-year contract for $2.97 million (the average of the 5 highest paid DTs). Gilbert objected and asked for arbitration saying the Redskins did not have the right to place their franchise player tag on him for a second straight year. On March 17, 1998, the NFLPA and the NFL had an all-day hearing to resolve the case.
Panthers
The Redskins traded Gilbert to the Carolina PanthersCarolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are currently members of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Panthers, along with the Jacksonville Jaguars, joined the NFL as expansion...
in 1998 for the Panthers' first round picks in 1999 and 2000. On April 21, 1998, the trade became final when he signed an offer sheet for a seven-year contract worth $46.5 million.
Gilbert returned to RDE in 1998 and recorded 53 tackles and 6 sacks, starting all 16 games. In 1999 and 2000 Gilbert moved to his preferred right defensive tackle position and averaged 50 tackles and 3 sacks during those two seasons. In 2001 Gilbert switched to left defensive tackle and recorded 25 tackles and 2 sacks. He was injured and played in only nine games (starting all of them).
Gilbert broke his right hip on October 27, 2002 during a game versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football franchise based in Tampa, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the Southern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League – they are the only team in the division not to come from the old NFC West...
and missed the last eight games of the season. Gilbert totaled only 5 tackles during the injury-shortened season.
The giving up of two first-round picks and paying Gilbert over $6 million a year was called a "debacle" by ESPN who reported that Former Panthers coach Dom Capers
Dom Capers
Ernest Dominic "Dom" Capers is an American football coach, the current defensive coordinator of the Green Bay Packers, and the only man to serve two different National Football League expansion teams as their inaugural head coach....
regretted that move, stating:
"Sometimes you get in a desperate situation and you don't ever want to be in a desperate situation. You make decisions based on the fact that you don't have anybody in a position as opposed to being able to sit back and make long-term decisions that you think would be best for the organization." But Capers quickly realized he had sacrificed too much of Carolina's future for Gilbert. "There was a lot of discussion on that and my initial reaction was that it was too much," he said.
On March 10, 2003, the Panthers released Gilbert.
Raiders
The Raiders signed him on October 29, 2003. He was paid a total of $1.5 million for the 2003 season He ended the year with just 7 tackles. After the 2003 season Gilbert was an unrestricted free agent. After no teams offered him a contract in 2004, Gilbert retired.After football
Gilbert has gone on to a career as a businessman since retiring from the NFL. He is the founder of Sean Gilbert Associates, Inc; the CEO of Nerih, Inc; the owner of Obediah Records, LLC; and a partner in Esquire Big & Tall Men’s Clothing Store in Charlotte, NC.Gilbert is also President and CEO of I GOT Records whose "mission is to bring new and exciting music right to the consumers." Gilbert now resides in Charlotte with his wife, Nicole, and their four children, Deshaun, A’lexus, Zaccheaus and A’lea.
Gilbert, who is Darrelle Revis' uncle, advised the Jet cornerback during his 2010 holdout. Revis eventually signed prior to Week one in 2010 but pulled a hamstring against the New England Patriots.