Lamont Gaillard

Lamont Gaillard (born February 8, 1996) is an American football center for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Georgia.

Lamont Gaillard
No. 53 – Arizona Cardinals
Position:Center
Personal information
Born: (1996-02-08) February 8, 1996
Fayetteville, North Carolina
Height:6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight:305 lb (138 kg)
Career information
High school:Pine Forest (Fayetteville, NC)
College:Georgia
NFL Draft:2019 / Round: 6 / Pick: 179
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2020
Games played:13
Games started:2
Player stats at NFL.com
Player stats at PFR

Early life and high school

Gaillard was born and grew up in Fayetteville, North Carolina and attended Pine Forest High School. He played defensive tackle for the Trojans and was named first-team All-Mid-South 4-A Conference as a junior after making 100 tackles with four sacks. He was rated a four-star prospect by most recruiting services and committed to play college football at Georgia going into his senior year.[1] As a senior Gaillard participated in the 2014 Under Armour All-America Game.[2]

College career

Gaillard spent five total seasons as a member of the Georgia Bulldogs football team, redshirting his true freshman season. He was moved from defensive line to offensive line during his redshirt year and appeared in two games at right guard in his first season of play.[3] He started all 13 of the Bulldogs games as a redshirt sophomore before moving to center before the 2017 season. He started every game for Georgia at center in each of his final two seasons.[4] After the end of his redshirt senior season, Gaillard was invited to play in the 2019 East–West Shrine Game.[5]

Professional career

Gaillard was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the sixth round (179th overall) in the 2019 NFL Draft.[6] The Cardinals acquired this selection from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in exchange for the rights to head coach Bruce Arians. He signed a rookie contract with the team on May 9, 2019.[7] Gaillard spent his rookie season on the 53-man roster but did not appear in any regular season games.[8]

Gaillard made his NFL debut on September 13, 2020 in the season opener against the San Francisco 49ers when he took over at center following an injury to starter Mason Cole.[9] Gaillard made his first career start the following week against the Washington Football Team on September 20, 2020.[10] He took a leave of absence from the Cardinals after the birth of his daughter, and the team received a roster exemption for him on December 21, 2020; he returned to the team on December 28.[11]

References
  1. Batten, Sammy (July 21, 2013). "Pine Forest defensive lineman Lamont Gaillard commits to Georgia". The Fayetteville Observer. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  2. Reynolds, David (September 10, 2013). "Featherston selected to Under Armour All-American High School Football Game". Greensboro.com. News & Record. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  3. Ward, Gabe (April 12, 2019). "Is Lamont Gaillard The Hidden Gem The Redskins Interior OL Needs?". HogsHaven.com. SB Nation. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  4. Patsko, Scott (March 5, 2019). "Lamont Gaillard, Georgia C: 2019 NFL Draft profile". Cleveland.com. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  5. Rowe, Jake (January 15, 2019). "Lamont Gaillard off to blistering start at East-West Shrine game". Dawgs247.com. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
  6. Griffith, Mike (April 27, 2019). "Cardinals draft Georgia's Lamont Gaillard in the sixth round". AJC.com. Atlanta Journal Constitution.
  7. Root, Jess (May 9, 2019). "Cardinals announce signing of Kyler Murray, 5 other draft picks". Cards Wire. USA Today. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
  8. Odegard, Kyle (July 24, 2020). "Cardinals Position Overview 2020: Offensive Line". AZCardinals.com. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  9. "Murray leads Arizona Cardinals in comeback against 49ers". The Arizona Republic. September 13, 2020. Retrieved September 14, 2020.
  10. "Cardinals focus on improvements despite big plays; Gaillard gets first start". The Arizona Republic. September 20, 2020. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
  11. Kern, Mason (December 30, 2020). "Cole, Gaillard Enter Fatherhood; Cardinals Sticking with Same Starter". SI.com. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
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