Gado Signs Free Agent Contract with Rams
11/5/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Benefiting from a rash of injuries that have sidelined several Rams' players, former Flames' standout Samkon Gado signed a free agent contract with the St. Louis Rams, as announced by the organization late yesterday afternoon.
This will be Gado's fifth stint with a National Football League program, since graduating from Liberty in 2005. The running back began his professional career as part of the Kansas City Chiefs when he signed a free agent contract following the NFL Draft, before being picked up by the Green Bay Packers later that summer.
During the 2005 season, Gado played in eight games, starting five for the Packers. He finished the year as one of the leading NFL rookie running backs by tallying 582 yards on 143 attempts and six touchdowns. Gado was twice named NFL Rookie of the Week, while taking home the NFL's Rookie Offensive Player of the Month honor in November.
After finishing the year with the most rushing touchdowns by a rookie running back in Packers' franchise history, Gado was traded to the Houston Texas following the opening week of the 2006 season. The running back saw playing time in eight games for the second-straight year, finishing the campaign with 54 carries for 217 yards and a touchdown.
Gado opened the 2007 season with Houston. Following three games with the Texans, the running back was claimed off waivers by the Miami Dolphins. Last year, he saw playing time in five games with the Dolphins, starting two, while rushing for 104 yards on 35 carries to go along with three touchdowns.
Gado enters his stint with the St. Louis Rams having rushed for 942 yards on 252 career rushing attempts and 11 rushing touchdowns over 25 career NFL games.
The Rams placed wide receiver Drew Bennett and wide receiver/kick returner Dante Hall on injured reserve yesterday, opening up the roster spot for Gado.
St. Louis' starting running back Steven Jackson missed the Rams' Week 8 match-up with New England due to a thigh injury, while being limited to seven carries for 17 yards last week against Arizona.
Two more St. Louis running backs have suffered injuries of late, as Antonio Pittman (hamstring) and Travis Minor (concussion) have also been limited in practice. Kenneth Darby is currently listed as the Rams' starting running back, followed by Gado on the depth chart.
Gado and the rest of the Rams will travel to the Meadowlands this weekend, when St. Louis faced the AFC East co-leading New York Jets on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.
While at Liberty, Gado finished up his career with a banner year as a senior. He rushed for a career-best 901 yards and 11 touchdowns, finishing No. 27 in the country in rushing yards per game (100.1) and 28th in the nation in scoring (8.00). The running back was named to the Big South first-team all-conference squad after leading the league in scoring and was named to the Football Gazette NCAA I-AA All-Eastern Region third team.
The senior also excelled in the classroom, garnering Big South all-academic honors with a 3.66 GPA in health promotions, while also being named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America District III team and the Division I-AA Athletics Directors Association All-Star team.
Gado is one of two former Flames who are currently playing in the NFL. Vince Redd, a Big South all-conference honoree from last year's conference champion team, signed a free agent contract with the New England Patriots on May 2, 2008. He currently is a member of the Patriot's practice squad.
This will be Gado's fifth stint with a National Football League program, since graduating from Liberty in 2005. The running back began his professional career as part of the Kansas City Chiefs when he signed a free agent contract following the NFL Draft, before being picked up by the Green Bay Packers later that summer.
During the 2005 season, Gado played in eight games, starting five for the Packers. He finished the year as one of the leading NFL rookie running backs by tallying 582 yards on 143 attempts and six touchdowns. Gado was twice named NFL Rookie of the Week, while taking home the NFL's Rookie Offensive Player of the Month honor in November.
After finishing the year with the most rushing touchdowns by a rookie running back in Packers' franchise history, Gado was traded to the Houston Texas following the opening week of the 2006 season. The running back saw playing time in eight games for the second-straight year, finishing the campaign with 54 carries for 217 yards and a touchdown.
Gado opened the 2007 season with Houston. Following three games with the Texans, the running back was claimed off waivers by the Miami Dolphins. Last year, he saw playing time in five games with the Dolphins, starting two, while rushing for 104 yards on 35 carries to go along with three touchdowns.
Gado enters his stint with the St. Louis Rams having rushed for 942 yards on 252 career rushing attempts and 11 rushing touchdowns over 25 career NFL games.
The Rams placed wide receiver Drew Bennett and wide receiver/kick returner Dante Hall on injured reserve yesterday, opening up the roster spot for Gado.
St. Louis' starting running back Steven Jackson missed the Rams' Week 8 match-up with New England due to a thigh injury, while being limited to seven carries for 17 yards last week against Arizona.
Two more St. Louis running backs have suffered injuries of late, as Antonio Pittman (hamstring) and Travis Minor (concussion) have also been limited in practice. Kenneth Darby is currently listed as the Rams' starting running back, followed by Gado on the depth chart.
Gado and the rest of the Rams will travel to the Meadowlands this weekend, when St. Louis faced the AFC East co-leading New York Jets on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.
While at Liberty, Gado finished up his career with a banner year as a senior. He rushed for a career-best 901 yards and 11 touchdowns, finishing No. 27 in the country in rushing yards per game (100.1) and 28th in the nation in scoring (8.00). The running back was named to the Big South first-team all-conference squad after leading the league in scoring and was named to the Football Gazette NCAA I-AA All-Eastern Region third team.
The senior also excelled in the classroom, garnering Big South all-academic honors with a 3.66 GPA in health promotions, while also being named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America District III team and the Division I-AA Athletics Directors Association All-Star team.
Gado is one of two former Flames who are currently playing in the NFL. Vince Redd, a Big South all-conference honoree from last year's conference champion team, signed a free agent contract with the New England Patriots on May 2, 2008. He currently is a member of the Patriot's practice squad.
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