Curtis Gatewood
James Curtis Gatewood is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League. He played college football for the Vanderbilt Commodores and was signed by the Washington Redskins as an undrafted free agent in 2008.
Gatewood was also a member of the Kansas City Chiefs, Detroit Lions, Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers, Arizona Cardinals, and Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Early life
Gatewood was born to Beverly Burnette and James Gatewood in Memphis, Tennessee. Growing up, Gatewood played basketball and soccer before deciding to play football in the fourth grade. As a sophomore at White Station High School in Memphis, he played both tight end and defensive end before sitting out his junior year in football to play basketball and to run track. However, Gatewood returned to playing football as a senior and recorded 45 tackles, 2.5 sacks and two fumble recoveries while playing weakside linebacker. On offense, Gatewood caught nine passes for 146 yards and one touchdown. Following the season he was named First-team All-Region.On July 8, 2003, Gatewood officially committed to Vanderbilt University becoming the first recruit from Memphis to sign with Vanderbilt since 1997. Gatewood also received scholarship offers from Mississippi State, Tennessee Tech and Memphis.
College career
As a true freshman in 2003, Gatewood was redshirted but was named the scout team Defensive Player of the Week three times. In 2004, he played in every game as a backup linebacker and on special teams. He recorded nine tackles including multi tackle games on two occasions. As a redshirt sophomore in 2005, Gatewood moved from linebacker to defensive end and recorded 22 tackles. Against Arkansas and Florida he recorded a season-high four tackles.Gatewood started every game for Vanderbilt in 2006 and led the team in sacks with seven. He set his career high in tackles and sacks on September 30 against Tennessee State with nine and 1.5 respectively. He ended his junior season with 49 tackles, eight sacks, three fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles.
To start off his senior season in 2007, Gatewood sacked Ole Miss quarterback Brent Schaeffer on fourth down which gave the Commodores the ball. Vanderbilt scored on the following drive giving them a 31-17 lead. On October 20, Gatewood teamed up with linebacker Marcus Buggs to sack South Carolina quarterback Blake Mitchell on consecutive downs to preserve a 17-6 lead for Vanderbilt. He ended the season with seven sacks after he predicted he'd record 15 sacks before the season.