Chris Gamble

Not to be confused with Chris Gambol.

Chris Lee Gamble (born March 11, 1983) is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback for nine seasons with the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Chris Gamble

Gamble in 2012
No. 20
Position:	Cornerback
Personal information
Born:	(1983-03-11) March 11, 1983 (age 42) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Height:	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight:	205 lb (93 kg)
Career information
High school:	Fort Lauderdale (FL) Dillard
College:	Ohio State
NFL draft:	2004: 1st round, 28th pick
Career history
Carolina Panthers (2004–2012)
Career highlights and awards
PFWA All-Rookie Team (2004) BCS national champion (2002) Third-team All-American (2002) 2× First-team All-Big Ten (2002, 2003)
Career NFL statistics
Total tackles: 508 Forced fumbles: 4 Fumble recoveries: 4 Pass deflections: 96 Interceptions: 27 Defensive touchdowns: 3 Stats at Pro Football Reference

Early life

He attended Nova High School in Davie, Florida. He left Nova to join Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 2000.

College career

Gamble played cornerback, wide receiver, and kick returner at Ohio State. He was an integral part of the OSU 2002 national championship team, which went 14–0. Gamble played all three ways at Ohio State (offense, defense and special teams), earning 1st Team All-Big Ten honors, and 3rd Team All-America honors for cornerback. Gamble had four interceptions for the 2002 season, one of which he returned for a touchdown.

In 38 career games, he started 18 times on defense and 12 times on offense (started on both offense and defense in five contests in 2002). He recorded 65 tackles (51 solo) with three stops behind the line of scrimmage, seven interceptions and 21 pass deflections. He also caught 40 passes for 609 yards (15.2 avg.), rushed six times for 68 yards (11.3 avg.) with a touchdown, returned 60 punts for 467 yards (7.8 avg.) and had 18 kickoff returns for 384 yards (21.3 avg.).^{[citation needed]}

Gamble majored in sports and leisure studies while at Ohio State.

Professional career

Pre-draft

On February 25, 2004, he attended the annual NFL Scouting Combine, but did not perform and combine or positional drills due to an ankle injury. On March 12, 2004, Gamble fully participated in Ohio State's Pro Day and performed all of the combined drills and positional drills. On April 5, 2004, he performed at another workout at Ohio State, establishing he had fully recovered from his ankle injury. He athleticism and speed were considered his top features with the main concern persistently listed as his lack of experience and rawness due to being a junior and playing as a wide receiver for the majority of his freshman year. Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ranked Gamble as the third best cornerback prospect in the draft.^[1] Former Dallas Cowboys executive Gil Brandt and ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr. also ranked him as the third best cornerback prospect eligible for the draft.^[2] NFL draft analysts and scouts unanimously projected Gamble to be a mid-first round pick in the 2004 NFL Draft.^[3]

Pre-draft measurables

Height	Weight	Arm length	Hand span	40-yard dash	20-yard shuttle	Three-cone drill	Vertical jump	Bench press
6 ft 1+1⁄4 in (1.86 m)	198 lb (90 kg)	31+1⁄8 in (0.79 m)	8+7⁄8 in (0.23 m)	4.52 s	4.25 s	6.89 s	39.5 in (1.00 m)	16 reps
All values from NFL Combine/Ohio State's Pro Day[4][5]

Carolina Panthers

The Carolina Panthers selected Gamble in the first round (28th overall) in the 2004 NFL draft. The Panthers originally held the 31st overall pick, but began assessing the possibility of selecting Gamble when he continued to go unselected after the mid-first round concluded. Upon reviewing the teams precedding them, the Panthers fully expected the Indianapolis Colts would undoubtedly select Gamble at 29th overall following the departures of cornerbacks Walt Harris and David Macklin in free agency. In order to advance their position ahead of the Colts, the Panthers traded their first round pick (31st overall) and a fourth round pick (127th overall) in the 2004 NFL Draft to the San Francisco 49ers and received the 28th overall pick in return and promptly used it to draft Gamble. He was the fourth cornerback drafted in 2004.^[6]

On July 30, 2004, the Carolina Panthers signed Gamble to a five–year, $7.50 million rookie contract that included an initial signing bonus of $2.75 million.^[7]

Head coach John Fox named Gamble the starting cornerback to begin the regular season, alongside Ricky Manning.^[8] In 2004, Chris became the first rookie defensive player in Carolina Panthers history to start all 16 games, and earned Pro Football Weekly All-Rookie honors after establishing a Panthers rookie record with six interceptions, placing him in third in the NFL in interceptions.

In 2005, Gamble led the Panthers once again with seven interceptions, ranking him fourth in the NFL.^{[citation needed]}

In 2006, Gamble once again led the team in interceptions. He tied teammates Ken Lucas and Richard Marshall with three interceptions each.^[9]

In 2007, he finished the year with 50 tackles and one interception. In 2008, he finished the year with three interceptions and was tied for third in the NFL in passes defended with 19.^{[citation needed]}

On November 28, 2008, the Carolina Panthers signed Gamble to a six–year, $52.75 million contract extension that included $23.25 million guaranteed and an initial signing bonus of $6.00 million.^[10]

On March 8, 2013, Gamble was released by the Panthers. He played nine seasons in Carolina and holds the franchise record for interceptions with 27.^[11] On March 11, 2013, Gamble retired.^[12]

Panthers franchise records

Chris Gamble set three Panthers franchise records, including:

• Interceptions: career (27)
• Interception return yards: season (157 in 2005) and game (101 against Tampa Bay on November 6, 2005)

NFL statistics

Year	Team	GP	COMB	TOTAL	AST	SACK	FF	FR	FR YDS	INT	IR YDS	AVG IR	LNG	TD	PD
2004	CAR	16	74	68	6	0.0	1	0	0	6	15	3	13	0	14
2005	CAR	15	75	65	10	0.0	1	1	0	7	157	22	61	1	12
2006	CAR	15	66	53	13	1.0	0	0	0	3	31	10	18	1	12
2007	CAR	15	47	42	5	0.0	1	1	0	1	2	2	2	0	6
2008	CAR	16	93	83	10	0.0	1	2	0	3	23	8	19	0	18
2009	CAR	16	58	50	8	0.0	0	0	0	4	55	14	41	0	12
2010	CAR	11	35	32	3	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8
2011	CAR	15	45	37	8	0.0	0	0	0	3	43	14	24	0	12
2012	CAR	4	15	8	7	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Career		123	508	438	70	1.0	4	4	0	27	326	12	61	2	96

^[13]

Key

• GP: games played
• COMB: combined tackles
• TOTAL: total tackles
• AST: assisted tackles
• SACK: sacks
• FF: forced fumbles
• FR: fumble recoveries
• FR YDS: fumble return yards
• INT: interceptions
• IR YDS: interception return yards
• AVG IR: average interception return
• LNG: longest interception return
• TD: interceptions returned for touchdown
• PD: passes defensed

Personal life

Gamble has two sons.