DeMarquis Gates

DeMarquis Larenz Gates (born March 7, 1996) is an American professional football linebacker. He played college football for the Ole Miss Rebels.

Early life Gates attended Lovejoy High School in Hampton, Georgia. As a junior at Lovejoy, Gates made 132 tackles and was named All-Region. He missed his senior season with a torn ACL. Ranked the No. 16 outside linebacker in his class by 247Sports, Gates committed to Ole Miss on March 28, 2013.

College career Gates played linebacker at Ole Miss Rebels. In November 2015, Gates made his second career start against LSU in place of the injured Denzel Nkemdiche. Gates finished with 14 tackles, a pass breakup, and a quarterback hurry and was named Southeastern Conference (SEC) Defensive Player of the Week. He led the team in tackles from 2015 to 2017, becoming the first Ole Miss player to do so since Abdul Jackson from 1992 to 1994. During his senior season in 2017, Gates made 114 tackles, including an SEC-best 70 solo tackles that ranked 13th in FBS. He became the first Ole Miss player with more than 100 tackles since Patrick Willis in 2006.

Professional career

Cleveland Browns After going undrafted in the 2018 NFL draft, Gates was signed by the Cleveland Browns on May 22, 2018.

Memphis Express Gates joined the Memphis Express of the Alliance of American Football (AAF). On March 28, 2019, Gates was named AAF Defensive Player of the Week. The AAF abruptly folded on April 2 after eight games. Gates led the AAF in tackles with 52 and forced fumbles with five.

Washington Redskins On April 11, 2019, Gates was signed by the Washington Redskins. He was waived on June 11.

Houston Roughnecks Gates was selected by the Houston Roughnecks of the XFL in Phase 3 Round 8 of the 2020 XFL draft. Before the season was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, Gates had 32 tackles (second on the team) and 2.0 sacks (tied for the team lead) for the Roughnecks. He had a game-winning fumble recovery against the Dallas Renegades and forced a fumble late versus the Seattle Dragons. He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020.

Minnesota Vikings On March 25, Gates signed with the Minnesota Vikings. He was waived on August 13, 2020.

TSL Blues Gates was selected by the Blues of The Spring League during its player selection draft on October 12, 2020.

Saskatchewan Roughriders He signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League (CFL) on December 17, 2020. He played in five games during the CFL's shortened 2021 regular season, recording five tackles and three special teams tackles.

Birmingham Stallions (first stint) Gates was selected by the Birmingham Stallions of the United States Football League (USFL) with the second pick in the 29th round of the 2022 USFL draft. He was ruled inactive for the team's game against the Tampa Bay Bandits on May 7, 2022. He was moved back to the active roster on May 14.

Chicago Bears On August 6, 2022, Gates signed with the Chicago Bears. He was waived on August 30, 2022, and signed to the practice squad the next day. On January 4, 2023, the Bears signed him to the active roster.

On August 29, 2023, Gates was waived by the Bears and re-signed to the practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on December 16. Gates was released on January 4, 2024.

Birmingham Stallions (second stint) On February 13, 2024, Gates re-signed with the Stallions, now with the United Football League (UFL). He re-signed with the team on September 20, 2024.

Statistics Year League Team Games Tackles Interceptions Fumbles GP Cmb Solo Ast Sck Int Yds Avg Lng TD FF FR Yds TD 2019 AAF MEM 8 72 53 19 1.0 0 0 0.0 0 0 5 2 1 0 2020 XFL HOU 5 32 25 7 2.0 1 9 9.0 9 0 1 3 – – 2021 CFL SSK 5 5 5 0 0.0 0 0 0.0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2022 USFL BHAM 9 68 44 24 6.5 1 19 19.0 19 0 2 1 – 0 2022 NFL CHI 3 1 0 1 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2023 NFL CHI 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Career 34 179 128 51 9.5 2 28 14.0 19 0 9 7 1 0