GMT: Gabriel on NFL's biggest stage in Super Bowl LI
2/4/2017 10:14:00 PM | Football
HOUSTON -- The straightest line between the points of Mesquite, Texas, and NRG Stadium in Houston is 250 miles. Taylor Gabriel ('15) took the scenic route.
Barely three years since completing his record-setting career at Abilene Christian University, Gabriel will be the latest Wildcat player to reach the Super Bowl when his Atlanta Falcons take on the New England Patriots Sunday in Houston. He follows former ACU greats Clint Longley (Cowboys, 1976), Wilbert Montgomery (Eagles, 1981), Cle Montgomery (Raiders, 1984), Dan Remsberg (Broncos, 1987) and Danieal Manning (Bears, 2007) into the NFL's championship game.
Gabriel was a three-sport standout, playing basketball and running track, at Mesquite's John Horn High School where he became all too familiar with adversity. When he was 16, his mother died suddenly of a brain aneurysm. Playing with her as his inspiration, Gabriel enrolled at ACU when the program was still NCAA Division II and left after the university's first year in Division I as one of the finest receivers in school history. On Oct. 26, 2013, against New Mexico State University, Gabriel set the single-game record with 15 catches. He ranks second all-time in receptions (215), receiving yards (3,027) and touchdown catches (27); fifth in all-purpose yards (3,880); and, when you add his two rushing and two punt return touchdowns, sixth in total TDs (31). He also threw a touchdown pass for good measure.
For the rest of this edition of Grant Me This, click here.
Barely three years since completing his record-setting career at Abilene Christian University, Gabriel will be the latest Wildcat player to reach the Super Bowl when his Atlanta Falcons take on the New England Patriots Sunday in Houston. He follows former ACU greats Clint Longley (Cowboys, 1976), Wilbert Montgomery (Eagles, 1981), Cle Montgomery (Raiders, 1984), Dan Remsberg (Broncos, 1987) and Danieal Manning (Bears, 2007) into the NFL's championship game.
Gabriel was a three-sport standout, playing basketball and running track, at Mesquite's John Horn High School where he became all too familiar with adversity. When he was 16, his mother died suddenly of a brain aneurysm. Playing with her as his inspiration, Gabriel enrolled at ACU when the program was still NCAA Division II and left after the university's first year in Division I as one of the finest receivers in school history. On Oct. 26, 2013, against New Mexico State University, Gabriel set the single-game record with 15 catches. He ranks second all-time in receptions (215), receiving yards (3,027) and touchdown catches (27); fifth in all-purpose yards (3,880); and, when you add his two rushing and two punt return touchdowns, sixth in total TDs (31). He also threw a touchdown pass for good measure.
For the rest of this edition of Grant Me This, click here.
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