Antonio Gandy-Golden (born April 11, 1998) is an American former professional football wide receiver. He played college football at Liberty and was selected by the Washington Football Team in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL draft. Gandy-Golden retired from the NFL after two seasons in order to return to school.
 Gandy-Golden with the Washington Football Team in 2020 | |||||||||
| No. 10, 11, 18 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Wide receiver | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | April 11, 1998 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 223 lb (101 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Paulding County (Dallas, Georgia) | ||||||||
| College: | Liberty (2016–2019) | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 2020 / round: 4 / pick: 142 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Early life
editGandy-Golden attended Paulding County High School in Dallas, Georgia, where he played wide receiver on the football team.[1] He was a 2-star recruit according to Rivals.com. Following high school, Gandy-Golden committed to Liberty University over offers from Elon, Mercer, Murray State, Kennesaw State and Samford.[2]
College career
editAs a freshman, he recorded 315 receiving yards and three touchdown receptions.[3] In his sophomore season, he led the Big South in receptions and receiving yards, also becoming Liberty's seventh 1,000-yard receiver in program history.[3]
In his junior season, he recorded 245 receiving yards against New Mexico, breaking the school's record. He was a part of Liberty's victory in the 2019 Cure Bowl, the school's first bowl game and his final college game. He finished his career at Liberty as the only player there to post three connective thousand yard receiving seasons. As a student, he pursued a major in graphic design.[3]
College statistics
edit| Liberty Flames | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Receiving | |||||||||||||
| G | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | ||||||||||
| 2016 | 11 | 21 | 315 | 15 | 3 | |||||||||
| 2017 | 11 | 69 | 1,066 | 15.4 | 10 | |||||||||
| 2018 | 11 | 71 | 1,037 | 14.6 | 10 | |||||||||
| 2019 | 11 | 70 | 1,304 | 18.6 | 9 | |||||||||
| Total[4] | 44 | 231 | 3,722 | 16.1 | 32 | |||||||||
Professional career
edit| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) |
223 lb (101 kg) |
31+3⁄4 in (0.81 m) |
9+5⁄8 in (0.24 m) |
4.60 s | 4.55 s | 7.33 s | 36.0 in (0.91 m) |
10 ft 7 in (3.23 m) |
22 reps | |||
| All values from NFL Combine[5] | ||||||||||||
Gandy-Golden was selected by the Washington Redskins in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL draft with the 142nd overall pick.[6] He signed his four-year rookie contract on July 22, 2020.[7] He recorded his first reception for three yards in a Week 2 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.[8] He was placed on injured reserve on October 24, 2020, due to a hamstring injury,[9] and rejoined the active roster on December 26, 2020.[10]
Gandy-Golden was waived on August 31, 2021,[11] but re-signed to the practice squad the following day.[12] He was elevated to the active roster for the game against the New Orleans Saints in Week 5.[13] He was signed to the active roster on October 23.[14] He was waived on January 1, 2022 and re-signed to the practice squad.[15] He signed a reserve/futures contract after the 2021 regular season ended.[16]
Gandy-Golden announced his retirement in July 2022 with plans to return to school.[17] He was working on switching from wide receiver to tight end that offseason and finished his NFL career recording only one reception for three yards.[18]
Personal life
editGandy-Golden grew up performing gymnastics and juggling, which he attributed to helping him later in football.[19] He has also been noted for having several other talents, such as his ability to solve a Rubik's Cube in under a minute and achieving a perfect game in bowling.[19] He also draws, paints, and plays guitar as a hobby.[19]
References
edit- ^ "Antonio Gandy-Golden's High School Timeline". MaxPreps.com. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
- ^ "2016 Verbal Commit: WR Antonio Gandy-Golden". January 12, 2016.
- ^ a b c "Antonio Gandy-Golden | Football | Liberty Flames". www.liberty.edu. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
- ^ "Antonio Gandy-Golden College Stats". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
- ^ "Antonio Gandy-Golden Combine Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
- ^ "Redskins' Antonio Gandy-Golden: Washington selects in fourth". CBS Sports. April 25, 2020. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
- ^ Fortier, Sam; Jhabvala, Nicki (July 23, 2020). "No. 2 overall pick Chase Young signs with Washington". Washington Post. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
- ^ Gora, Kevin (September 24, 2020). "Antonio Gandy-Golden Debuts In Week 2 Game Versus Arizona Cardinals". A Sea of Red. Retrieved September 26, 2020.
- ^ "Washington Places Saahdiq Charles, Antonio Gandy-Golden On IR; Pulls 2 WRs From Practice Squad". Washington Commanders. October 24, 2020. Archived from the original on May 17, 2022. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
- ^ "Washington Activates WR Antonio Gandy-Golden From Injured Reserve, Elevates QB Steven Montez From Practice Squad". Washington Commanders. December 26, 2020. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
- ^ "Washington Makes Multiple Roster Moves". Washington Commanders. August 31, 2021. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
- ^ "Washington Signs 15 Players To Practice Squad". Washington Commanders. Archived from the original on March 8, 2022. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
- ^ Manning, Bryan. "Washington elevates WR Antonio Gandy-Golden from practice squad". MSN. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
- ^ "Washington downgrades Shaka Toney to OUT, signs WR Antonio Gandy-Golden from practice squad". Washington Commanders. October 23, 2021. Archived from the original on May 6, 2022. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
- ^ "Washington activates multiple players off practice squad". Washington Commanders. January 1, 2022. Archived from the original on May 6, 2022. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
- ^ "Washington signs 8 players to Reserve/Future contracts". Washington Commanders. January 10, 2022. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
- ^ Selby, Zach (July 28, 2022). "Commanders take Chase Roullier off the PUP list, place Antonio Gandy-Golden on the Reserve/Retired list". Retrieved July 28, 2022.
- ^ McCarriston, Shanna (July 28, 2022). "Commanders' Antonio Gandy-Golden retiring after two seasons; plans to go back to school, focus on education". CBS Sports. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
- ^ a b c Keim, John (September 22, 2020). "Backflips and Rubik's Cube: Redskins' Antonio Gandy-Golden does it all". ESPN. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
- ^ Middlehurst-Schwartz, Michael (May 20, 2020). "Redskins rookie WR Antonio Gandy-Golden says he was diagnosed with COVID-19, recovered before draft". USA Today. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
External links
edit
- Antonio Gandy-Golden on Twitter
- Liberty Flames bio Archived May 18, 2020, at the Wayback Machine