Oronde Gadsden
Encyclopedia
Oronde Benjamin Gadsden (born August 20, 1971 in Charleston
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...

, South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

) is a former professional American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 player who played with the Miami Dolphins
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 from 1998 to 2003. A 6'3", 220-lb. wide receiver
Wide receiver
A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...

 from Winston-Salem State University
Winston-Salem State University
Winston-Salem State University , a constituent institution of the University of North Carolina, is a historically black public research university located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. It is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund.Winston-Salem State has been...

, played with the
Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers and Frankfurt Galaxy of NFLE and the Arena Football League's Portland Forest Dragons,where he won Rookie of the Year before signing as a free agent with the Dolphins.

Gadsden is credited with catching the last touchdown ever thrown by Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino
Dan Marino
Daniel Constantine "Dan" Marino, Jr. is a retired American football quarterback who played for the Miami Dolphins in the National Football League...

. His first career reception was a 44-yard touchdown against the Indianapolis Colts
Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League ....

.

Career

Oronde Gadsden started his NFL career on the roster of the Dallas Cowboys in 1995 where he earned a Super Bowl ring. After two years of playing in the Arena Football League
Arena Football League
The Arena Football League is the highest level of professional indoor American football in the United States. It is currently the second longest running professional football league in the United States, after the National Football League. It was founded in 1987 by Jim Foster...

and World Football Leagues he rejuvenated his NFL career, earning a roster spot for the Miami Dolphins. From 1998 to 2004 he would play a pivotal role in the Dolphins offense, amassing over 3800 yards between that time. When he left he had started all but 6 games and ranked 10th on the team's all-time receiver list.Gadsden caught NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino's last TD.(420)

Gadsen's two most famous catches came against the Jets, on an across-the-middle one-handed catch from Jay Fiedler, and in the 2001 playoffs against the Oakland Raiders, in which Gadsden reached up and caught the pass one-handed in full stride while falling backwards. Both such photos are in the Hall of Fame and were nominated for ESPY'S.

Gadsden now runs a clothing company Original Gear, which he started in 2000. The company went public in 2006 under the name TotalLuxuryGroup. Gadsden is also involved with his charity, NextLevel Charities, which enables underprivileged and disadvantaged youths to achieve success in athletics and academics. Gadsden resides in Davie, Florida.
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