Tim Gay II: The Universal Puzzle Piece

by, Jacob Payne

 

Timothy Wayne Gay II was a classified by Rivals.com a two-star recruit out of Chavez High School in Houston, Texas. A participant in yesterday’s Pro Day at Texas State, Gay, along with 11 other Bobcats got the ultimate dream shot of many young athletes, to show an assembly of NFL scouts what he can do.

 

Gay grew up in Houston with his mother and five younger siblings. He struggled to find solitude within his bustling home. Ironically, he was able to find peace playing football.

 

“Football was an escape from my home,” Gay said. “It was my privacy.”

 

At Chavez High School, Gay played nearly every position. You name it, he played it. Wide receiver, defensive end, safety, running back, quarterback, fullback, linebacker, and even got in on special teams. The kid never left the field. His comfortability in seemingly any role would prove to be useful for Coach Dennis Franchione.

 

The 23-year-old’s season kicked-off with a position change. Originally a tailback in the Bobcat’s offensive attack, Gay was repurposed by the former coaching staff to become a linebacker.

 

Gay got in on 17 tackles last season, and was also credited with a forced fumble. His best game came with his first crack at his new position against Florida State. Gay was more than a handful for the Seminoles all game long, piling up five tackles in the contest.

 

The move to linebacker was made to give Gay more playing time when it looked like he’d be losing reps to other backs like Robert Lowe and Chris Nutall. Most players wouldn’t welcome this kind of transition late in their careers, but Gay was willing to put the needs of the team ahead of his own.

 

“If they ask me to do anything, I’ll do it. They are the one’s in charge. If they were to ask me play punter, deep snapper, even nose guard, I’ll probably do it.”

 

Gay is the puzzle piece that you can cut the corners off of and make fit anywhere. Given that kind of invaluable versatility, it wasn’t surprising to hear what he believed were the best aspects of his game.

 

“I can block, I can tackle, I can catch, I can run, I can do anything. I can even throw the ball… In any aspect, I can play football.”

 

This may or may not be worth noting, but Gay is responsible for throwing one career interception on an errant halfback pass. I forgot to ask if he made the tackle on that play, but it’s safe to say he probably did.

 

Luckily for Gay, throwing accuracy wasn’t graded at Texas State’s annual Pro-Day yesterday.

 

Pro Day consisted of Gay, and eleven other participants, demonstrating everything they have to give, performing in various events like the vertical leap, broad jump, bench press, forty-yard dash, pro-shuttle, three cone drill, and the sixty-yard shuttle.

 

Filling out the remaining ranks of Pro Day were, CB Donta Clanton, WR C.J. Best, RB Chris Nutall, LB Trey McGowan, DT Herbert Gonzales, DB Aaron Shaw, LB Jerrid Jeter-Gilmon, DE Rusmin Nikocevic, TE Lawrence White, S Demetrius Woodard, DE Marcus Dallas Jr., and DT Dondre Elvoid.

 

These potential draft picks were placed under the microscope by NFL scouts representing 19 teams from across the league including, the Atlanta Falcons, Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Rams, Minnesota Vikings, New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints, New York Jets, Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers, Seattle Seahawks, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Washington Redskins.

 

Gay tallied impressive results in several areas: powering 18 reps of 225 pounds in the bench press and clocking in at 4.37 seconds for the pro-shuttle. Nothing was more impressive though than the 4.68 he recorded in the forty-yard dash while attending the NFL Regional Combine in New Orleans.

 

“Those numbers I believe stand out.” Gay said on his performance.

 

The most eye-popping number might be the one scouts see when he steps onto the scale. Gay stands at an undersized 5’11”, but he weighs in at a punishing 255 pounds.

 

A 255-pound man should not be able to run forty-yards in 4.68 seconds. Somehow, Gay has learned to get the absolute most from his less than aerodynamic build. You would have never guessed Gay was struggling with his weight if you saw him on the field on Tuesday.

 

Though it doesn’t appear to be slowing him down, Gay knows NFL teams will expect him to keep his weight under control. According to Gay, it’s a problem that started when he left for school.

 

“I’ve gained so much weight since I’ve been in college. I’ve had to adjust… When I stepped on the scale, I thought it was ridiculous.”

 

Gay’s weight won’t be the only thing worth monitoring between now and the NFL Draft starting on April 28. Gay has been battling a nagging hamstring injury he’s categorized as “an ongoing issue”. The injury bound him to the side line for multiple games last season. The pain in his hamstrings is a price Gay gladly pays to play such an intense sport. Obviously he would rather play pain free, but that doesn’t exist in football.

 

“There’s a 100% chance that you’ll be injured playing football. You can go out there and play timid and get hurt. You can play reckless and get hurt. Or you can be careful and still get hurt.”

 

Injuries will forever be a part of the game. The day we eliminate injuries altogether will be the same day football is no longer played. This a reality no player is immune to. Gay has accepted this fact and ventures to test where his limits lie.

 

“I like to call it playing hurt. If you’re hurt, you can still play through the pain. But if you’re injured, it isn’t worth risking further damage trying to prove how tough you are. A good coach would rather you be honest with them.”

 

To Gay, Franchione was that good coach who always kept his best interests in mind. But after five seasons at Texas State, Franchione has stepped down as head coach. Taking his place is former James Madison head coach Everett Withers. In the short time Withers has been in San Marcos, he’s already made an impression on former players like Gay.

 

“I see my teammates waking up to practice at 4:30 in the morning and they’re all smiles! The entire time I’ve played here I’ve seen people moping around…but now they’re bringing the energy at five o’clock in the morning. They’re bringing the enthusiasm. A lot of that has to do with the coaches buying in as well. When you see coaches getting hyped like that, you can’t help but get hyped yourself.”

 

It would appear Texas State has found exciting new leadership to run the program. Though his time in college is almost at an end, Gay would still benefit from someone willing to lead the way. Someone willing to help guide him along the scarcely traveled path to the NFL. He found such a friend on Twitter of all places in the form of Akeem Shavers.  Shavers is former Purdue running back who spent time with both the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New England Patriots.

 

Shavers told Gay that the life of an aspiring NFL player was “a roller coaster”. “There are going to be times when your morale will be lifted up and times when it will be shot down,” Shavers explained. “There are times when you’ll just have to bite the bullet and make progress within yourself along the way.”

 

If things don’t work out, Gay isn’t without options. He will graduate in May with a degree in English, a resource he could use to steal my job some day.

 

Gay has already seen his fair share of ups and downs. He’s now at a point in the ride where he’s not sure what will happen next. Scouts that base their evaluations of talent on statistics alone will be the first to write him off. But if you were one of the 19 teams watching Gay on Tuesday, how could you possibly cross him off your list?

 

He is simply too unique a talent not to be looked at over, and over again. Think of five holes your NFL team currently has: Tim Gay II just filled four of them. All you had to do was cut the corners.