Tight end Rico Gathers spent his rookie season on the Cowboys’ practice squad. He spent his second season on injured reserve.
He has big plans for his third season.
Gathers, the Baylor basketball player who the Cowboys made a sixth-round pick in 2016, showed signs of development during the 2017 preseason. He caught three passes for 59 yards and a touchdown in the Hall of Fame Game against the Cardinals and four passes for 47 yards and a touchdown against the Rams the following week.
Gathers said on social media those two preseason games prove what’s in store for him.
“Facts is facts,” Gathers said on Instagram. “It’s only the beginning. Truth is I’m ready for more. Been ready for more. The dilemma of me not being ready is over. I got a piece of it last year and it felt so good doing it, y’all will never understand that feeling. It was like the most epic scene of movie before the power goes out in ya house for a few hours and you forget all about what you was watching. I watched those two games the other day and I told myself ‘Ima be the next best tight end in this league’ and I believe that with all my heart. lol y’all continue to hate while I continue to shine I love y’all, y’all make me better. God knows my heart and that’s all that counts to me.”
Gathers took a helmet-to-helmet hit from defensive back Kavon Frazier during an August 15 practice, and the concussion ended his season before it began.
