NEW YORK – ACU's
Edmond Gates is taking his talents to South Beach.
The Miami Dolphins made the former Wildcat all-America wide receiver the fourth current ex-ACU player in the NFL on Saturday when they selected him with the 14th pick of the fourth round (111th pick overall) of the NFL Draft. Gates joins former Wildcats Danieal Manning (Bears), Johnny Knox (Bears) and Bernard Scott (Bengals) as active NFL players.
Gates will be back in his home state on Nov. 24 as the Dolphins take on the Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day at Cowboys Stadium.
Gates was an all-Lone Star Conference South Division Wide Receiver and South Division Wide Receiver of the Year in 2010. The honor is the second all-America award Gates has received this year after being named second team all-America by Daktronics earlier this month.
He became just the seventh player in ACU history to have a 1,000-yard receiving season totaling 1,065 yards. Gates is also just the fifth player in ACU history to have a 60-catch season as he now ranks in the top in all-time in ACU history in catches, yards, and TDs. He ranked second in the LSC and 25th in all of NCAA DII in receiving yards per game (98.5) and his 13 TDs were second for ACU behind only Harlon Hill candidate, Mitchell Gale.
ACU head coach Chris Thomsen said that the Dolphins were one of the teams seriously interested in Gates during the pre-draft evaluation process.
"We're obviously very happy for Edmond," Thomsen said. "He's worked really, really hard to put himself in that position. I'm glad he'll have a chance to play for a great organization (led by general manager and Abilene native, Jeff Ireland).
"Edmond gives them the vertical threat they need," he continued. "They've got some good players offensively, but they needed somebody to stretch the field and do some things in the return game. Hopefully he'll give them what they need."
