'With faith, there's no fear': Amari Gainer quickly impressed en route to making Raiders' roster

Aug 29, 2024 at 03:10 PM

Levi Edwards

Digital Team Reporter

Amari Gainer came into training camp like most rookies – as a blank canvas.

He accomplished a lot within his five seasons playing ACC football between Florida State and North Carolina. He played all around the front seven of the defense as an off-ball linebacker and edge rusher. With a chiseled, NFL build standing at 6-foot-3, 236 pounds, he totaled 115 solo tackles, 25 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks in his collegiate playing career.

But none of that really mattered when he stepped into Raiders training camp as an undrafted free agent.

"When he came in the door day one, it was like, 'Wow, this is a pretty sucker here,'" Head Coach Antonio Pierce joked. "He looks good and you saw the movement with him in college from Florida State to North Carolina, but there was always like, 'Man, there's more to him.'"

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The Silver and Black already had familiarity with Gainer through defensive lineman Janarius Robinson and Assistant General Manager Champ Kelly. Gainer and Robinson were teammates at Florida State for three seasons, and have worked together for Robinson's "The Win Within Foundation" giving back to the Panama City, Florida, community. Gainer also used to be a counselor at C.H.A.M.P Camp, which Kelly originated in Florida.

Gainer grew up surrounded by football as his father Herb played wide receiver at Florida State from 1984-1987. Herb played alongside Deion Sanders and brought a young Amari to Sanders' Pro Football Hall of Fame induction in 2011.

"I always knew I wanted to play football for the rest of my life," he said. "I got to see the whole [Hall of Fame] experience when I was a kid and I got to see a lot guys talk – Shannon Sharpe, Marshall Faulk. Seeing what it took to get them there. Ever since then, I knew that's what I wanted to do."

As training camp progressed, Gainer slowly started to put himself on the radar, initially through special teams coverage. His potential on defense started becoming more clear in his first preseason game against Minnesota where he finished with two tackles, a pass deflection and a 90.6 defensive grade from Pro Football Focus.

Following his preseason debut, he noticeably started receiving a few more reps on defense – even a few with the first and second-team units.

"With faith, there's no fear, so that was the main thing for me," Gainer said of his mindset. "Stay where my feet were and keep working, keep grinding and everything else would shake out."

Going into his final preseason game, Gainer knew he had to play as hard as he could if he wanted a shot to make the 53-man roster. The Raiders coaching staff gave him more than enough opportunities to do so against the San Francisco 49ers, which included giving him the green dot as leader of the defense. The linebacker finished with a game-high 12 total tackles and two tackles for loss.

"I think the best thing that happened for him was that last game, he went out there and played 90-plus snaps," Pierce said. "70-plus on defense and another 15 or so on special teams. And all you saw throughout the game, and we've been seeing it all preseason, is a guy just getting better and better. But more importantly, somebody that just was playing his heart out.

"It meant something to him. Even to that last play where the 49ers were throwing the ball around, if you look at it, I mean, he's on the ground three times, tackling people, and when the ball ends up at the two-yard line, he's right there finishing it."

Amari Gainer: “I let my play do all the talking and give all the thanks to God.”#Raiders pic.twitter.com/fBDWhSOyZB
— Levi Edwards (@theleviedwards) August 28, 2024

After all his hard work, Gainer woke up Tuesday morning and went to the team meeting as a member on the Raiders' initial 53-man roster.

"I found out on Instagram and social media just like everybody else," Gainer said. "A bunch of people were texting me and asking me and they got no response. It was cool to find out I'll have a chance to help this team succeed and help this team win. I'm excited to get out here and play some football.

With the excitement of making the initial roster as a UDFA, it's still a long road for Gainer going into his rookie season. Pierce plans to continue putting him in situations where he can develop and hone his craft on the roster.

"I thought he did an excellent job," Pierce said. "He's put himself in position not just at linebacker, but on special teams, to be one of the core guys for us. There's still some development there at the linebacker position that will take place over the course of the season, but he gives us a lot of flexibility because of what he's able to do both on the line of scrimmage, off the ball linebacker and special teams."

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Las Vegas Raiders guard Dylan Parham (66) and tackle Thayer Munford Jr. (77) during practice at Intermountain Health Performance Center.