Robert Gallery

No. 76     Oakland Raiders
Tackle / Guard
Personal information
Date of birth: July 26, 1980 (1980-07-26) (age 29)
Place of birth: Masonville, Iowa
Height: 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	Weight: 325 lb (147 kg)
Career information
College: Iowa
NFL Draft: 2004 / Round: 1 / Pick: 2
Debuted in 2004 for the Oakland Raiders
Career history
As player: Oakland Raiders (2004–present)
Career highlights and awards
Outland Trophy (2003)
Career NFL statistics as of week 7, 2009
Games Played	76
Games Started	75
Fumbles Recovered	1
Stats at NFL.com

Robert J. Gallery (born July 26, 1980 in Masonville, Iowa) is an American football player who currently plays offensive guard for the Oakland Raiders of the NFL.^[1] Gallery played college football at the University of Iowa before being selected with the second overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft.

[edit] High school career

Gallery attended East Buchanan High School in Winthrop, Iowa and starred in football, basketball, and track. In football, he played tight end and linebacker positions and handled punting and kickoff duties. He was an all-conference honorable mention selection as a sophomore before being named first team all-conference as a junior and senior. Gallery helped his high school team to a three-year record of 24-8, including a 19-2 record in district play. He was a Des Moines Register Class 1A All-State first team selection as a senior.

[edit] College career

Gallery went to the University of Iowa where his older brother, Nick, was an All-Big Ten punter. His younger brother, John, later became a punter at Iowa. After red-shirting in 1999, Gallery had three catches for 52 yards as a starting tight end as a freshman before moving to the tackle position. He started six games at right tackle as a freshman.

As a sophomore, Gallery started every game at left tackle and made vast improvements throughout the year. He helped Iowa lead the Big Ten conference in scoring in 2001 as Iowa qualified for their first bowl game in four years. As a junior in 2002, Gallery started all 13 games at left tackle and was a first team All-Big Ten selection. He helped lead Iowa to their first Big Ten title in 12 years and their first undefeated conference season in eighty years. He also won the team's Hustle Award.

In 2003, Gallery led Iowa to another ten win season and was voted as Iowa's co-captain and co-MVP for the season. He was a first team All-Big Ten selection for the second straight year and named the Big Ten Conference Offensive Lineman of the Year.

Gallery was a consensus first team All-American in 2003. He was awarded the 2003 Outland Trophy, making him the third offensive lineman from Iowa to win the award (Alex Karras and Cal Jones being the other two). He was also a three-time academic All-Big Ten selection at Iowa.

Gallery received a BA in Education from the University of Iowa and as part of his training taught at two local elementary schools, Lincoln and Weber.

[edit] Professional career

Regarded as "the best lineman to come out of college in years",^[2] Gallery was selected with the second overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft by the Oakland Raiders. With a perfect 9.0 Draft Prospect Rating, the highest for any offensive lineman, he became the second offensive lineman in University of Iowa history to be drafted in the first round.^[3] In 2004, he started 15 games at right tackle and gave up 3 sacks. In 2005, he started all 16 games at right tackle and gave up 3.5 sacks. The Raiders moved him to left tackle at the beginning of the 2006 preseason. In the Raiders' first game of the 2006 regular season, Gallery was part of an offensive line that gave up nine sacks (at least 3 charged to him) to the San Diego Chargers. He played 10 games during the season and gave up 10.5 sacks, placing him 4th in the league for most sacks given up, despite missing 6 games. In 2007, Oakland coaches moved Gallery to left guard.

Although Gallery has generally been considered a bust at the left tackle position for which he was drafted and had limited success at the right tackle position, he has resurrected his career at the left guard spot.^[4] He is the only player selected in the top 8 picks of the 2004 Draft not to have made it to a pro bowl.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Iowa Hawkeyes Bio
• Oakland Raiders Bio