Former Paso Robles High football star signs with NFL’s Green Bay Packers
Former Paso Robles High football star and San Jose State standout wide receiver Bailey Gaither has been selected as an undrafted free agent by the Green Bay Packers, according to multiple media outlets.
Gaither, The Tribune’s County Player of the Year in high school in 2014, was listed among five players signed by the Packers as undrafted rookie free agents, making up the best players not selected in this year’s NFL draft, according to CBS Sports.
Gaither was an all-state pick at Paso Robles High in his senior year, as well as an all-conference baseball player.
His high school highlight reels show him burning defenders with exceptional footspeed on kick returns and go routes (a vertical sprint downfield) for long touchdown passes.
Stellar San Jose State career
At San Jose State, Gaither played in all 12 games as a junior in 2019, earning honorable mention All-Mountain West Conference honors and posting career bests of 52 receptions for 812 yards and six touchdowns.
In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Gaither led the Spartans team in receiving yards with 725 and average yards per catch with a single-season career best 17.7, according to university stats.
He was second on the Spartans with 41 receptions and tied for second on the squad with four touchdown catches, earning first-team all-Mountain West honors.
Gaither also returned 12 punts for 56 yards (4.7 per) during his San Jose State career.
San Jose State’s football program posted a tweet on Saturday noting: “The wide receiver Aaron Rodgers was asking for.”
Rodgers was named the NFL’s most valuable player last year for the third time.
“It has been an honor just understanding you don’t have as much recognition, or not as much publicity as people from NorCal and SoCal schools,” Gaither told The Tribune in a December interview.
Gaither added about adjusting to football at the next level in college: “It’s important to look at it as it’s just football and diagnose it. It’s important to be around good people who genuinely want to see you succeed and try and work hard. There’s always going to be a learning curve.”
Josh Oliver, another Paso Robles High standout who also played at San Jose State, was drafted in the third round by Jacksonville in 2019, playing four games while hauling in three catches for 15 yards as a tight end in his rookie season.
In 2020, he suffered a broken foot and was placed on injured reserve. He’s joined the Baltimore Ravens for the 2021 season.
Mission Prep grad Patrick Laird will be entering his third season with the Miami Dolphins, posting 240 career yards on 75 carries over two years, with one career touchdown. He’s averaging 3.2 yards per carry.
This story was originally published May 3, 2021 at 11:50 AM.
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