Gabriel Rivera

Adrian Gabriel Rivera (born April 7, 1961) is a former American college and professional football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for a single season in 1983. Rivera played college football for Texas Tech University, and earned All-American honors. Rivera was a first round pick in the 1983 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Rivera attended Texas Tech University, and played for the Texas Tech Red Raiders football team from 1979 to 1982. He earned the nickname "Señor Sack," and was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American as a senior in 1983.

The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Rivera in the first round (sixteenth pick overall) of the 1983 NFL Draft. Rivera's selection was notable because the Steelers decided to pass on hometown hero and University of Pittsburgh quarterback Dan Marino as an heir apparent to Terry Bradshaw. The decision was made to rebuild from the defensive side as they did a decade earlier with "Mean Joe" Greene. Rivera was considered to be one of the fastest defensive linemen coming out of college.

As the 1983 season progressed, Rivera slowly began to come on. But tragedy struck on October 20, 1983, when Rivera was paralyzed in drunk driving car wreck. The then-22 year-old, was treated for head, neck, chest and abdominal injuries. The accident occurred at 9:00 p.m. in Ross Township, a northern suburb of Pittsburgh. At the time, Gabriel was married to Kimberly Covington; they had son Timothy Rivera three weeks later, on November 11, 1983.

He currently resides in San Antonio, Texas, with his second wife.

He was named to the National Football Foundation&College Hall of Fame in May 2012.