Kenneth Gant

Kenneth Gant

No. 29
Safety
Personal information
Date of birth: (1967-04-18) April 18, 1967
Place of birth: Bartow, Florida
High School: Lakeland (FL) Kathleen
Career information
College: Albany State (GA)
NFL Draft: 1990 / Round: 9 / Pick: 221
Debuted in 1990 for the Dallas Cowboys
Career history
*Dallas Cowboys ( 1990– 1994) Tampa Bay Buccaneers ( 1995– 1997)
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NFL.com
Stats at pro-football-reference.com
Stats at DatabaseFootball.com

Kenneth Dwayne Gant (born April 18, 1967) is a former American football safety in the National Football League, having played for the Dallas Cowboys and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He played college football at Albany State University. Gant's nickname with the Cowboys was "The Shark". On the field, Gant had most of his impact on special teams. However, Cowboys fans remember him mostly for his celebratory antics—namely, the "Shark Dance" wherein Gant struts around flapping his elbows while holding his hand over his head to simulate a shark's fin.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Kenneth Gant was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the 9th round of the 1990 NFL draft. During training camp he was tried at cornerback, but the team eventually moved him to safety.

As a rookie, he quickly became one of the best players in the special teams unit. In 1991, he lead the Cowboys special teams with 25 tackles.

By 1992 he was a key component of the team's nickel defense, that led the NFL in preventing third-down conversions, allowing opponents a conversion rate of 27.2 percent. He also tied for the team lead in interceptions with 3.

Gant was a member of the Cowboys Super Bowl XXVII and Super Bowl XXVIII championship teams.

He was nicknamed "The Shark", due to the Shark Dance he started doing during the 1992 season, before every Cowboys kickoff and after making big plays.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

In 1995 he signed as an unrestricted free agent with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to improve their special teams and nickel defense.

Gant finished his career after 3 seasons with the Buccaneers, playing in a total of 113 games over 8 seasons in the NFL. He had 7 career interceptions.