Biography

BIOGRAPHY

Greg Gaines was born on May 6th, 1996, in La Habra, California. He is a nose tackle in the National Football League.

At high school, he earned MVP of the Freeway League and first-team All-CIF Southern Section Southwest Division on the defensive line in 2013, he also earned first-team all-county from the Orange County Register and all-area honors from the Whittier Daily News, and earned third-team all-state (all division) from CalHiSports.com. He also played as a running back in short-yardage situations.

As a freshman, played on the varsity as La Habra won the Southwest Division playoffs, he started as a sophomore, when Highlanders went 9-4 and made it to the playoff semifinals, ranked by ESPN as the No. 42 recruit in California and the No. 44 defensive tackle in the country, also the Freeway League MVP, Whittier Daily News area Defensive Player of the Year and first-team All-Southwest Division as a junior in 2012, and his team went 8-4 and advanced to the second round of the playoffs his junior year.

As a senior, he helped Highlanders to a 10-2 record and the second round of the CIF Southern Section Southwest Division playoffs, was listed as the No. 37 DT in the country and the No. 66 prospect in California by scout.com, rivals.com listed him as the No. 77 player in California, won Freeway League championships in both the shot and discus as a junior on the track team in 2013.

During 2014, he redshirted his true freshman season, and was listed on the depth chart early in the season, but never saw any game action. On 2015, he played in all 13 games, starting six, earned honorable mention All-Pac-12, made Husky debut in the opener at Boise State, had one stop vs. the Broncos, also had one tackle in the victory over Sacramento State, also played vs. Utah State and California, scored one tackle in Washington's victory at USC, made two tackles vs. Oregon, got first Husky start at Stanford, notching two tackles, earned a start vs. Utah, when he led the UW with 10 total tackles, also started at Arizona State, where he had three tackles, he started at Oregon State, making three tackles, made one stop in the Apple Cup win over Washington State, and scored two tackles, one of them for a loss, in the bowl game vs. Southern Miss.

In the course of the 2016 season, he started all 14 games at defensive tackle, started vs. Rutgers, finishing with two tackles, including one for a loss, in a start vs. Idaho, had three tackles, including one-and-a-half for a loss and half of a sack, was named the team's lineman player of the week for the Idaho game, led the UW with seven total tackles, including two for loss, in the win over Portland State, was named the team's defensive player of the week after the win over the Vikings, made one stop in the win at Arizona, had two tackles, including a nine-yard sack, in the win over No. 7 Stanford, recorded two tackles, both of them sacks, in the Huskies' 70-21 win at Oregon, scored two tackles in the Huskies' win over Oregon State, made one stop in the win at No. 17 Utah, had three tackles in the UW win at California, scored one stop against USC and also vs. Arizona State, made three tackles in the Apple Cup win over Washington State, recorded four tackles, including half of a tackle for loss, in the Pac-12 Championship Game win over Colorado , had three tackles against Alabama in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and won the L. Wait Rising Lineman of the Year Award at the team's postseason banquet.

For the 2017 season, he started all 13 games, was named to the Academic All-Pac-12 second team, and also earned second-team All-Pac-12. Greg finished the win over Rutgers with four tackles and two pass break-ups, earned the UW coaches' lineman of the week award for the Rutgers game, made one tackle – a sack – in Washington's win over Montana, had four tackles in the game at Colorado, recorded one tackle and a fumble recovery at Oregon State, socred three tackles in the UW win over Cal, had two stops in the Arizona State game, made two tackles, including a sack, in the win over UCLA, recorded four tackles, including one-and-a-half for a loss, in the 38-3 win over Oregon, in the game at Stanford, recorded three tackles,  had four tackles, including half a sack, in the win over Utah, scored one tackle, for a loss, in the Apple Cup win over Washington State, recorded one tackle vs. Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl, and for the second year in a row, won the L. Wait Rising Lineman of the Year Award at the UW postseason awards banquet.

On 2018, Gaines was a winner of the 2018 Morris Trophy as the top defensive lineman (as voted by opposing team players) in the Pac-1, played in and started all 14 games, had five tackles in a start against Auburn in the season opener, made two stops in the win over North Dakota, was named the coaches' lineman of the game for the UND game, recorded three tackles, including a nine-yard sack, in the win at Utah, won the coaches' lineman of the week award for the second week in a row after the win over the Utes, had seven tackles, including half of a tackle for loss, against Arizona State, made one stop in the win over BYU, made two tackles in the win at UCLA, had seven stops at Oregon, recorded five tackles, including half of a tackle for loss, in the win over Colorado, tied his career high with 10 tackles, including two tackles for loss and a sack, at California, had one tackle and also intercepted a pass in the Huskies' win over Stanford, was named the UW coaches' lineman of the week for the win over the Cardinal, scored three tackles in the Husky win over Oregon State, made three tackles, including a 12-yard sack, in the Apple Cup win at WSU, recorded three tackles, including half a sack, against Utah in the Pac-12 Championship Game, had three tackles, one of them for a loss, against Ohio State in the Rose Bowl, and for the third straight season, won the L. Wait Rising Defensive Lineman of the Year award at the UW postseason awards banquet.

Gaines was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the fourth round (134th overall) of the 2019 NFL Draft. Gaines won Super Bowl LVI when the Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20. Gaines recorded 3 tackles in the game. Gaines joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2023.