April 28, 2008

OXFORD, Ohio--Miami University cornerback Jerrid Gaines (Springfield, Ohio/South) has signed a free-agent contract with the National Football League's Cleveland Browns.

Gaines, who redshirted the 2005 season, was a four-year letterwinner for the RedHawks, playing 51 games during his Miami career. He was a part of four MAC East Division titles (2003, 2004, 2005, 2007). He also was a part of the 2003 MAC Championship, seeing action in all 14 games during his freshman campaign, and played in both the 2003 GMAC Bowl and 2004 Independence Bowl.

Gaines is following his father's footsteps to the NFL. Wentford Gaines played with the Cincinnati Bengals, Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Bears organizations.

Since the 2003 season, 18 Miamians including Gaines have been drafted or have signed free-agent contracts to play in the NFL. The last three Super Bowl Champions also have had a RedHawk on their roster, as former Miami quarterbacks Ben Roethlisberger (2001-03) and Josh Betts (2002-05) won World Championships with the Pittsburgh Steelers (2006) and Indianapolis Colts (2007), respectively, and offensive lineman Todd Londot (2002-05) this past year with the New York Giants.