Gerris Vernard Bowers Wilkinson (born April 5, 1983) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

. He was drafted by the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

in the third round of the

2006 NFL Draft The 2006 National Football League Draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with ad ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

. He has also been a member of the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

Early years

Wilkinson was a SuperPreps First-team All-America and a Second-team All-state and First-team All-city and All-East Bay. He made 127 tackles as a senior with six sacks, four forced fumbles, and three fumble recoveries. He added 85 tackles and eight sacks as a junior.

College career

He played in 50 games with 37 starts for the Yellow Jackets and recorded 253 tackles (121 solo), 12.5 sacks, 38 tackles for losses. He also recorded a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries, and he also deflected six passes and gained 46 yards on three interception returns. He was a two-time team captain and led the squad in tackles in his last two years. He was also the two-time Second-team All-

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

selection and began his career as an outside linebacker before starting his final two seasons at middle linebacker. As a strongside defensive end in 2003, he earned Academic All-ACC honors while starting every game. He also collected 47 tackles (24 solo) with four sacks, 12 stops for losses. Wilkinson also recovered two fumbles and batted away a pair of passes. In 2004, he was a Second-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection after making 119 tackles. In 2005, Wilkinson became only the third player in the last 15 years to lead the team in tackles in back-to-back seasons. He was also the Second-team All-ACC pick and amassed 85 tackles (42 solo) and had four sacks with nine stops for losses. He also intercepted two passes and deflected two others. He earned his degree in

Management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

on May 7, 2005, and then played his final season while working on a second degree in

International Affairs International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...

Professional career

Pre-draft

New York Giants

Wilkinson was selected in the third round of the

by the

. He signed a four-year, $1.7 million contract with the Giants on July 26, 2006. As a rookie in 2006, he played in all 16 regular season games with two starts at weakside linebacker and finished with 15 tackles (ten solo), two passes deflected, two forced fumbles and seven special teams tackles. In 2007, he played in 13 regular season games with no starts and in four postseason games with one start. He finished the regular season with five tackles (three solo), one pass deflected and seven special teams tackles. In his first career start vs. the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

he contributed three tackles and a forced fumble. His fourth quarter hit on

Jameel Cook Jameel Antwon Cook Sr. (born February 8, 1979) is a former American football fullback who played in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the sixth round of the 2001 NFL Draft, playing nine seasons wit ...

forced a fumble that was recovered by

Corey Webster Corey Jonas Webster (born March 2, 1982) is a former American football cornerback who played for the New York Giants. He was drafted by the Giants in the second round of the 2005 NFL Draft and later won two Super Bowls with the team, both over ...

and ended the Texans’ final drive. In his second season in 2007, he was a key defensive force in winning the 2007 NFC wild card game against the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

, starting for the injured

Kawika Mitchell Kawika Uilani Mitchell is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at University of South Florida. Mitchell was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2nd round in 2003. Mitchel ...

and compiling a total of eight tackles. Wilkinson became the starting weakside linebacker for the Giants in 2008 after Mitchell left as a free agent. In 2008, he played in 8 regular season games with 5 starts before injuring a knee that caused him to sit out the remainder of the season and finished with 11 tackles, of which four were solo, and 2 special teams tackles. Following the 2010 season, he became an

unrestricted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

Jacksonville Jaguars

On August 13, 2011, Wilkinson signed with the

. He was waived by the team on August 29.

References

External links

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkinson, Gerris 1983 births Living people Players of American football from Oakland, California African-American players of American football American football linebackers Skyline High School (Oakland, California) alumni Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football players New York Giants players Jacksonville Jaguars players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people