Gary Lee Shirk (born February 23, 1950) is a former professional

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 ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

. He played with 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. ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

for seven seasons. He also played in the

World Football League The World Football League (WFL) was an American football league that played one full season in 1974 and most of its second in 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a worldwide stage, the farthest t ...

for the

Memphis Southmen The Memphis Southmen, also known as the Memphis Grizzlies, were an American football team based in Memphis, Tennessee. They played in the World Football League (WFL), which operated in 1974 and 1975. They played their home games at Liberty Bowl M ...

and in the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

for the

Memphis Showboats The Memphis Showboats were an American football franchise in the United States Football League. They entered the league in its expansion in 1984 and made the 1985 playoffs, losing in the semifinal round to the Oakland Invaders. Perhaps the mo ...

. Shirk 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 ...

Morehead State University Morehead State University (MSU) is a public university in Morehead, Kentucky. The university began as Morehead Normal School, which opened its doors in 1887. The Craft Academy for Excellence in Science and Mathematics, a two-year residential ea ...

. Shirk attended Marysville High School in Ohio before moving onto

where he was a four-year starter and was the team MVP in 1972. After playing for Memphis in the WFL in 1974 and 1975, Shirk moved on to the NFL, playing for the

from 1976 until 1982. He played in 101 games for the Giants, with 34 games started, and caught 130 passes for 1640 yards and 11 touchdowns before being released during the 1983 pre-season. From 1979-1982, his QB in New York was another former Morehead State Eagle,

Phil Simms Phillip Martin Simms (born November 3, 1955) is an American former football quarterback who spent his entire 15-year professional career playing for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He is currently a television sport ...

. Shirk also played for the USFL Memphis Showboats after his NFL playing days. Shirk was inducted into the Kentucky Football of Fame in 2010 and the Morehead State University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2014.

References

1950 births Living people American football tight ends Memphis Showboats players Morehead State Eagles football players New York Giants players Memphis Southmen players People from Marysville, Ohio {{Tightend-1950s-stub