Gary's Bio

Gary is the middle son of three, Chris 34, Gary 22, and Shane 20. Gary was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky but moved to Florida when he was 4. He grew up with his Mom, Tena and visits his dad in Utica, Mississippi every chance he gets. He has a great relationship with both of his parents.

In high school, He played Football, Basketball, and Baseball at Middleburg High School. In football he played Tight End and Defensive End, in Baseball he played 1st base and was a relief pitcher, and in Basketball he played Center. His Junior and Senior year he was All Conference in all three sports. He was also All-State in Football and named to the Florida-Times Union Top 24. His senior year he had 17 receptions 5 touchdowns and 65 tackles on Defense. In Basketball he averaged 18.1 points a game with 9.8 rebounds and 2 blocks per game. In baseball he batted 357 with 2 homeruns and 28 stolen bases. Gary had some great High school coaches Alan Powers, Alan Burnsed, Barry Underwood, Robbie Justino, Andy Giddens, Mike Harrison, Tony Battle and Daryl Lauderdale. They all taught him important lessons on and off the field. He played Football for three years, Baseball for four years, and Basketball for four years. All in all high school sports were a huge part of his life, not only shaping him as player but also as a person.

Gary was fortunate enough to get a full scholarship at The University of Louisville. It was a great experience for football and academics. While at Louisville he learned leadership skills, working with teammates as well as over coming adversity. Gary also had to go through a coaching change which is a hard transition not only for a team but also for the players. He was very fortunate to have the same position coach all four years. Greg Nord was his coach. He coached with passion and drive which only pushed him harder then he has ever been pushed. He played all four years and started for three years. His freshman year he played in twelve games and had two starts with 7 receptions for 85 yards (12-1 yard average) and 4 touchdowns. His sophomore year he played in 11 games with 7 starts. He finished the season with 17 receptions for 240 yards (14.1 yard average) and 2 touchdowns. His junior season he started 12 games and had 31 receptions for 511 yards (16.5 yard average) and 4 touchdowns. As a senior he started 12 games with 53 receptions for 655 yards (12.4 yard average) a long of 81 yards and 7 touchdowns. He was a unanimous 1st team All-Big East selection and named 1 of 8 semi-finalists for the John Mackey Award, and an Honorable Mention All-American selection.

Gary graduated with a degree in Sport Administration December 2007. He graduated half a year early so he could work on his football skills before the draft in April. He played in the East-West Shrine game. He plans to go back to college in the off-season to get another degree in Archeology. Academics are a high priority for Gary, he is the first in his family to graduate from college and he wants to further his education into different fields to broaden his horizons.

Gary wants to play football as long as he can and become an elite player. He believes he can do this with all the hard work he is putting in to become the best possible player he can become. He is inspired by his grandfather who was the person who got him to play football when he was younger. Gary's grandfather (Name Sake/Gary) has inspired him to work as hard as he can to get what he wants and to never stop until he gets where he wants to be.