Keith Jerrold Gary (born September 14, 1959) 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 wit ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is p ...

. Gary was selected in the first round by the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Stee ...

out of the

University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...

in the

1981 NFL Draft The 1981 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 28–29, 1981, at the New York S ...

, but didn't sign and went to play two seasons with the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

and Montreal Concordes of the

CFL The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ...

. He then played six seasons with the Steelers. He may perhaps be best known for committing one of the most vicious facemask penalties in NFL history. During a Week 6 game against the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The club's home ...

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

, he grabbed quarterback Ken Anderson, ripping his facemask off and knocking Anderson out of the game with a severe neck sprain. Later in the same game he was penalized for a late hit on Bengals back up quarterback

Turk Schonert Turk Leroy Schonert (January 15, 1957 – January 17, 2019) was a quarterback, quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator in the National Football League (NFL). Schonert was the head coach of the United Football League's Sacramento Mountain Lio ...

. Gary was fined by the NFL for the vicious facemask penalty that left Anderson without feeling below the neck.

References

People from Bethesda, Maryland Players of American football from Maryland American football defensive ends Canadian football defensive linemen American players of Canadian football Pittsburgh Steelers players Montreal Alouettes players Montreal Concordes players Oklahoma Sooners football players 1959 births Living people Chantilly High School alumni {{Defensive-lineman-1950s-stub