Shamiel Gary (born May 31, 1990) is a former

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

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

. He played his first two

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

seasons at

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

, where he was a

Freshman All-American Underclass All-American is an honorific for high school and college athletes for excellence in competition. The athletes recognized with this title are considered the best players of a specific season in their sport that are members of a given cla ...

, before transferring to

Oklahoma State Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

and redshirting in 2011. He was signed by the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

as an undrafted free agent in 2014. He also played for the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

Early life

Shamiel Gary was born in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...

on May 31, 1990, to Gwen Evans and Steven Gary. He attended Booker T. Washington High School in Tulsa (OK), where he played safety for head coach Antwain Jimmerson. As a senior, he helped lead the Hornets to a 13–1 record and an Oklahoma 5A State Championship, as he recorded 124 tackles and 8.0 sacks. In the same year he was named the 5A District 3 Defensive Player of the Year.

College career

Out of high school, Gary was recruited by

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public inst ...

, and

. He chose to attend the latter, where he played

strong safety Safety (S), historically known as a safetyman, is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free sa ...

for head coach

Dave Christensen David Joe Christensen (born January 17, 1961) is an American football coach and former player. He was assistant coach at Arizona State Sun Devils football, Arizona State. He previously worked as the offensive line coach and run-game coordinator ...

. On September 5, 2009, in the season opener versus

Weber State Weber State University (pronounced ) is a public university in Ogden, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1889 as Weber Stake Academy and earned its current name in 1991. As of fall 2023, the student population reached 30,536 students, cons ...

, Gary recorded 7 tackles and three interceptions. As a true freshman, he started 12 of 13 games at strong safety, tied the team lead in interceptions (3) and ranked fifth on the team in tackles (98). In 2010, he recorded 94 tackles, 5 passes defended and one interception. At the end of his sophomore season he transferred to

to be closer to his family and his grandmother, who was battling Alzheimer's disease. He sat out the 2011 season due to the NCAA transfer rules. In 2012, he started every game for the

Cowboys A cowboy is a professional pastoralist or mounted livestock herder, usually from the Americas or Australia. Cowboy(s) or The Cowboy(s) may also refer to: Film and television * ''Cowboy'' (1958 film), starring Glenn Ford * ''Cowboy'' (1966 film), ...

, recording 72 tackles, 6 passes defended, three interceptions and one forced fumble. As a senior, he recorded 47 tackles, 9 passes defended and three interceptions, as he helped lead the

Oklahoma State Cowboys The Oklahoma State Cowboys and Cowgirls are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Oklahoma State University, located in Stillwater. The program's mascot is a cowboy named Pistol Pete. Oklahoma State participates at the National ...

to a 10–3 record and a 2nd place in the Big 12 Conference. At the end of the season, the

were invited to the

Cotton Bowl Classic The Cotton Bowl Classic (also known as the Cotton Bowl) is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its Cotton Bowl (stadium), namesake ...

, where they lost to Missouri by a score of 31–41. Gary recorded one tackle during the game.

Professional career

New England Patriots

Gary was not drafted during the

2014 NFL draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

. On May 12, 2014, he was signed by the

as an undrafted free agent. On August 30, 2014, he was released by the Patriots in order to get down to the 53-man active roster limit.

Chicago Bears

On October 8, 2014, Gary was signed by the

to a one-year contract, following injuries to Bears' safeties Chris Conte and

Ahmad Dixon Ahmad D'shaad Dixon (born September 5, 1991) is an American professional football safety who is a free agent. He played college football for the Baylor Bears and was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the seventh round of the 2014 NFL draft. Ear ...

. He was waived by the team on October 11, 2014, and then signed to the Bears' practice squad on October 13, 2014.

Miami Dolphins

On January 8, 2015, Gary signed a futures contract with the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

. On August 10, 2015, he was waived by the Dolphins. On November 3, 2015, he was again signed to the Dolphins' practice squad. On November 28, 2015, he was promoted to the active roster. On September 3, 2016, Gary was released by the Dolphins.

Minnesota Vikings

On September 5, 2016, Gary was signed to the Vikings' practice squad. On September 13, he was released from their practice squad.

Second stint with Patriots

On October 25, 2016, Gary was signed to the Patriots' practice squad. On November 26, 2016, he was released from their practice squad.

Buffalo Bills

On December 1, 2016, Gary was signed to the Bills' practice squad. On December 13, 2016, he was promoted to the active roster. He was waived on September 2, 2017.

NFL statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gary, Shamiel 1990 births Living people Players of American football from Tulsa, Oklahoma Wyoming Cowboys football players Oklahoma State Cowboys football players New England Patriots players Chicago Bears players Miami Dolphins players Minnesota Vikings players Buffalo Bills players 21st-century African-American sportsmen