Matt Birk | Prolebrity

Athlete Summary

Matt Birk

NFL - Minnesota Vikings - Center

Matthew Robert Birk (born July 23, 1976) is a professional American football player (center) for the National Football League's Minnesota Vikings franchise since being drafted by them out of Harvard University. Birk has made multiple Pro Bowls since replacing Jeff Christy, who left the Vikings in 2000. Birk founded a charity organization that provides educational opportunities for at-risk children, Matt Birk’s HIKE Foundation. He also co-owns two restaurants, Matty B's Supper Club in St Paul, and Matty B's Urban Bar & Restaurant in Minneapolis.

Matt’s Events


Matt Birk Football Camp ['09] Thursday, June 18, 2009, 7:30 AM Details »	2115 Summit Avenue St. Paul, MN, 55105 (301) 575-9400 Website
Description Founded in 1983, Sports International's youth summer football camp is gearing up for its 25th successful year. We are a teaching football camp having graduated over 80,000 athletes, many currently playing at the college level. If you are an experienced player or just starting football, the Matt Birk Football Camp is an experience which you will never forget! You will receive daily instruction, lectures, and demonstrations by MATT BIRK AND/OR MEMBERS OF THE MINNESOTA VIKINGS and/or members of the Matt Birk. You will receive up to six hours of on-the-field practice each day. You will go home a better football player, and you will learn from the very best. We encourage each camper to be a more positive, optimistic person. Our philosophy is to "let them have fun" while learning a lot of football!
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Matt’s Past Events

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Matt Birk Football Camp Sunday, June 15, 2008, 7:30 AM Details »	2115 Summit Avenue Saint Paul, MN, 55105 (301) 575-9400 Website
Description Founded in 1993, Sports International's youth summer football camp is gearing up for its 25th successful year. We are a teaching football camp having graduated over 80,000 athletes, many currently playing at the college level. If you are an experienced player or just starting football, the Matt Birk Football Camp is an experience which you will never forget! You will receive daily instruction, lectures, and demonstrations by Matt Birk and/or members of the Minnesota Vikings. You will receive up to six hours of on-the-field practice each day. You will go home a better football player, and you will learn from the very best. We encourage each camper to be a more positive, optimistic person. Our philosophy is to "let them have fun, while learning a lot of football!"
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2nd Annual Gridiron Guardian Sunday Sunday, December 21, 2008 Details »	(920) 499-7133 Website
Description Minnesota Vikings center Matt Birk has launched an initiative among active NFL players that will raise money and provide support to retired NFL players in crisis and address the catastrophic conditions experienced by many of these individuals. Gridiron Guardian Sunday will take place on December 21st, 2008. Birk, a six-time Pro Bowl selection and Harvard University graduate, will spearhead the second annual Gridiron Guardian Sunday program and has selected Mike Ditka’s Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund to distribute the funds through the organization’s player assistance program. Surrounded by Mike Ditka and former NFL greats Bill Brown, Rich Gannon, Carl Eller, Chuck Foreman, Rick Graf and Jim Marshall during a press event to unveil the player assistance program, Birk announced that he has personally committed $50,000 to the cause. He is asking current NFL players to donate a portion of their game checks to the Gridiron Guardians initiative for all games taking place December 18-22. The donations will help provide financial aid and medical and social services to retired NFL players in dire need. Players can elect to keep their donations and participation confidential or release their names publicly. “Today I am asking NFL players to stand with me and donate a portion of their December 21 checks for retired players in need,” said Birk. “Large or small does not matter everything helps. We have benefitted from the sacrifices made by the players of yesterday. Sadly, the price paid by some of those who came before us has been costly. They live in excruciating physical pain and severe mental anguish as a direct result of their playing days. In too many instances, these men have had to deplete their financial resources in an attempt to achieve a quality of life that is bearable, and many have no health insurance or access to medical care. We need your support to help those who came before us. Without it, many of these former players will continue to live in despair and pain.” Birk has provided every active NFL player in the league with a donation card and a packet of information including overviews of many retired players in crisis that were helped by funds raised by active players last season. Fans can visit http://www.gridirongreats.org/December2008PressConference/GGAF_MattBirkLetter_Dec2008.html to read a copy of Birk’s letter to active NFL players. Active players can also visit the same site to find a copy of the sign-up/donation sheet and learn more about the initiative. In 2007, Kyle Turley worked with the Gridiron Greats to create the Gridiron Guardian Sunday program, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars from active players for needs such as food, shelter, medicine, medical services, child care and transportation. To date, the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund has provided more than $800,000 in direct and indirect aid to retired players. “Many of the current players of today’s game are great humanitarians, and it is amazing that they have reached out to help many of the players who came before them who are now suffering. This is not their responsibility, and the fact that they care and are helping these guys is incredible,” said Mike Ditka, board member of the Gridiron Greats. “The Gridiron Greats organization is so grateful to Matt Birk for not only the significant financial contribution he has made, but for continuing what Kyle Turley started last season. We are thankful to all active players who have made this initiative so successful, and we hope to have their continued support.” Three former NFL players who are in crisis joined Birk and Ditka to discuss their situations and how funds from the Gridiron Guardian program were necessary for them to be able to live a semi-normal life. Dwight Harrison, Robert Brown and Cleveland Crosby all spoke about the impact of the support from current NFL players. “I am an 11-year NFL veteran who has gone days without eating while living in a trailer that has no running water,” said former Buffalo Bill Dwight Harrison. “I suffer from debilitating post-concussion issues and other medical conditions. The NFLPA took my disability and pension from me. The only funds I have received are from the Gridiron Greats through the Gridiron Guardian Sunday program. If not for the kindness of today’s players and the Gridiron Greats, I don’t know what would have happened to me. All I can say is thank you to the men who play this great game today.” One hundred percent of all the funds donated will go directly to player assistance and medical programs through the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund. None of the funds from this initiative will be used for overhead. “It is externally player-to-player,” said Jennifer Smith, executive director of the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund. “In the coming weeks, we will work very closely with Matt and his colleagues to coordinate this massive fundraising effort. We are grateful to Matt and all players participating in the program.”
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Matt’s Businesses


Matty B's Supper Club Map It »	354 North Wabasha Street St. Paul, MN, 55102 (651) 291-0404 Website
Description What is St. Paul Style? When you walk into Matty B's, it's easy to lose yourself in the ambiance - dark mahogany and cherry woodwork, dim lights, and jazz playing quietly in the background. This tribute to the Golden Era of supper clubs-and to St. Paul itself-is intentional. “We wanted to embrace St. Paul, embrace the community, embrace our neighborhood, and promote St. Paul businesses,” said Michael Colosimo, one of the restaurant’s owners. “This is St. Paul style,” Colosimo said, as the bartender rang the bell hanging behind the bar. “Anytime you order anything that’s St. Paul-related, we ring the bell.” True to its "Celebrating St. Paul Style" tagline, Matty B's serves Summit on tap, as well as Schmidt, Hamm's and Olympia beers by the can. The restaurant has also teamed with archivists at the St. Paul Pioneer Press and the Ramsey Historical Society to display montages of photographs of St. Paul in times gone by. The location of Matty B’s (4th and Wabasha) is historic in and of itself. For nearly 50 years Gallivan's fed and entertained numerous lawyers, judges and politicians in the same space. “This is a very historic place,” Colosimo said. “We wanted to capture some of that history, but put our own twist on it.” Like St. Paul itself, Matty B’s is meant as a gathering place, catering to everyone, from reporters at the Pioneer Press (located a block away) to fans of the Minnesota Wild (who play at the Xcel Center about three blocks away).
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Matty B's Urban Bar & Restaurant Map It »	501 Washington Avenue South Minneapolis, MN, 55415 (612) 338-7878 Website
Description Matt Birk has a degree in economics from Harvard as well as nine seasons as center with the Minnesota Vikings. His newest restaurant in the dynamic Minneapolis riverfront area is also at the center of the action. The urban loft decor of the renovated warehouse space reflects the best of this unique neighborhood. Just three blocks from the new Guthrie theater and four blocks from the Metrodome, Matty B's Urban Bar and Restaurant is becoming a favorite downtown gathering place for local riverfront residents and for visitors to nearby entertainment attractions. The tempting menu at Matty B's Urban accommodates all appetites. Stop in for a full dinner before the theater, drinks and a bite after the game, or a light business lunch. Happy hours feature food and drink specials. Please visit our events page or call 612-338-7878 for more info. The chic but casual and well-stocked bar is an inviting place to gather for drinks, great appetizers or desserts.
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Matt’s Charities


Matt Birk's HIKE Foundation Map It »	574 Prairie Center Drive #287 Eden Prairie, MN, 55344 (888) 330-7529 ext. 14 Website
Description Matt Birk's HIKE Foundation has been established to provide at-risk Twin Cities' children with the educational opportunities needed to excel in the classroom and in life. The Foundation impacts the lives of at-risk children by providing interactive programs and resources needed to guide a child though the key educational transitions between elementary, middle, high school and college.
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Personal Information

Birthday:

July 23, 1976

Professional Highlights

	Sport:	Football
	Team(s):	Minnesota Vikings (1998 - Present)
	Position(s):	Center
	Draft Pick:	1998 / Round: 6 / Pick: 173
	College:	Harvard University
	High School:	Cretin-Derham Hall High School (Saint Paul, MN)

Greetings From Matt Birk

July 10, 2008

This is my first ever blog. I’m looking forward to sharing my thoughts here. Hopefully we can get a better photo of me to put on here. I’m not that ugly, am I? Read More » | (6) Comments »

Prolebrity: Beyond the Game