Joe Shimko
Joe Shimko is an American professional football long snapper. He played college football at NC State.
Early life
Shimko was born in Belmar, New Jersey. He played baseball and ran track, but only began football prior to his sophomore year at Wall High School. Shimko sustained injuries playing running back and linebacker and questioned how long he would last playing the sport; his father then convinced him to try out long snapper, a position at which it is more common for players to have long careers. He attended camps held by Chris Rubio but at an event in Las Vegas, was ranked only 80th out of 100 entrants for the Class of 2018.In the summer prior to his junior year, Shimko would long snap to his father 400 times each day. He quickly rose in Rubio's long snapping rankings and became the varsity starter that season at Wall. As a senior, he posted 13 tackles, was named All-Division and played in the All-American Bowl. Ranked a five-star recruit, the seventh-best long snapper by Rubio's camp and the fifth-best by 247Sports, he committed to play college football for the NC State Wolfpack.