Matt Birk

Games played:	210
Games started:	187
Fumble recoveries:	5

Matt Birk
	Birk with the Ravens in 2012
No. 75, 78, 77
Position:	Center
Personal information
Born:	July 23, 1976; Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S.
Height:	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight:	310 lb (141 kg)
Career information
High school:	Cretin-Derham Hall; (Saint Paul, Minnesota)
College:	Harvard (1994–1997)
NFL draft:	1998 / Round: 6 / Pick: 173
Career history
	Minnesota Vikings (1998–2008); Baltimore Ravens (2009–2012);
Career highlights and awards
	Super Bowl champion (XLVII); Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award (2011); Second-team All-Pro (2003); 6× Pro Bowl (2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007); 50 Greatest Vikings;
Career NFL statistics
Games played:
Games played:	210
Games started:	187
Fumble recoveries:	5
	Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Matthew Robert Birk (born July 23, 1976) is a former American football center who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. He spent most of his professional career playing for the Minnesota Vikings. He was the Republican nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota, running alongside Scott Jensen in the 2022 Minnesota gubernatorial election.

Born and raised in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Birk played college football at Harvard University. He graduated from Harvard with a degree in economics and entered the 1998 NFL Draft. He was drafted towards the end of the draft by the Minnesota Vikings. He spent his first two seasons with the Vikings as a backup offensive lineman. He became the starting center in 2000 and went on to be selected to six Pro Bowls and two All-Pro second-teams during his career with the Vikings. As a free agent following the 2008 season, Birk left the Vikings and joined the Baltimore Ravens. After the Ravens won Super Bowl XLVII, Birk retired from the NFL. In 2011 he was awarded the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award.

Following his retirement in 2012, Birk returned to Minnesota. He started a Catholic school in Burnsville, Minnesota in 2019. Active in pro-life causes and local Republican politics, Birk joined Jensen's gubernatorial candidacy in March 2022. Jensen and Birk faced incumbents Tim Walz and Peggy Flanagan in the general election and lost the race.

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