He made the Pro Bowl lineup for four straight years from 1973 through 1976,[1] and is widely considered to be among the best defensive players in Cleveland Browns history.

[1][9] Sherk was part of an AFC Central Division in which each team boasted All-Pro quality defensive tackles: the Pittsburgh Steelers' Joe Greene, the Cincinnati Bengals' Mike Reid, and the Houston Oilers' Curley Culp, with Greene and Culp earning enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The following year Sherk played in his first Pro Bowl after sacking opposing quarterbacks 5½ times and making 100 tackles, most by any Browns defensive lineman that season.

In 1976 Sherk recorded 12 sacks and 92 tackles and was voted the NFL Defensive Player of the Year by the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA).

Bacteria from the field's Astroturf entered his body through the wound, triggering a staph infection that traveled to his knee and nearly killed him.

[12] The infection eventually proved to be more problematic than first imagined, and effectively sidelined him for the 1980 season, in which he played in only one game and recorded only one tackle.

[citation needed] After leaving football, Sherk worked as a sports photographer for roughly ten years.

[13][14] The photo show was held December 14, 2010 at Baldwin Wallace College in Berea, Ohio, and was sponsored by the Cleveland Touchdown Club Charities.

Along the way he created a school-based group mentoring program that uses sports to teach young people how to reach goals in academics and life.