High school

He played high school football for Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Maryland, gaining all-county honors competing at wide receiver, quarterback, and his current NFL position, tight end.

College career

Shiancoe enjoyed a successful college football career at Morgan State University, playing in 30 games and receiving 52 passes for 1001 yards. His senior year proved to be noteworthy, garnering both All-American Dream Team and All-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference 1st-team honors from the NFL Draft Report.

Professional career

New York Giants

He was drafted in the third round (91st overall) in the 2003 NFL Draft by the New York Giants. Shiancoe played the first four years of his professional career with the New York Giants compiling 35 receptions for 253 yards and 3 touchdowns, predominantly in a backup role behind Jeremy Shockey.

Minnesota Vikings

Shiancoe signed with the Minnesota Vikings in 2007. He has since compiled an additional 125 receptions for 1485 yards and 19 touchdowns as a Viking, in regular season games. He was played in 96 games as of 2008 of which he started in 53. He led the NFC tight ends with 7 touchdowns in 2008 and ranked 3rd by a tight end in the NFL.

Towel Incident

Fox aired a post game segment following a victory over the Detroit Lions in 2008. Vikings owner Zygi Wilf was presenting the game ball to coach Brad Childress’ son, Andrew, who had enlisted in the United States Marine Corps the day before. In the background, Shiancoe was shown unclothed for a moment before covering himself with a towel. According to the NFL and Fox Sports, the image lasted a fifth of a second. Fox Sports apologized for airing the image. Through his agent, Shiancoe said he was embarrassed by the unintentional incident. Displaying a good sense of humor, he later remarked that at least he didn’t “just come out the swimming pool”