Akeem Arta Shavers (born January 8, 1990) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

. Shavers played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

Early life

Shavers was born to Catena Shavers and Jamie Duncan. He attended

Redwater High School Redwater High School is a public high school located in Redwater, Texas (United States). It is the sole high school in the Redwater Independent School District and is classified as a 3A school by the UIL. In 2015, the school was rated " Met Stan ...

Redwater, Texas Redwater is a city in Bowie County, Texas, United States. The population was 853 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Texarkana metropolitan area. History Redwater is twelve miles southwest of Texarkana in southeastern Bowie County. It grew up ...

. As a member of the football team, Shavers didn't move to the running back position until he was a senior. He competed in five games amassing 1118 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns before being sidelined with a season ending injury.

College career

Independence C.C.

After high school, Shavers attended

Independence Community College Independence Community College is a public community college in Independence, Kansas. It was formerly Independence Community Junior College. History Independence Community College was established in 1925 as grades 13 and 14 of the Independence p ...

Independence, Kansas Independence is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 8,548. It was named in commemoration of the Declaration of Independence. History Independence w ...

where he played football. Shavers ran for just 235-yards on 64 carries with two touchdowns. With the staff at Independence making changes after the 2008 season, Shavers decided to transfer.

Tyler J.C.

In 2009, Shavers transferred

Tyler Junior College Tyler Junior College (TJC) is a public community college in Tyler, Texas. It is one of the largest community colleges in Texas, with an enrollment of more than 12,500 credit students each year with an additional 20,000 continuing education enroll ...

Tyler, Texas Tyler is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the largest city and county seat of Smith County, Texas, Smith County. It is also the largest city in Northeast Texas. With a 2020 census population of 105,995, Tyler was the List of cities in Texa ...

. During the 2009 season at Tyler, Shavers redshirted due to his coach missing the out-of-state/transfer list. With the starting running back spot belonging to Don Brown, Shavers was worked out at defensive back just to get on the field. Shavers played in 6 of the Apaches 8 games during the 2010 season, receiving only 50 carries and 4 touchdowns as the backup running back. Shavers productive season at Tyler netted him 2nd Team All-Conference honors.

Purdue

Shavers committed to

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

on December 6, 2010. Shavers was not heavily recruited, and as Purdue was the first FBS scholarship offer he received. Which brought on a stream of offers from other FBS and FCS programs.

Statistics

Professional career

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

On April 29, 2013, Akeem Shavers was signed as an undrafted free agent by the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

. He was released on May 6, 2013.

New England Patriots

On May 7, Shavers was claimed off waivers by the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

. And then later released.

Edmonton Eskimos

Shavers signed with the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL) in early spring of 2015. He spent his first few weeks on the teams practice squad and was later activated as a cornerback where he ultimately made the active roster. Due to injuries in the Edmonton backfield, Shavers was moved back to running back where he was able to contribute to the championship season.

References

External links

Tampa Bay Buccaneers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shavers, Akeem 1990 births Living people American football running backs Edmonton Elks players Ottawa Redblacks players Players of American football from Texarkana, Texas Purdue Boilermakers football players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Tyler Apaches football players Independence Pirates football players