Sterling Bradford Shearer (born August 10, 1955) is a former American college and professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who was a

defensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) for three seasons. He 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 ...

for the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

, received consensus All-American honors, and was recognized as the best college interior lineman in the country. A third-round pick in the

1978 NFL Draft The 1978 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held May 2–3, 1978, at the Roosevelt Hote ...

, he played professionally for the NFL's

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

Early years

Shearer was born in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

.National Football League, Historical Players
Brad Shearer
Retrieved June 26, 2012. He graduated from Westlake High School in

Westlake Hills, Texas West Lake Hills (locally referred to as "Westlake") is a city in Travis County, Texas, United States. The population was 3,444 at the 2020 census. The city developed rapidly in the 1970s and 1980s on the south side of the Colorado River (Texas), ...

,databaseFootball.com, Players
Brad Shearer
. Retrieved June 26, 2012. a suburb of

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

, where he played for the Westlake Chaparrals high school football team.

College career

Shearer received an athletic scholarship to attend the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

, where he played for the

Texas Longhorns football The Texas Longhorns football program is the intercollegiate team representing the University of Texas at Austin (variously Texas or UT) in the sport of American football. The Texas Longhorns, Longhorns compete in the NCAA Division I Football ...

team from 1974 to 1977.TexasSports.com, Football, All-Time Lettermen
Brad Shearer Profile
Retrieved June 26, 2012. He was a two-time All-

Southwestern Conference The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) is a collegiate athletic conference headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, which is made up of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southern United States. It participates in t ...

selection in (1975, 1977), As a senior team captain in

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

, he averaged ten tackles per game, led the Longhorns to a No. 1 ranking, and was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American. He was also awarded the

Outland Trophy The Outland Trophy is awarded to the best college football interior lineman in the United States as adjudged by the Football Writers Association of America. It is named after John H. Outland. One of only a few players ever to be named an All-Ame ...

, recognizing him as the best interior lineman during the 1977 college football season.

Professional career

The Chicago Bears picked Shearer in the third round (74th pick overall) of the

, and he played for the Bears from to . In three NFL seasons, he appeared in thirty-four regular season games for the Bears, and started two of them.Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players
Brad Shearer
Retrieved June 26, 2012. He did not play during the regular season, and his pro career was later cut short by a knee injury.Associated Press,
Bears pay Shearer for wounded knee
" ''Ottawa Citizen'' (December 11, 1986). Retrieved June 26, 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shearer, Brad 1955 births Living people All-American college football players American football defensive tackles Chicago Bears players Texas Longhorns football players

Early years

College career

Professional career

See also

References