Connor Shaw (born September 19, 1991) 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 ...
quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
and coach. 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 ...
at
South Carolina
)''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
, where he was the starting quarterback from 2011 through 2013. He was signed by the
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...
as an undrafted free agent in 2014. He was also a member of the
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 ...
.
High school career
Shaw played at
Flowery Branch High School
Flowery Branch High School is a four-year public high school located in Flowery Branch, Georgia, United States, operated by Hall County Schools. In 2007, Flowery Branch was voted Georgia's High School of Excellence. It is one of seven high school ...
in Georgia and played for his father Lee. He passed for 5,300 yards in 2 years as the starter and was a receiver his sophomore season having 1,200 yards receiving. He was considered a 3 star recruit and received offers from South Carolina,
Georgia Tech
The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...
,
Stanford
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...
,
Wake Forest,
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...
and
East Carolina
East Carolina University (ECU) is a public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina.
Founded on March 8, 1907, as a teacher training school, East Carolina has grown from its orig ...
his senior year.
College career
After a loss to Auburn in 2011,
Stephen Garcia
Stephen Glenn Garcia (born February 15, 1988) is a former collegiate American football quarterback for the University of South Carolina. Garcia had a 20–14 record as a starter for the Gamecocks. He completed 7,597 passing yards including 47 t ...
was benched due to inconsistent play. Shaw then passed for 311 yards and four touchdowns in a blowout of Kentucky. Shaw was named the SEC's offensive player of the week due to his performance. After missing his first pass of the game on September 22, 2012, Shaw completed his final 20 passes for 252 yards and 2 touchdowns as the Gamecocks defeated Missouri 31–10 at
Williams-Brice Stadium.
On October 26, 2013, Shaw was unable to start because of illness and a sprained left knee but came off the bench to lead the Gamecocks from a 17-point deficit to defeat the No. 5
Missouri Tigers
The Missouri Tigers intercollegiate athletics programs represent the University of Missouri, located in Columbia. The name comes from a band of armed Union Home Guards called the Fighting Tigers of Columbia who, in 1864, protected Columbia fro ...
27–24 in double overtime. After leading the Gamecocks to a 31–17 victory over rivals
Clemson on December 1, 2013, Shaw had the best record as a quarterback in Gamecock history, finishing with a 27–5 record as a starter, including a perfect 17–0 at home. On December 6, Shaw was invited to play in the 2014 NFLPA Collegiate Bowl.
In his final college game on January 1, 2014 Shaw ran for a touchdown, threw 3 touchdowns and caught 1 touchdown and went 22–24 throwing for 312 yards in the
Capital One Bowl
The Citrus Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. The bowl is operated by Florida Citrus Sports, a non-profit group that also organizes the Cheez-It Bowl and Florida Classic.
The gam ...
. He was voted the game's most valuable player for his performance.
Statistics
Professional career
Cleveland Browns
Shaw went undrafted in the
2014 NFL Draft
The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...
, and later signed with the
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...
following the draft. In his preseason debut, he completed 8 of 9 passes for 123 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions against the
Washington Redskins
The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...
. He was released on August 30, 2014, but re-signed to their practice squad the next day.
Due to injuries to
Johnny Manziel
Johnathan Paul Manziel ( ; born December 6, 1992) is an American football quarterback for the FCF Zappers of Fan Controlled Football (FCF). He played two seasons with the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) and was also a mem ...
and
Brian Hoyer
Axel Edward Brian Hoyer (born October 13, 1985) is an American football quarterback for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). Since joining the NFL in 2009 as an undrafted free agent, he has started for seven different ...
, on December 22, 2014, Shaw was called up from the practice squad to be on the active roster. Shaw was also announced as the starter for the season finale against the
Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...
.
In his first and only career
NFL
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 major ...
start against the
Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...
, Shaw went 14/28 for 177 yards with 1
interception
In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...
and 0
touchdown
A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...
s, including a 49-yard pass to
wide receiver Taylor Gabriel
Taylor James Gabriel (born February 17, 1991) is a former American football wide receiver who played for six seasons in the National Football League (NFL). After playing college football at Abilene Christian, he signed with the Cleveland Brown ...
after avoiding pressure.
On August 13, 2015, in a preseason game versus the
Washington Redskins
The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...
, Shaw injured multiple ligaments in his thumb, requiring surgery. It was reported that he would be facing a 12-week recovery time along with rehab, likely keep him out for the season.
On June 30, 2016, Shaw was released by the Browns.
Chicago Bears
On July 1, 2016, Shaw was claimed off waivers by the
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 ...
. The
New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...
had accidentally sent out an email to the other 31 NFL teams, instead of the league office, indicating that they intended to claim Shaw off waivers. The Bears had waiver-claim priority over the Saints because of a worse 2015 record. On August 30, 2016, Shaw was placed on injured reserve for a broken leg sustained in preseason.
On March 4, 2017, Shaw signed a one-year extension with the Bears. On May 30, 2017, he was waived by the Bears, becoming a free agent only to have the Bears rescind the waiver on the same day following an injury to
Mark Sanchez
Mark Travis John Sanchez (born November 11, 1986) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons. He played college football at the University of Southern California (USC) and was draft ...
. He suffered a hamstring injury during a preseason game against the Cleveland Browns on August 31. He was waived/injured on September 2 and placed on injured reserve on September 4, 2017. He was released on September 8, 2017.
NFL career statistics
Coaching career
In January 2018, Shaw signed on to be a tight ends coach at
Furman University
Furman University is a private liberal arts university in Greenville, South Carolina. Founded in 1826 and named for the clergyman Richard Furman, Furman University is the oldest private institution of higher learning in South Carolina. It became ...
. In August, prior to the start of the season, Shaw resigned due to his commitment in an undisclosed "private business" opportunity.
The Paladins went on to go 6–4 over the course of the season and win a share of the conference championship.
Shaw returned to the University of South Carolina in 2020 as the director of player development.
On November 16, 2020 after the firing of
Will Muschamp
William Lawrence Muschamp (born August 3, 1971) is an American football coach and former player. He is the co- defensive coordinator and safeties coach at the University of Georgia. He served as head football coach at the University of Florida fr ...
, Shaw was promoted to interim quarterbacks coach at South Carolina. New Gamecocks head coach
Shane Beamer
Shane Beamer (born March 31, 1977) is an American football coach and former player who is currently the head coach at the University of South Carolina. He is the son of former Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechni ...
stated that Shaw will remain a part of South Carolina's football program in the 2021 season, but not at the quarterbacks coach position, which has been filled by new offensive coordinator
Marcus Satterfield
Marcus David Satterfield (born April 9, 1976) is an American football coach and former player, who is the offensive coordinator and quarterback coach for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Satterfield served as the head football coach at Tennesse ...
.
In February 2021, Shaw's expanded role was announced as Director of Football Relations, with duties in recruiting, current player relations, and serving as a liaison to former players.
References
External links
South Carolina Gamecocks bio*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaw, Connor
1991 births
Living people
People from Hall County, Georgia
Sportspeople from the Atlanta metropolitan area
Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state)
American football quarterbacks
South Carolina Gamecocks football players
Cleveland Browns players
Chicago Bears players