Derrick Lathell Shepard (January 22, 1964 – August 4, 1999) was an

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 wi ...

wide receiver 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 ...

for 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 ...

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 ...

, and

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...

. He played college football at the

University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...

Early years

Shepard attended Odessa High School, where he was a

wishbone Wishbone commonly refers to: * Furcula, a fork-shaped bone in birds and some dinosaurs Wishbone may also refer to: * Wish-Bone, an American salad dressing and condiment company * Wishbone formation, a type of offense in American football * Wish ...

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 ...

. As a senior, he led his team in rushing. He walked on at the

, where he was converted to a wide receiver as a freshman. As a sophomore, he was named a starter and had his best season with caught 27 passes for 392 yards and 3

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 Amer ...

s. This included a 73-yard

reception in the fourth quarter against

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

, with his team down 6-20 in a game they came back to win 21–20. In 1985, he posted 15 receptions for 281 yards and 3

s, including a career-long 77-yard touchdown catch against

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the ...

. He was also a part of the national championship team. He finished his career with 70 receptions (tied for second in school history), 1,090 receiving yards (fifth in school history) and 596 punt return yards (fourth in school history). The school's Derrick Shepard Most Inspirational Walk-On Player of the Year award is named in his honor.

Professional career

Washington Redskins

Shepard was signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the

after the 1987 NFL draft. He was waived on August 17. After the players went on a strike on the third week of the season, those contests were canceled (reducing the 16 game season to 15) and the NFL decided that the games would be played with replacement players. Shepard was re-signed to be a part of the Redskins replacement team, that was given the mock name "Deadskins" by the media. He returned a punt 73 yards in the fourth game against the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

. He contributed to the team being undefeated in the three replacement contests, including an upset win against the

. On November 28, he was released again and could not be a part of the eventual Super Bowl XXII winning team. He was re-signed in the spring of

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

. He was limited to 5 games due to a hip injury and a concussion that forced him to spend time on the

injured reserve list The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

. He played in 7 games in 2 seasons, mainly on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

, failing to register a single reception.

New Orleans Saints

On March 7,

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

, he signed with the

as a Plan B free agent. He played in 4 games and returned a punt 56 yards for a

in the season opener against the

. He was released on October 3.

Dallas Cowboys

On October 4,

, he was claimed off waivers by the

. He was named the starter at wide receiver in the seventh game against the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

, after

Michael Irvin Michael Jerome Irvin (born March 5, 1966) is an American sports commentator and former professional football wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). In 2007, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fa ...

was lost for the season to a knee injury. He started 8 of the final 10 contests, missing the twelfth game with a knee injury he suffered against the Los Angeles Rams. He registered 18 receptions for 268 yards and one

. His best game came against the

Phoenix Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

, posting 4 receptions for 92 yards and one

. He was cut on September 2,

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

, and was later re-signed on September 5, but a hamstring injury forced him to the

on September 8. On November 2, he was activated to be the team's punt returner. On August 26,

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

, he was released and re-signed on September 10 to return both punts and kickoffs. On October 29, he was placed on the

with a sprained right ankle. He was released on August 31, 1992, because the team was looking for more speed from the wide receiver position.

Personal life

After his playing career was over, he became a graduate assistant at the

, before moving on to

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a public land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, and opened in September 1887. The University of Wyoming ...

, where he was going to be the wide receivers assistant coach. On August 4, 1999, he died from a sudden heart attack he suffered while playing

racquetball Racquetball is a racquet sport and a team sport played with a hollow rubber ball on an indoor or outdoor court. Joseph Sobek invented the modern sport of racquetball in 1950, adding a stringed racquet to paddleball in order to increase velo ...

. His son Sterling, along with his older brothers

Darrell Darrell is a given name derived from an English surname, which was derived from Norman-French , originally denoting one who came from Airelle in France. There are no longer any towns in France called Airelle, but is the French word for huckleberr ...

and Woodie, also played college football at the

References

External links

Once a Walk-On, Shepard's Been A Good "Catch'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shepard, Derrick 1964 births 1999 deaths People from Odessa, Texas Players of American football from Texas American football wide receivers Oklahoma Sooners football players Washington Redskins players New Orleans Saints players Dallas Cowboys players Wyoming Cowboys football coaches National Football League replacement players