Eric Shelton (born June 23, 1983) 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 wi ...

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 handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

. He was drafted by the

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in the second round of the

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. He played college football at

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. Shelton has also been a member of 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 ...

Early years

Shelton attended Bryan Station High School in Lexington, Kentucky, where he played both running back and

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

and twice earned state Class 4A Player of the Year honors. He totaled 4,970 yards rushing with 59 touchdowns and 129 tackles with 11 sacks and 41 stops for losses during his career. Shelton was a First-team

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and Parade All-American and was also an All-State track performer who competed in the high hurdles, triple jump and 4x100 relay. It was in high school that he met his future wife Shamea. He was on

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's Top 100 highschool recruits, ranked at #6 in the nation

College career

Florida State

Shelton started his collegiate career at Florida State University, where he played one season as a

true freshman Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

for the

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. He finished fourth on the team with 29 carries for 130 yards (4.5 avg.) but was disappointed with his playing time and decided to transfer to Louisville. As a result of

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

transfer rules, however, he was forced to sit out the 2002 season.

Louisville

Shelton attended the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one o ...

, and in his junior year (in 2004) he led the

Cardinals Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

in rushing (938 yards) and touchdowns (20). His touchdown total tied the single season Louisville touchdown record (since broken by Michael Bush with 23 in 2005) and he also tied a Louisville record by rushing for five touchdowns in a game versus East Carolina University. He ranked sixth in the nation with 120 points. In 22 games with the Cardinals, he totaled 1,728 yards on 312 carries (5.5 avg) and had 30 touchdown runs. His 30 touchdowns rank third all time at Louisville despite his only playing two years there.

Professional career

Carolina Panthers

Shelton was drafted in the second round (54th overall) of the

by the

with a pick they obtained from the Seattle Seahawks. Shelton's NFL career got off to a rough start as he was placed on injured reserve at the beginning of the 2005 NFL season due to a broken foot. In the 2006 season, Shelton rushed for 23 yards on only eight carries, and was activated in only eight games. After a disappointing career with the Panthers he was released by them on September 1, 2007.

Washington Redskins

On January 9, 2008, the

signed Shelton to a future contract. He was waived/injured with a neck injury on July 30 and subsequently placed on injured reserve. He was released with an injury settlement on August 15.

Personal life

Shelton and his wife Shamea had their wedding documented on episode six of the first season of ''My Big Fat Fabulous Wedding'', a show on WE, Women's Entertainment Network. The final cost for the Lexington, KY wedding was $270,000, funded by Shelton's endorsement money.

References

External links

Carolina Panthers bioWashington Redskins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shelton, Eric 1983 births Living people American football running backs Florida State Seminoles football players Louisville Cardinals football players Carolina Panthers players Washington Redskins players Players of American football from Lexington, Kentucky