Joshua James Shaw (born March 27, 1992) is 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 with ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

for the

Birmingham Stallions The Birmingham Stallions were a franchise in the United States Football League, an attempt to establish a second professional league of American football in the United States in competition with the National Football League. They played their h ...

of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL). He previously played for the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

between 2015 and 2017. Shaw also 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 the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

(USC).

Early years

Shaw attended

Palmdale High School Palmdale High School is located in Palmdale, California and is part of the Antelope Valley Union High School District. About 4,000 students attend Palmdale High School in grades 9 through 12. Palmdale High School was founded in 1956. Notable alumn ...

Palmdale, California Palmdale is a city in northern Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. The city lies in the Antelope Valley region of Southern California. The San Gabriel Mountains separate Palmdale from the Los Angeles Basin to the south. On Aug ...

. He played cornerback,

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 wide receiver. As a senior, he had 50 tackles and an interception on defense, passed for 2,279 yards with 18

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

as a quarterback, and rushed for 921 yards and 14 rushing touchdowns. He also participated in track. He was rated by

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

as a four-star recruit and was ranked as the third best cornerback in his class. He committed to the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

to play

College career

Shaw attended Florida from 2010 to 2011. He appeared in one game as a true freshman and redshirted. As a redshirt freshman in 2011, he appeared in 10 games with one start and recorded 22 tackles. Prior to the 2012 season, Shaw transferred to the

(USC). He was granted a hardship waiver and was eligible to play immediately without sitting out the year. He started his USC career as a

strong safety Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their dut ...

and was moved to cornerback during the middle of the season and became a starter. He appeared in all 13 games with seven starts and had 30 tackles and two interceptions. As a junior in 2013, Shaw started all 14 games at both cornerback and safety. He had 67 tackles, four interceptions, and a touchdown. Prior to his senior season in August 2014, Shaw was suspended by USC after he lied about how he suffered injuries to both his ankles. He had originally told the team that he injured himself while jumping from the second story of an apartment building to save his nephew who was drowning in a pool. In reality, he suffered the injuries after jumping from his balcony to avoid the police who had been called by a neighbor after hearing an argument between him and his girlfriend. The police looked into possible domestic violence charges; however, no charges were filed due to insufficient evidence. Shaw was reinstated in November 2014 and played in the final three games of the season.

Professional career

Shaw received an invitation to the NFL combine and completed all of the required combine and positional drills. On March 11, 2015, Shaw participated at USC's pro day and performed positional drills. He was ranked the 11th best cornerback in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com and was ranked the 12th best cornerback by NFL analyst Mike Mayock.

Cincinnati Bengals

On May 2, 2015, the

selected Shaw in the fourth round with the 120th pick of the

2015 NFL draft The 2015 NFL Draft was the 80th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. It took place in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre and in Grant Park, from April 30 to May 2. The previous ...

. He signed with the Bengals on May 18, 2015. Shaw played 15 games in his rookie year with 15 tackles and one pass defended. During the season opener against the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

on September 11, 2016, Shaw made a game-sealing interception. It was the first interception of his career, leading to a 23–22 victory. On September 1, 2018, Shaw was placed on injured reserve. He was released on September 6, 2018.

Kansas City Chiefs

On October 2, 2018, Shaw was signed by 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 tea ...

. He was waived on November 17, 2018 after playing a total of four games for the Chiefs.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

On November 20, 2018, Shaw was signed 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 played a total of four games for the Buccaneers.

Arizona Cardinals

On March 18, 2019, Shaw signed a one-year contract with the

Arizona 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 ...

. He was placed on

injured reserve 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 ...

with a shoulder injury on August 25, 2019. On November 29, 2019,

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

Roger Goodell Roger Stokoe Goodell (born February 19, 1959) is an American businessman who is currently the commissioner of the National Football League (NFL). On August 8, 2006, Goodell was chosen to succeed retiring commissioner Paul Tagliabue. He was chosen ...

suspended Shaw indefinitely through at least the end of the 2020 season for betting on NFL games. Shaw made a low four-figure bet in Las Vegas on a three-team parlay (including a bet against his Cardinals team) at a sportsbook run by

Caesars Entertainment Caesars Entertainment, Inc., formerly Eldorado Resorts, Inc., is an American hotel and casino entertainment company founded and based in Reno, Nevada that operates more than 50 properties. Eldorado Resorts acquired Caesars Entertainment Corpora ...

. Some viewed the suspension as hypocritical as the NFL had previously made Caesars Entertainment its first official casino partner earlier in the year. Shaw filed an appeal of the suspension on December 3 but rescinded it on December 19. As a result, he was moved from injured reserve to the reserve/suspended list. Shaw was eligible to apply for reinstatement on February 15, 2021, and the NFL reinstated him on March 20, 2021 after being suspended for a total of 21 games. Shaw has not played in the NFL since his reinstatement.

Birmingham Stallions

On March 10, 2022, Shaw was drafted by the

of the

. He suffered a quadriceps injury, and was transferred to the inactive roster on April 22, 2022. He was transferred to the active roster on April 30.

References

External links

USC Trojans bioFlorida Gators bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaw, Josh 1992 births Living people American football cornerbacks American football safeties Arizona Cardinals players Cincinnati Bengals players Florida Gators football players Kansas City Chiefs players People from Palmdale, California Players of American football from California Sportspeople from Los Angeles County, California Tampa Bay Buccaneers players USC Trojans football players Birmingham Stallions (2022) players