Shaquille Quarterman (born October 28, 1997) 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 ...

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, p ...

who is a free agent. He played

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Miami (FL) Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at the ...

Early years

Quarterman grew up in

Orange Park, Florida Orange Park is a town in Clay County, Florida, United States. It is a suburb of Jacksonville, in neighboring Duval County. The population was 8,412 at the 2010 census. The name "Orange Park" is additionally applied to a wider area of northern ...

and attended Oakleaf High School. He posted 137 tackles, 8 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks for the Knights in his junior season. He was rated four-stars and as one of the top 10 inside linebacker recruits in the nation by ''

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

'', ''

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'', ''

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'' and ''

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'' and committed to play

at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

during his junior year. As a senior, Quarterman made 101 tackles and was named the Regional Defensive Player of the Year by ''

The Florida Times-Union ''The Florida Times-Union'' is a daily newspaper in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. Widely known as the oldest newspaper in the state, it began publication as the ''Florida Union'' in 1864. Its current incarnation started in 1883, when th ...

'' and played in the All-America Bowl after the end of the season. He finished his high school career with 412 tackles (23.5 for loss) and six sacks.

College career

Quarterman enrolled early at Miami and was named a starter at inside linebacker for the Hurricanes going into his freshman season. He started all 13 Miami's games and finished second on the team with 84 tackles, with 10 going for a loss, and three sacks and was named was named third-team All-

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

(ACC) by the league's coaches and honorable mention by the media. Quarterman was also named a freshman All-American by ESPN and Pro Football Focus. As a sophomore, Quarterman was named second-team All-ACC after again finishing second on the team in tackles with 83 with seven tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks with five passes broken up. He was named first-team All-ACC in his junior season after recording 82 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, six sacks, one interception, two pass breakups, six quarterback hurries, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. Following the season, Quarterman contemplated forgoing his final season of NCAA eligibility to enter the

2019 NFL Draft The 2019 NFL Draft was the 84th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2019 NFL season. The draft was held on April 25–27 in Nashville, Tennessee. The first round was held on April 2 ...

but ultimately decided to return to Miami for his senior year. Quarterman was named a preseason All-American by the

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and several other media outlets, as well as to the watchlists for the

Butkus Butkus is the masculine form of a Lithuanian family name. Its feminine forms are: Butkienė or Butkuvienė (married woman or widow) and Butkutė (unmarried woman). The surname is derived from the diminutive form ''Butkus'' of the Lithuanian given ...

and

Chuck Bednarik Award The Chuck Bednarik Award is presented annually to the defensive player in college football as judged by the Maxwell Football Club to be the best in the United States. The award is named for Chuck Bednarik, a former college and professional Ame ...

s, going into his senior season. Quarterman finished the season with 107 tackles, 15.5 tackles for loss, one sack, and one forced fumble and was again named first-team All-ACC.

Professional career

Quarterman was selected in the fourth round of the

2020 NFL Draft The 2020 NFL Draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The d ...

by the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

. Quarterman made his NFL debut on September 13, 2020, in the season opener against the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

, playing on special teams. 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 ...

on November 7, 2020. He was activated on December 5, 2020.

References

External links

Miami Hurricanes bioJacksonville Jaguars bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quarterman, Shaquille 1997 births Living people People from Orange Park, Florida Players of American football from Jacksonville, Florida American football linebackers Miami Hurricanes football players Jacksonville Jaguars draft picks Jacksonville Jaguars players Oakleaf High School alumni