Edell Eugene Shepherd (born May 18, 1980) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

. He was signed 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

in 2002. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

at San José State. Shepherd was also a member of the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

and

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

Early life

Growing up in the South Central region of his birthplace

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, Shepherd attended

Susan Miller Dorsey High School Susan Miller Dorsey High School, commonly referred to as Dorsey High School, is a Secondary school, secondary State school#United States, public school located in the Baldwin Hills, Los Angeles, Baldwin Hills area of Los Angeles, California. It is ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, and was a

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

, and

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

. In football, as a senior, he made 39 receptions for 635 yards (16.28 yards per reception avg.) and five touchdowns. Edell Shepherd graduated from Dorsey High School in 1999.

College career

Shepherd attended

West Los Angeles College West Los Angeles College (West L.A. College or WLAC) is a public community college in Culver City, Los Angeles County, California. It is part of the California Community Colleges System and the Los Angeles Community College District. It is accr ...

for two years. As a sophomore, he won JC

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors. At

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

, in his junior year (2000), Shepherd made 42 catches for 707 yards and 4 touchdowns. In his senior season (2001), Shepherd set records for single-game receiving yardage, single-season touchdowns (17), and most touchdown receptions in a game. He had more receptions than four

Biletnikoff Award The Fred Biletnikoff Award is presented annually to the most outstanding receiver in American college football by the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation, Inc. (TQCF), an independent not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. The award was creat ...

candidates. He was a second-team All-

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the Western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington (state), Washington. Due to ...

selection in 2001.

Professional career

Chicago Bears (2002)

Shepherd signed with Chicago on April 23, 2002, as an

following the

2002 NFL draft The 2002 NFL draft was the 67th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted ...

and spent all but the first two weeks of October 2002 in the

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

Scottish Claymores (2003)

In the spring of 2003, the Chicago Bears assigned Shepherd to the

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa) was a professional American football league that functioned as the List of developmental and minor sports leagues, developmental minor league of the Nati ...

team

Scottish Claymores The Scottish Claymores, were an American football team based in Scotland. The franchise played in the World League of American Football (later renamed NFL Europe) between 1995 and 2004, initially playing all home games at Murrayfield Stadium, ...

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2003–2005)

The

signed Shepherd on September 2, 2003, three days after the Bears cut Shepherd. Making his NFL debut on December 7, Shepherd played two games for the Buccaneers in 2003. An offensive pass interference penalty on fellow wide receiver Charles Lee voided what would have been a 28-yard reception by Shepherd. On December 28, in the season finale, Shepherd made 4 receptions for 38 yards. After spending 2004 on the disabled list, Shepherd played in all regular season games in 2005. That season, Shepherd made 6 receptions for 103 yards and a touchdown. In the Buccaneers' 17–10 loss on January 7, 2006, to 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

in the

wild card round A wild card (also wildcard or wild-card and also known as an at-large berth or at-large bid) is an invitation to a tournament or a playoff berth awarded to a team or individual that does not qualify via an automatic bid. In some events, wildcards ...

of the 2005 postseason, Shepherd dropped a 35-yard pass with fewer than 3 minutes left in the game on 3rd down and 10. Video replay showed that Shepherd lost control of the ball before he landed on the ground; otherwise his catch and following extra point would have tied the game.

Houston Texans (2006)

Signing with the Houston Texans on September 3, 2006, Shepherd played seven games for Houston in 2006 and made 3 receptions for 22 yards.

Detroit Lions and Denver Broncos (2007–2008)

He spent 2007 out of the league after being released by Detroit. On July 26, 2008, Shepherd was placed on season-ending injured reserve with a torn ACL.

References

External links

Houston Texans bioSan Jose State bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shepherd, Edell 1980 births Living people American football wide receivers San Jose State Spartans football players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Scottish Claymores players Houston Texans players 21st-century American sportsmen West Los Angeles Wildcats football players Players of American football from Los Angeles Susan Miller Dorsey High School alumni