Connor Shaw (born September 19, 1991) 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 ...

player who was a

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). 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 ...

for the South Carolina Gamecocks, starting at quarterback from 2011 through 2013. He was signed by the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

as an undrafted free agent in 2014. He was also a member of 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 ...

. He became a coach after his playing career.

Early life

Shaw played at Flowery Branch High School in Georgia and played for his father Lee. He passed for 5,300 yards in 2 years as the starter and was a receiver his sophomore season having 1,200 yards receiving. He was considered a 3 star recruit and received offers from South Carolina,

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

, Wake Forest,

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

and East Carolina his senior year.

College career

After a loss to Auburn in 2011, Stephen Garcia was benched due to inconsistent play. Shaw then passed for 311 yards and four touchdowns in a blowout of Kentucky. Shaw was named the SEC's offensive player of the week due to his performance. After missing his first pass of the game on September 22, 2012, Shaw completed his final 20 passes for 252 yards and 2 touchdowns as the Gamecocks defeated Missouri 31–10 at Williams-Brice Stadium. On October 26, 2013, Shaw was unable to start because of illness and a sprained left knee but came off the bench to lead the Gamecocks from a 17-point deficit to defeat the No. 5 Missouri Tigers 27–24 in double overtime. After leading the Gamecocks to a 31–17 victory over rivals Clemson on December 1, 2013, Shaw had the best record as a quarterback in Gamecock history, finishing with a 27–5 record as a starter, including a perfect 17–0 at home. On December 6, Shaw was invited to play in the 2014 NFLPA Collegiate Bowl. In his final college game on January 1, 2014, Shaw ran for a touchdown, threw 3 touchdowns and caught 1 touchdown and went 22–24 throwing for 312 yards in the Capital One Bowl. He was voted the game's most valuable player for his performance.

College statistics

Professional career

Cleveland Browns

Shaw went undrafted in the 2014 NFL draft, and later signed with the

following the draft. In his preseason debut, he completed 8 of 9 passes for 123 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions against 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 ...

. He was released on August 30, 2014, but re-signed to their practice squad the next day. Due to injuries to Johnny Manziel and Brian Hoyer, on December 22, 2014, Shaw was called up from the practice squad to be on the active roster. Shaw was also announced as the starter for the season finale against the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

. Starting against the Ravens in his first and only career NFL game, Shaw went 14/28 for 177 yards with 1

interception In Ball game, ball-playing Competitive sport, competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for ...

and 0

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s, including a 49-yard pass to

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 ...

Taylor Gabriel after avoiding pressure. On August 13, 2015, in a preseason game versus the

, Shaw injured multiple ligaments in his thumb, requiring surgery. It was reported that he would be facing a 12-week recovery time along with rehab, likely keep him out for the season. On June 30, 2016, Shaw was released by the Browns.

Chicago Bears

On July 1, 2016, Shaw was claimed off waivers by the

. The

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 National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

had accidentally sent out an email to the other 31 NFL teams, instead of the league office, indicating that they intended to claim Shaw off waivers. The Bears had waiver-claim priority over the Saints because of a worse 2015 record. On August 30, 2016, Shaw was placed on injured reserve for a broken leg sustained in preseason. On March 4, 2017, Shaw signed a one-year extension with the Bears. On May 30, 2017, he was waived by the Bears, becoming a free agent only to have the Bears rescind the waiver on the same day following an injury to Mark Sanchez. He suffered a hamstring injury during a preseason game against the Cleveland Browns on August 31. He was waived/injured on September 2 and placed on injured reserve on September 4, 2017. He was released on September 8, 2017.

NFL career statistics

Coaching career

In January 2018, Shaw signed on to be a tight ends coach at

Furman University Furman University is a private university in Greenville, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1826 and named after Baptist pastor Richard Furman, the Liberal arts college, liberal arts university is the oldest private institution of higher l ...

. In August, prior to the start of the season, Shaw resigned due to his commitment in an undisclosed "private business" opportunity. The Paladins went on to go 6–4 over the course of the season and win a share of the conference championship. Shaw returned to the University of South Carolina in 2020 as the director of player development. On November 16, 2020, after the firing of Will Muschamp, Shaw was promoted to interim quarterbacks coach at South Carolina. New Gamecocks head coach Shane Beamer stated that Shaw will remain a part of South Carolina's football program in the 2021 season, but not at the quarterbacks coach position, which has been filled by new offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield. In February 2021, Shaw's expanded role was announced as Director of Football Relations, with duties in recruiting, current player relations, and serving as a liaison to former players.

References

External links

South Carolina Gamecocks bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shaw, Connor 1991 births Living people Players of American football from Hall County, Georgia American football quarterbacks South Carolina Gamecocks football players Cleveland Browns players Chicago Bears players Furman Paladins football coaches South Carolina Gamecocks football coaches Coaches of American football from Georgia (U.S. state)