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

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

. 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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

between 2015 and 2017. Shaw also 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 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 ...

(USC).

Early life

Shaw attended

Palmdale High School Palmdale High School is located in Palmdale, California and is part of the Antelope Valley Union High School District. Palmdale High School was founded in 1956. Notable alumni * Edniesha Curry, basketball player and coach * Josh Shaw, profession ...

Palmdale, California Palmdale is a city in northern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city lies in the Antelope Valley of Southern California. The San Gabriel Mountains separate Palmdale from the Los Angeles Basin to the south. On August 24, 1962 ...

. He played

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 ...

, and

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 ...

. As a senior, he had 50

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position) A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent ...

and an

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 ...

on defense, passed for 2,279 yards with 18

touchdowns 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 ...

as a quarterback, and

rushed ''Rushed'' (also known as ''A Mother's Fury'' in the United Kingdom) is a 2021 American thriller film directed by Vibeke Muasya. It stars Siobhan Fallon Hogan (who also wrote the screenplay and served as a co-producer) and Robert Patrick. Plot Ji ...

for 921 yards and 14 rushing touchdowns. He also participated in track. He was rated by

Rivals.com Rivals.com (stylized as ''rivals'') 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 found ...

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 university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

to play

College career

Shaw attended Florida from 2010 to 2011. He appeared in one game as a

true freshman The following terms are used in American football, both conventional and indoor. Some of these terms are also in use in Canadian football; for a list of terms unique to that code, see '' Glossary of Canadian football''. 0–9 ...

and

redshirted 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 ...

. 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 (S), historically known as a safetyman, 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 sa ...

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

Pre-draft

Shaw received an invitation to the

NFL combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foot ...

and completed all of the required combine and positional drills. On March 11, 2015, Shaw participated at USC's

pro day The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

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 Michael Francis Mayock Sr. (born August 14, 1958) is an American former professional football executive and player in the National Football League (NFL). He played as a safety with the New York Giants. After his playing career, he was a draft ...

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 American football, football players. It took place in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre and in Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park ...

. 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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

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 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 ...

. 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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

. 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 (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 ...

. 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) NFC West, West division. The ...

. He was placed on injured reserve 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 incl ...

Roger Goodell Roger Stokoe Goodell (born February 19, 1959) is an American businessman who has served as the National Football League Commissioner, commissioner of the National Football League (NFL) since 2006. Goodell began his NFL career in 1982 as an admi ...

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

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 ...

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 ...

. 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.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

References

External links

USC Trojans bio

Florida 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 Palmdale High School alumni Players of American football from Palmdale, California Tampa Bay Buccaneers players USC Trojans football players Birmingham Stallions (2022) players