Paul Lamont Shields Jr. (born January 31, 1976) 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 ...

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who played two seasons with 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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

of 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 ...

Scottsdale Community College Scottsdale Community College is a Public college, public community college just outside of Scottsdale, Arizona. It is on the city's eastern boundary, on 160 acres (650,000 m2) of land belonging to the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community. ...

and the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

Early life and college

Paul Lamont Shields Jr. was born on January 31, 1976, in

Camp Springs, Maryland Camp Springs is an unincorporated area and census-designated place (CDP) in Prince George's County, Maryland, Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The population was 22,734 at the 2020 census. Camp Springs is not an official post offic ...

. He attended Paradise Valley High School in

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. Shields first played

. He then transferred to play for the

Arizona Wildcats The Arizona Wildcats are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Arizona, located in Tucson, Arizona, Tucson. The Wildcats compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Divis ...

of the

, where he was a two-year

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from 1997 to 1998. He caught two passes for 47 yards and one touchdown in 1997. Shields rushed 15 times for 51 yards in 1998 while also catching one pass for nine yards.

Professional career

Shields signed with the

on April 22, 1999, after going undrafted in the

1999 NFL draft The 1999 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 17–18, 1999, at the Theater at M ...

. He was released on September 6 and signed to the team's practice squad the next day. He was released by the Colts on September 14, 1999. Shields was signed to the practice squad of the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

on September 21, 1999. On September 29, 1999, Shieldd was signed to the Colts' active roster off of the Eagles practice squad. He played in 13 games, starting three, for the Colts during the 1999 season, catching four passes for 37 yards on seven targets while also posting four solo tackles. He also appeared in one playoff game that year, recording one solo tackle and one assisted tackle. Shields became a free agent after the season and re-signed with the Colts. He was released on August 28, 2000. He was re-signed on October 4, released on October 7, and re-signed again on October 9, 2000. Overall, Shields played in seven games for the Colts in 2000 and posted one solo tackle. He became a free agent after the 2001 season and was not offered a tender by the Colts. Shields signed 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 ...

on May 21, 2001. He was released by the Cardinals on September 2, 2001. Shields 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 ...

on January 16, 2002. He was released by the Chiefs on September 1, 2002.

Personal life

Shields and his wife were accused of taking $1.4 million from a couple in a repossessed-home

Ponzi scheme A Ponzi scheme (, ) is a form of fraud that lures investors and pays Profit (accounting), profits to earlier investors with Funding, funds from more recent investors. Named after Italians, Italian confidence artist Charles Ponzi, this type of s ...

in 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shields, Paul Living people 1976 births American football running backs Scottsdale Fighting Artichokes football players Arizona Wildcats football players Indianapolis Colts players Philadelphia Eagles players Arizona Cardinals players Kansas City Chiefs players People from Camp Springs, Maryland Players of American football from Prince George's County, Maryland 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen