Shawn Loiseau ( ; born October 10, 1989) is an American 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 ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

for the Massachusetts Pirates of the

National Arena League The National Arena League (NAL) is a professional indoor football league that began play in 2017. As of the end of the 2024 season, the league consisted of five teams. A team's typical payroll budget is $600,000 per season, but as of the 2022 ...

(NAL). He is one of the most decorated student-athletes in

Merrimack College Merrimack College is a Private university, private Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian university in North Andover, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1947 by the Order of St. Augustine with an initial goal to educate World War II veterans. It en ...

history, and became the first Merrimack Warrior ever to sign an NFL deal.

Early life

A native of

Shrewsbury, Massachusetts Shrewsbury (/ˈʃruzberi/ ''SHROOZ-bury'') is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 38,325 according to the 2020 United States census, in nearly 15,000 households. Incorporated in 1727, Shrewsbury prospere ...

, Loiseau attended Shrewsbury High School, where he set team record with 136 tackles as a senior in 2007. He was named Massachusetts Defensive Player of the Year and helped his team to a Central Massachusetts Division 1A championship, but was ignored by Division I schools because of an assault and battery conviction in his junior year after he slammed a kid to the ground. He played college football at

. Loiseau finished his career with 382 tackles, including 377 in his final three seasons, ranking him first all-time in school history. He broke the school record for tackles in a season with 133 in 2010 and was named 2nd team All-American. Loiseau was twice named Northeast-10 Conference Defensive Player of the Year, marking the first time a Merrimack player earned that award on two occasions.

Professional career

2012 NFL Draft

Projected as a seventh-round selection, Loiseau was listed as the No. 9 inside linebacker available in the

2012 NFL draft The 2012 NFL draft was the 77th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players for their rosters. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held ...

. ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'' described him as a "tough-run defending linebacker who is best in the box", who, however, "struggles at playing football."

Houston Texans

Loiseau was signed by the

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 ...

on May 14, 2012, after going undrafted in the

. The Texans released Loiseau on September 1, 2012.

Indianapolis Colts

On January 7, 2013, 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 ...

signed Loiseau to a Reserve/Future contract. On April 30, 2013, he was waived by the Colts. On August 8, 2013, he was re-signed by the Colts. He was released again on September 6, 2013.

Los Angeles KISS

On June 24, 2014, Loiseau was assigned to the

Los Angeles KISS The Los Angeles Kiss (stylized as LA KISS) were a professional arena football team based in Anaheim, California, and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The Kiss joined the AFL as an expansion team after Los Angeles' previous franchise ( ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

(AFL).

Sioux Falls Storm

On September 1, 2016, Loiseau signed with the

Sioux Falls Storm The Sioux Falls Storm are a dormant professional indoor football team based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The Storm joined the original Indoor Football League as an expansion team in 1999 as the Sioux Falls Cobras, and first took the field for ...

of the

Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional indoor American football league in the United States. The league comprises 14 teams, divided equally between the Eastern Conference (EC) and Western Conference ...

(IFL). On December 13, 2016, Loiseau was released by the Storm.

Nebraska Danger

On January 3, 2017, Loiseau signed with the

Nebraska Danger The Nebraska Danger was a professional indoor American football, indoor football team based in Grand Island, Nebraska, and a member of the Indoor Football League (IFL). The team was founded in 2011 by Charlie Bosselman as an expansion member of ...

. He was released on February 9, 2017. On May 23, 2017, Loiseau was re-signed by the Danger. Massachusetts Pirates In 2018 Loiseau signed with the Massachusetts Pirates. Who he still plays with for to this day.

References

External links

*
Indianapolis Colts bioMerrimack Warriors bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Loiseau, Shawn 1989 births Living people People from Shrewsbury, Massachusetts Players of American football from Worcester County, Massachusetts American football linebackers Merrimack Warriors football players Indianapolis Colts players Los Angeles Kiss players Hudson Valley Fort players Sioux Falls Storm players Nebraska Danger players Massachusetts Pirates players