Timothy Bruce Shaw (born March 27, 1984) is a former

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

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 ...

who played 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

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Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

and he was selected by the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

in the fifth round of the

2007 NFL draft The 2007 NFL draft was the 72nd annual meeting of National Football League franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 28 and April 29, 2007. The draf ...

. Shaw also played for the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

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 ...

and

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

College career

Shaw was recruited out of Livonia Clarenceville High School as a running back. A three-star recruit, he decided to attend

, spurning other scholarship offers from Big Ten schools such as Michigan and Michigan State. Shaw saw extensive playing time on special teams and began earning snaps on defense. He became a starter, playing alongside

Bednarik Award The Chuck Bednarik Award is presented annually to the defensive player of the year in college football as judged by the Maxwell Football Club to be the best in the United States. The award is named for Chuck Bednarik, a former college and profess ...

winning linebackers Paul Posluszny and Dan Connor, on what many people consider the best Penn State linebacking corps of all time. Shaw was a 2006 Academic

All-America 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 ...

Professional career

Carolina Panthers

In the

, Shaw was selected in the 5th round by the

Jacksonville Jaguars

Shaw was signed by the

on November 26, 2008, and appeared in three games for the Jaguars that season. He spent the 2009 preseason in Jacksonville's camp before being released on September 5, 2009.

Chicago Bears

The

signed Shaw on September 14, 2009, after opening-week injuries to linebackers

Brian Urlacher Brian Urlacher (; born May 25, 1978) is an American former professional football linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons with the Chicago Bears. He played college football for the New Mexico Lobos, earning co ...

and Pisa Tinoisamoa depleted their linebacking corps. He set a club record for special teams tackles with 30 after an 8 tackle performance with a forced fumble and recovery against the Detroit Lions (January 3, 2010). On January 27, 2010, ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'' announced that Shaw had made its All-Joe Team, honoring the NFL's unsung and underrated players.

Tennessee Titans

On September 5, 2010, Shaw was claimed off waivers by the

. He played in 48 games over three seasons for the Titans and was their special teams captain in 2011 and 2012. He was released during final cuts on August 31, 2013.

NFL career statistics

Personal life

Shaw is a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

. He has said that his faith is "... the foundation of who I am." Shaw has gone on two

mission Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality * Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * ...

trips to

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

and two mission trips to

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

. Shaw is close friends with former

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

Kevin Boss Kevin Michael Boss (born January 11, 1984) is an American former professional football tight end. He was selected in the fifth round of the 2007 NFL draft by the New York Giants out of Western Oregon University. With the Giants, he won Super Bowl ...

. The two are represented by the same firm, XAM Sports, and were roommates while training in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

prior to the

. He attended Boss' July 4, 2009 wedding. Shaw is reportedly a

jigsaw puzzle A jigsaw puzzle (with context, sometimes just jigsaw or just puzzle) is a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of often irregularly shaped interlocking and mosaicked pieces. Typically each piece has a portion of a picture, which is comple ...

enthusiast.

ALS

On August 19, 2014, Shaw revealed in a video that he has

ALS Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, terminal neurodegenerative disorder that results in the progressive loss of both upper and low ...

. He then dumped a bucket of ice water over himself as part of the

Ice Bucket Challenge The Ice Bucket Challenge, sometimes called the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, is an activity involving the pouring of a bucket of ice water over a person's head, either by another person or self-administered, to promote awareness of the disease amyo ...

. He has since been heavily involved in efforts to advance ALS research through better funding, and raise awareness about ALS, using different platforms. He is considered to be a champion of the cause, and has impacted ALS communities throughout the country. On March 19, 2015, Shaw addressed the Tennessee General Assembly, making a pitch that would declare the month of May as ALS Awareness Month in Tennessee. On April 18, 2015, Best Man Tim held a fundraising event during Penn State's Blue White weekend that included an

. Shaw attended the dedicated event where he signed autographs, posed for photographs, and enjoyed the support of hundreds of community members. A large amount of Penn State legends and lettermen supported the event, including the Paterno Family. Jay Paterno participated in Best Man Tim's Blue White weekend event. On August 27, 2017, Shaw's high school renamed its football stadium after him. At halftime of a football game, the Clarenceville High School introduced the David B. McDowell Field at Shaw Stadium in honor of Shaw. That same year, Shaw's book titled "Blitz Your Life: Stories From An NFL And ALS Warrior" was released. Shaw has continued to help fundraise for ALS research, inspire others who are battling ALS, and make himself available wherever he can be helpful to others. In 2017, Shaw was invited to speak to the current Penn State football team he spoke about his challenges after his diagnosis and spoke about his time playing football at Penn State and his experience in the NFL. His speech resonated with head coach James Franklin who posted his speech on his

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

account which gained national attention. On November 18, 2017, Shaw was the honorary captain for Penn State's game vs the

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding t ...

. He was honored with a video tribute and standing ovation by fans along with both teams. In 2019, Shaw participated in a ''Player's Tribune'' article about his journey with ALS, in which he encouraged his younger self and others to "live your best life today and enjoy every little blessing." On December 18, 2019, a documentary video was released on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

that covered Project Euphonia.

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teamed up with Dimitri Kenevsky to create an AI-powered live transcription application that was specifically trained to understand and transcribe Shaw's impaired voice. Using hours of interviews as audio reference, a separate AI program was created to synthesize Shaw's old voice. While still in beta, the hope is to some day give Shaw the ability to clearly communicate again.

References

External links

Tennessee Titans bioCarolina Panthers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaw, Tim 1984 births Living people American football linebackers Carolina Panthers players Chicago Bears players Jacksonville Jaguars players Sportspeople from Livonia, Michigan Players of American football from Wayne County, Michigan People with motor neuron disease Penn State Nittany Lions football players Tennessee Titans players