Former MSU, NFL player overcomes obstacles to complete degree years in the making

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MSU alumnus and former NFL player Josh Shaw is used to tension.

There was tension when he first decided to quit college to train for the NFL draft. There was tension when he received a four-game suspension for breaking league substance abuse policies within the first few years of his professional career. There was tension when he struggled to train through injuries and return to the league.

Despite such stress, Shaw appreciates these obstacles for getting him to where he is today.

“I feel accomplished,” Shaw said.

In the fall, Shaw graduated with a degree in merchandising. This accomplishment came nearly 10 years after he first quit school to join the NFL.

Shaw attended MSU from 1998 to 2002, playing as a defensive tackle for MSU’s football team.

His brother, Mike Williams, was overjoyed at Shaw’s choice to work to get a degree.

“(When he was recruited to MSU), I was excited for (Shaw’s) chance to get a college education,” Williams said. “Besides our mom, he was the first (to have the chance).”

But after a game against University of Michigan left him with a knee injury, Shaw left his team and the university to focus on recovery.

He soon was drafted to the San Francisco 49ers and spent the following six years as a member of various teams and practice squads in the league.

Shaw and his brother agree he made the right decision when he dropped out of MSU.

This choice allowed him to fulfill another dream: playing for the NFL.

“I was just relieved when I heard my name (first called during the NFL draft),” Shaw said. “Spend your whole life on something — doesn’t matter (what team drafts you). You just want to hear your name.”

But during his time as a professional player, Shaw said he had trouble being responsible with the money he made in the league and with making good choices.

MSU’s head strength and conditioning coach Ken Mannie, who is a friend of Shaw’s, said Shaw’s suspension for substance abuse forced him to make changes in the kind of person he would be.

“I tried to mentor him through those issues — make him understand what he had and not to throw it away,” Mannie said.

After dislocating his elbow while playing for the Denver Broncos in 2008, Shaw again worked toward recovery, but he never was asked to return to the NFL.

So Shaw decided to enroll at MSU to finish his degree.
Mannie said he was glad Shaw returned to MSU. Student-athletes should make graduating before a professional career a priority, Mannie said.

“Even though it was several years after (Shaw was supposed to graduate), I’m glad he came back and got it done,” he said.

Although he graduated with a merchandising degree, Mannie and Williams said it’s Shaw’s mistakes that will make him great in his latest endeavor: coaching.

“He has outstanding potential for being a coach,” Mannie said. “He would have the expertise to work (as a coach) at any level.”

Shaw already has some experience with coaching, having mentored MSU football players when visiting the university to train. He said he eventually wants to coach at the college level and hopes he is on the right path.

Soon, he will be heading to Orlando, Fla., to help train three NFL draft hopefuls.

“This is just the beginning, and everything can go up from here,” Williams said.

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