Sam Shields
Encyclopedia
Samuel George Shields III (born December 8, 1987) is an American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 cornerback
Cornerback
A cornerback is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in American and Canadian football. Cornerbacks cover receivers, to defend against pass offenses and make tackles. Other members of the defensive backfield include the safeties and occasionally linebackers. The cornerback position...

 for the Green Bay Packers
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...

 of the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

. He was signed by the Packers as an undrafted free agent in 2010. He played college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 at the University of Miami
Miami Hurricanes football
The Miami Hurricanes football program competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference of the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision for the University of Miami. The program began in 1926 and has won five AP national championships...

.

Early years

A native of Sarasota, Florida
Sarasota, Florida
Sarasota is a city located in Sarasota County on the southwestern coast of the U.S. state of Florida. It is south of the Tampa Bay Area and north of Fort Myers...

, Shields attended Booker High School, where he played wide receiver and was regarded as a four-star recruit by Rivals.com
Rivals.com
Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting. The network was started in 1996 and currently employs more than 300 personnel.-Schools:The individual collegiate sites can be found...

.

College career

At the University of Miami
University of Miami
The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...

, Shields played wide receiver
Wide receiver
A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...

 his first three seasons before switching to cornerback for his senior year. Shields was awarded the team's most improved player award after his senior year at Miami.

Professional career

In his rookie
Rookie
Rookie is a term for a person who is in his or her first year of play of their sport or has little or no professional experience. The term also has the more general meaning of anyone new to a profession, training or activity Rookie is a term for a person who is in his or her first year of play of...

 year in the NFL, Shields played the nickel back position serving as the third cornerback behind veterans Charles Woodson
Charles Woodson
Charles C. Woodson is an American football cornerback for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League . He played college football at the University of Michigan for the Michigan Wolverines. In 1997, Woodson led the Wolverines to a national championship...

 and Tramon Williams
Tramon Williams
Tramon Vernell Williams is an American football cornerback for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League...

. Shields played in 14 of 16 regular season games and four playoff games, including Super Bowl XLV
Super Bowl XLV
Super Bowl XLV was an American football game between the American Football Conference champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference champion Green Bay Packers to decide the National Football League champion for the 2010 season. The game was held at Cowboys Stadium in...

. In the 2011 NFC Championship game
NFC Championship Game
The National Football Conference Championship Game is one of the two semi-final playoff matches of the National Football League, the largest professional American football league in the United States. The game is played on the penultimate Sunday in January and determines the champion of the...

, Shields intercepted Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

 quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...

 Caleb Hanie
Caleb Hanie
Caleb Jeffrey Hanie is an American football quarterback for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League. He was signed by the Bears as an undrafted free agent in 2008. He played high school football for Forney High School in Forney, Texas and led his team to consecutive top 3 finishes in...

 in the final minute to send the Packers to Super Bowl XLV. Shields recorded two interceptions, a sack, and a forced fumble in the game, the only rookie in NFL history to do so in a playoff game and only the fifth NFL player to do so since 1982 when the NFL began tracking sacks as an official statistic.

On February 6, 2011 Shields had 2 tackles in the Packers victory over the Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...

in Super Bowl XLV. Shields suffered a shoulder injury late in the second quarter and saw limited play time in the second half.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK