Sterling Shepard
| No. 87 – New York Giants | |||||||||
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| Position: | Wide receiver | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | February 10, 1993 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | ||||||||
| Height: | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 194 lb (88 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| College: | Oklahoma | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 2016 / round: 2 / pick: 40 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||
| Career NFL statistics as of Week 11, 2016 | |||||||||
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Sterling Clay Shepard (born February 10, 1993) is an American football wide receiver for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Oklahoma. Shepard was drafted 40th overall by the Giants in the 2nd round of the 2016 NFL Draft.
Early years
Shepard attended Heritage Hall School in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where he rushed for 1,115 yards and caught 133 passes for 2335 yards and 38 touchdowns in his high school career. As a senior, he carried the ball 28 times for 303 yards and eight touchdowns and caught 73 passes for 1,243 yards and 17 touchdowns. Following his senior season, he was selected to the Under Armour All-American Game. Shepard also competed in basketball and track at Heritage. As a senior in 2011, he placed second in the long jump at the State Meet with a leap of 6.69 meters (21'11.5").[1]
Shepard was a consensus four-star recruit by ESPN.com, Rivals.com, 247sports.com and Scout.com. He committed to the University of Oklahoma to play college football.[2][3]
College career
As a true freshman at Oklahoma in 2012, Shepard played in all 13 games with four starts and had 45 receptions for 621 yards and three touchdowns.[4] As a sophomore in 2013, he started 12 of 13 games, recording 51 receptions for 603 yards and seven touchdowns.[5] Shepard started 12 of 13 games as a junior in 2014. After recording 49 receptions for 911 yards and five touchdowns through the first seven games of the season, he suffered a groin injury on a reception against Iowa State, which caused him to miss the rest of that game and the next week's game against Baylor and limited him to one reception for 13 yards during the final four games.[6][7] As a senior in 2015 he played in all 14 games and had 86 receptions for 1,288 yards and 11 touchdowns. For his career he had 233 receptions for 3,482 yards and 26 touchdowns.
Professional career
Shepard was selected by the New York Giants with the 40th overall pick in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft.[8] On May 6, 2016, the New York Giants signed Shepard to a four-year, $5.94 million contract that includes $3.24 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $2.52 million.[9][10]
Going into the regular season, Shepard was named a starting wide receiver, along with Odell Beckham Jr. He started the New York Giant's season opener against the Dallas Cowboys and made 3 receptions for 43-yards and caught his first career touchdown on a 9-yard pass from Eli Manning, helping the Giants win 20-19. The following week, Shepard caught 8 passes for 117 receiving yards during a 16-13 victory over the New Orleans Saints. On September 25, 2016, he caught 5 passes for 73-yards and caught a 23-yard touchdown pass from Eli Manning during the Giant's first loss of the season to the Washington Redskins. On November 6, 2016, he continued to emerge as a promising receiver after he made 3 receptions for 50-yards and caught a 23-yard touchdown pass in a victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. The following game, Shepard caught 5 passes for 42 receiving yards and a touchdown in a win over the Cincinnati Bengals.[11]
On November 20, 2016, Shepard had his third game in-a-row with a touchdown catch after he finished a game against the Chicago Bears with 5 catches for 50 receiving yards and caught the game-winning 15-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter so the Giants would win 22-16.
Personal
His father, Derrick Shepard, played at Oklahoma and in the NFL from 1987 to 1991. He died when Sterling was six. [12][13][14] His uncles, Darrell (1980-81) and Woodie (1975-79), also played at Oklahoma.[15]
References
- ^ "OK Preps Extra: 4A/3A State Track Results". OK Preps Extra.
- ^ "Sterling Shepard".
- ^ "Heritage Hall's Sterling Shepard commits to Oklahoma". NewsOK.com.
- ^ "Shepard ready to build solid freshman campaign". OUDaily.com.
- ^ "Sterling Shepard now front and center". Tulsa World.
- ^ Oklahoma receiver Sterling Shepard ready for comeback
- ^ "OU receiver Sterling Shepard patiently rehabs injury, takes it easy at bowl practice". Tulsa World.
- ^ Salomone, Dan (April 29, 2016). "New York Giants Draft Oklahoma WR Sterling Shepard in second round". Giants.com. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
- ^ "Sportrac.com:Sterling Shepard". Sportrac.com. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
- ^ Eisen, Michael (May 6, 2016). "Giants sign four draft picks & 14 undrafted free agents". Giants.com. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
- ^ "NFL Player Profile: Sterling Shepard". NFL.com. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
- ^ "Oklahoma football: Sterling Shepard has special bond with OU program". NewsOK.com.
- ^ "Oklahoma's Sterling Shepard has fatherly connection to the New Orleans Saints; Sooners Sugar Bowl notebook". NOLA.com.
- ^ "Oklahoma football: Sterling Shepard to make debut on same field where his late father played". NewsOK.com.
- ^ "Oklahoma football: Poised to carry on the Shepard Sooner lineage". NewsOK.com.