Shawn Demetrices Stuckey is a former professional athlete and professional football player. He was a linebacker with the New England Patriots (No. 93)[1] of the NFL, the Minnesota Vikings (No. 51) of the NFL,[2] the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (No. 93) of the NFL,[3] the Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe (No. 55),[4][5] and the Los Angeles Xtreme of the XFL (No. 53).[6] He was formerly a complex litigation lawyer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, from 2008 until 2015. He is currently a practicing attorney and senior partner representing professional athletes in Orange County, California.
Stuckey, a native of Dale County, Alabama, grew up in the small, rural town of Daleville. Raised by his single mother in public housing, he relied on welfare and food stamps.[7][8]
Undrafted as a rookie, Stuckey signed with the Minnesota Vikings, where he was a member of the same rookie class as Randy Moss. After being released by the Minnesota Vikings training camp, Stuckey signed with the New England Patriots, where he made the team as a linebacker[10] and wore jersey number 93.[11] He started in six games, recovered one fumble during the 1998 season,[12] and became the only free-agent rookie to start in the NFL playoffs, against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The fumble recovery marked the 11th time in NFL history that an NFL rookie recovered a fumble in his first regular season football game.
Stuckey voluntarily left the Patriots at the beginning of the 1999 season to adopt his brother, who had gotten into serious criminal difficulty in Alabama. In his online autobiography, he also indicated that his "heart wasn't in the game".[13] Financial concerns compelled Stuckey to later re-enter professional football,[13] and he signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who allocated him to the Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe in 2000. After his season with Amsterdam, Stuckey was placed on injured reserve by Tampa Bay due to an injury sustained with the Admirals.[14] After his recovery, Stuckey signed with the Los Angeles Xtreme of the XFL, where he played on their 2001 world-championship team.[15] Later, he played for the Indiana Firebirds of the Arena Football League[16] before injuries forced him to give up football for good.[13]
Stuckey attained over 21 high school, collegiate, and professional titles, including one world championship (XFL). He also set an NFL record as the fastest linebacker in the 1998 draft.[17]
In law school, Stuckey was co-chair of the legal department for the St. Paul Chapter of the NAACP. He was asked to give testimony before the United Nations in Geneva in February 2008, during the 72nd Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.[7]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
