Once a leader, now a liar

USC Trojan football captain’s fib story will haunt him for years to come

Josh+Shaw%2C+senior+defensive+back+for+the+University+of+Southern+California%2C+ruined+his+reputation+with+a+falsified+story.

Josh Shaw, senior defensive back for the University of Southern California, ruined his reputation with a falsified story.

Top-tier athletes in today’s society aren’t always known as great people, and over this past week we have sadly come to learn this still holds true for some.

Josh Shaw, a senior defensive back for the University of Southern California, made news Monday after telling reporters he severely injured both ankles after jumping from a two-story building to rescue his nephew from drowning. After speculation that the story might be untrue, he came clean to USC personnel Wednesday and publicly said the story was a lie.

As the news broke of Shaw making the whole story up, he went from hero to zero in a matter of no time. He was suspended from the team indefinitely, meaning we may or may never see Shaw hit the field for the Trojans again to play his senior season.

USC’s head coach Steve Sarkisian was high on Shaw not only as a player, but also as a person, naming him a captain merely weeks before the incident.

“We are extremely disappointed in Josh,” Sarkisian said in a USC press release. “He let us all down. As I have said, nothing in his background led us to doubt him when he told us of his injuries, nor did anything after our initial vetting of his story.”

Shaw has disgraced his name on and off the field after making up such a story, and in my eyes his legacy will never be the same no matter what he does. He made his fans believe for a few short hours every famous athlete, whether college or professional, can do great things outside of sports. Instead, he showed us he’d rather just be bathing in the fame and heroism.

Sarkisian said Shaw was a leader on his USC Trojans football team not only on the field, but off the field and in the locker room. However, Shaw felt he needed to bring more attention to his name by getting himself noticed nationally.

In Shaw’s 2013 campaign with USC, he recorded 67 tackles and four interceptions, putting himself on the map as not only one of the team’s best defensive players, but also as one of the best defensive backs in the country.

I see Shaw’s lies as a way for him to gain recognition throughout the country and from the National Football League. As a senior in college, Shaw was going to need to do something special, not only off the field but on the field as well to catch the eyes of NFL scouts.

College is a time when people mature, learn to live without their parents and become their own strong individuals. However, while in college many students will, by mistake, regret some decisions they make. Shaw’s move this past week was not an accident, but it is something he will have to live with for the rest of his life.

As the 2014 college football season began, Shaw came into the year as a potential draft pick to the NFL. Now he must sit, wait and think about his mistake and if he will ever return to field as a Trojan once again.

CAL SPORT MEDIA