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When the 109th Grey Cup concluded last month, Shawn Oakman finally became a professional football champion. This is not how he intended to lift his first-ever pro-football trophy, but nonetheless, he has done it.
Shawn Oakman is a defensive end who grew up in Pennsylvania dreaming of playing in the NFL. He was eligible to declare in the 2015 NFL Draft but stayed in Baylor for a year longer and decided to declare in 2016. At 6'9", 287 lbs. and with a phenomenal output, he was there to be selected in the very first round.
But just before the draft, he was embroiled in a sexual assault case. This made him undraftable. In 2019 he was found innocenct after it emerged that the accuser had made first contact with him and there were other lapses in the story. By that time, he was 27 and his NFL dream seemed to be over.
Did Shawn Oakman ever play in the NFL?
Shawn Oakman has never played in the NFL, but he has never been away from football. He tried working in a diaper factory when he did not get drafted, but he could not hold on to the job. He was made for football and he always came back to that.
He played indoor football in places like North Carolina, North Dakota and West Virginia. In 2020, he got his chance to be part of outdoor football once again when he signed with the Los Angeles Wildcats in the XFL. But that didn't work out long-term either, due to the pandemic and other issues.
In 2021, though, he finally got his chance with the Toronto Argonauts in the CFL. Playing in the oldest pro football league in the world, he got a chance to follow his dreams once more. In the last two seasons, he has made it to the CFL East All-Star team and the CFL All-Star team in 2021. In the Grey Cup this year, he showed his true worth, recording a sack and two tackles.
He hopes this will be the springboard to getting a long overdue chance in the NFL. He admits that is the one dream that has never faded. But at the moment he is just thankful for getting the chance. Here's what he said on the matter:
"At any given moment, I could’ve went the other route. I could’ve lashed out, I could’ve sold drugs. I didn’t have to be on this path."
Shawn Oakman has come a long way and will now be hoping for better days ahead.
