Jeremy Shockey still helps Miami Hurricanes football program
MIAMI (BVM) – Former University of Miami and NFL tight end Jeremy Shockey may best be remembered for his hard-nosed style of play for some of the early 2000s toughest teams both at the collegiate levels and in the pros. While he has been out of the league for a decade, fans who grew up during that generation still remember Shockey for his tough-as-nails attitude and stellar play for his position. While Shockey’s journey doesn’t begin in Miami, the former NFL standout has fully embraced the city and his role for one of the best teams in Hurricanes program history.
Shockey’s story begins in a place that seems as opposite of Miami as one could get – Ada, Oklahoma, a rural town of just over 16,000 people. This is where a young Shockey first began playing football, but he had something to prove.
“Coming from Oklahoma, from a small town in Oklahoma, you’ve got that stigma of you can’t do it,” Shockey said during his UM Sports Hall of Fame acceptance speech. “I don’t know if it gave you a chip on your shoulder but it did something to me and it gave me a bad taste in my mouth. It gave me something of ‘I could do it, I could achieve it. I am not here to prove anyone wrong, I’m here to prove myself wrong and my own doubts.’ That was a turning point in my career.”
A four-year letter winner for Ada High School, Shockey played wide receiver, outside linebacker and returned punts during his time on the team, finishing his senior season with 50 catches for 1,108 yards and five touchdowns as well as four punt return touchdowns. This earned Shockey all-conference, all-district and all-state honors that season.
However, the big schools wouldn’t come calling just yet. Instead, Shockey would go the junior college route playing for Northeast Oklahoma A&M, fittingly in Miami (pronounced My-am-uh), Oklahoma. During his lone JUCO season, the freshman proved himself as he caught 33 passes for 484 yards and seven scores while being named a unanimous first-team All-Southwest Junior College Conference selection and a first-team JC All-American by The JC GridWire.
“That was the biggest obstacle I would have to overcome,” Shockey said. “Not being recruited by a big school, having to go to junior college, not being fast enough, not being strong enough, not being tall enough.”
It was during this time that University of Miami Hurricanes offensive coordinator and soon-to-be head coach Larry Coker saw Shockey and offered him a chance to move to Miami in Florida.
“To say that I was very humbled at that time to have a person come down from Oklahoma and coached at Miami at the time to scout me I was in awe,” Shockey said. “They didn’t let me do much but I think he saw me and he understood I wanted to get out of Miami and go to Miami.”
This move would be a significant one for both Shockey and the Hurricanes. Signing with the team in July 2000, Shockey would go on one of the best two-year runs in program history.
Despite being the backup as a sophomore, Shockey would go on to catch 21 passes for 296 yards and three touchdowns including a historic touchdown catch in the final seconds to defeat No. 1 Florida State 27-24. This impressive season helped Shockey earn first-team All-Big East honors by the league’s coaches, College Football News and The Sporting News.
The next season, Shockey would truly become a star. The junior tight end led the Canes with 45 receptions with 604 receiving yards and eight touchdowns including catching five passes for 85 yards and a touchdown in the 37-14 Rose Bowl win over No. 4 Nebraska to earn the program its fifth national championship. Shockey was named a Mackey Award finalist, a first–team All-American by CNNSI.com and a second-team All-American by the Associated Press, Sportsline.com and ABC Sports Online.
Following his stellar junior season, Shockey would declare for the 2002 NFL Draft where he was selected in the first round and No. 14 overall pick by the New York Giants. With the Giants, Shockey would continue his strong play right out of the gates.
In his first year with the G-Men, Shockey had 74 catches for 894 yards and two scores helping him earn Pro Bowl and All-Pro nods while finishing runner-up for Offensive Rookie of the Year to former Hurricanes’ teammate Clinton Portis. This would be the start of a six-year tenure in the Big Apple where Shockey would go to four Pro Bowls and be a part of numerous highlight moments including catching Eli Manning’s first NFL touchdown, being on the cover of the video game “NFL Street 2” and helping the Giants win Super Bowl XLII over the unbeaten New England Patriots, though he missed the final game due to a broken leg.
After the championship season, Shockey would become more vocal about his desire to leave the Giants due what he felt was a lack of use in the passing offense. Shockey would get his wish as the Giants sent him to the New Orleans Saints for second and fifth-round picks, where he reunited with Sean Payton, who was previously the G-Men’s offensive coordinator for the tight end’s All-Pro rookie campaign. Shockey finished his Giants tenure with 371 catches (fifth-most in franchise history at the time) for 4,228 yards and 27 touchdowns.
Shockey would never achieve the same highs he had with the Giants. Playing three seasons with New Orleans, Shockey would have his moments, including catching the go-ahead touchdown in the Saints’ Super Bowl XLIV win, but he would never make a Pro Bowl and never had a season that even topped his final season in New York. In three seasons, Shockey recorded 139 receptions for 1,460 receiving yards and six touchdown catches.
Shockey signed a deal with the Carolina Panthers in 2011 and played one season for the team playing in 15 games recording 37 receptions, 455 receiving yards and four touchdowns. That would end Shockey’s NFL career as he played 10 seasons recording 547 catches for 6,143 yards and 37 touchdowns.
During his post-NFL life, Shockey has stayed relatively out of the limelight, though his social media pages show him living in Miami. He was inducted into the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame in 2017. In 2019, Shockey returned to the New York Giants for the first time since his public breakup with the team as he took part in the franchise’s “Fantennial weekend” celebrating the NFL’s 100–year anniversary.
Shockey has also maintained a relationship with his alma mater. Last month, Shockey was included among the alumni like Michael Irvin, Bryant McKinnie, Jon Beason, Reggie Wayne and Antrel Rolle among a host of others, helping with Mario Cristobal’s Legends Camp.
Though Shockey may not have imagined ever making his way to Miami in Florida, it has now become a part of him and the city would not be the same without him. Given his legendary status at the U, expect Shockey to continue to grow his relationship with the school for years to come.
“It’s truly special to be a part of this university,” Shockey said during his UM Sports Hall of Fame acceptance speech. “It goes without saying it was the best time of my life. Everyone asked what was the best part of playing football when I played in the NFL for a while and I said, ‘It’s simple it was Miami.’”
