Clay Shiver
Spencer Clay Shiver (born December 7, 1972) is a former American football center in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys and Carolina Panthers. He played college football at Florida State University, where he was a member of a national championship team and earned All-American honors.
| No. 50, 60 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Center / Guard | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | December 7, 1972 Tifton, Georgia | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 283 lb (128 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Tifton (GA) Tift Co. | ||||||||
| College: | Florida State | ||||||||
| NFL Draft: | 1996 / Round: 3 / Pick: 67 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Player stats at PFR | |||||||||
Early years
Shiver was born in Tifton, Georgia. He attended Tift County High School,[1] where he played football for the Blue Devils, while receiving recognition as a Parade All-America and an All-State selection as a senior.
College career
Shiver accepted a football scholarship to attend Florida State University, where he played for coach Bobby Bowden's Florida State Seminoles football team. In 1992, he shared the starting center role (5 starts) as a redshirt freshman, helping the team to an 11-1 record and an Orange Bowl invitation.
As a sophomore in 1993, he was the snapper for quarterback Charlie Ward and a member of the Seminoles' Bowl Coalition national championship team that defeated the Nebraska Cornhuskers 18–16 in the Orange Bowl. He received his first All-conference selection, while giving up a half of a quarterback sack in 700 offensive snaps.[2]
In his junior and senior years, he was awarded the Jacobs Blocking Trophy, presented annually to the best blocker in the ACC.[2] In his last year, he helped the offense averaged 551.5 yards-per-game, ranking third in the nation.
In 2001, he was inducted into the Florida State Athletics Hall of Fame. Bowden called him "the best center that I've coached in 20 years at Florida State."
Professional career
Dallas Cowboys
Shiver was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the third round (67th overall) of the 1996 NFL draft. As a rookie, he was the backup to Pro Bowler Ray Donaldson and was used at the tight end position in short yardage situations.
In 1997, he replaced Donaldson at center and was the only lineman to start every game at the same position.[3] He started the first nine games in 1998, before being limited with a turf toe injury and eventually being replaced in the starting lineup with 31-year-old rookie Mike Kiselak.
Shiver struggled during his time with the Cowboys because he lacked size and strength, so the team chose to sign free agent Mark Stepnoski in 1999, instead of re-signing him.
Denver Broncos
In 1999, he signed as a free agent with the Denver Broncos,[4] but was waived before the start of the season.[5]
Carolina Panthers
On December, 14, 1999, he was signed by the Carolina Panthers to fill the roster spot left open by the injured Nate Newton, but he did not appear in a regular season game.[6] He was released on August 27, 2000.[7]
Personal life
Shiver is currently a high school football head coach for Boca Raton Christian School.
References
- databaseFootball.com, Players, Clay Shiver Archived 2012-03-24 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
- Seminoles.com, FSU Hall of Fame, Clay Shiver. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
- "Donaldson Given Release By Cowboys". Retrieved February 19, 2017.
- "Shiver joins Broncos". Retrieved February 19, 2017.
- "Transactions". Retrieved February 19, 2017.
- "Newton, Kasay Out; Carolina Signs Shiver, Cunningham". Retrieved February 19, 2017.
- "Johnson, Wiley, Shiver Cut By Panthers". Retrieved February 19, 2017.