In a 2014 graduation speech, University of Southern California cornerback Josh Shaw spoke about dedication, admiration and family. He spoke about how he left the University of Florida to take over his father’s landscaping business when his father was unable to work after surgery.Shaw’s story of selflessness continued on Aug. 24 when he reportedly jumped from a two-story building to save his seven-year-old nephew who was drowning in a pool. Shaw suffered two high ankle sprains in his heroic act. Shaw should have been a role model to everyone. He was a redshirt senior who was named captain by his teammates; a guy who was productive on and off the field. He was an example of how all football players should act considering that so many players constantly find themselves in trouble off the field. Shaw’s inspirational story, however, came to a screeching halt on Aug. 27. After suspicions arose about where Shaw actually was on Aug. 24, the USC athletic department released a statement saying that Shaw had told them his story was untrue. Shaw—guided by his attorneys—released a statement saying, “I injured myself in a fall. I made up a story about this fall that was untrue. I was wrong to not tell the truth. I apologize to USC.” In addition to blatantly lying, Shaw is now a suspect in a downtown Los Angeles apartment break-in in the same building where both Shaw his girlfriend live. Because of the incident, Shaw was suspended indefinitely from the football team. "He let us all down,” USC head coach Steve Sarkisian said in a statement. “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 yet to say why he lied, only apologizing for his actions and asking that this not define his career at USC. Of course, this incident will come up during his National Football League Draft process next spring. Quality of character is one of the biggest off-the-field considerations that professional teams contemplate when drafting players and this single incident could cost him millions of dollars down the road. The Trojan defense must now figure out how to replace a shutdown corner who would have been covering the opposing teams’ best receivers. For now, USC’s defense looks fine. They forced four interceptions in a 52-13 bashing of the Fresno State Bulldogs on Saturday, Aug. 30, but the Bulldogs are a mediocre team compared to the Trojans. Their schedule gets much tougher in the coming weeks. The Trojans play the 11th ranked Stanford University on Saturday Sept. 6 and 19th ranked Arizona State University on Oct. 4.
