A start Sunday in Baltimore in his NFL debut would add a final chapter he couldn’t have imagined six weeks ago.
“It’s been such a blessing. It’s such an awesome year for me and my family to be able to live my dream and have a beautiful daughter and marry my high school sweetheart,” said Shaw, an undrafted rookie. “It’s been awesome for me, and hopefully we can cap it off with a win.”
Shaw married Molly in July. Mila was born nearly four months ago.
He saw those life-changing events coming. He would’ve had a hard time predicting he’d take the first-team quarterback repetitions on the final Wednesday of the season.
Especially when he was taking snaps at safety with the scout team.
But with Johnny Manziel placed on injured reserve with a hamstring injury and Brian Hoyer’s status in doubt with right shoulder/biceps injuries, Shaw could get the call against the Ravens, who need a win in their attempt to reach the playoffs. Hoyer is holding out hope he can play, but if he can’t, it’ll be Shaw.
“Yeah, I’m really excited about it,” Shaw said. “It’s been a long season. I’ve done everything they’ve asked, and I feel like I’ve done a good job.
“We’ll see what happens at the end of the week. Right now, I’m just focused on the game plan and seeing if I have to suit up against Baltimore.”
Shaw was one of the most successful and exciting college quarterbacks the last few years, drawing comparisons to Manziel. He’s the winningest quarterback in South Carolina history with a 27-5 record. As a senior, he threw 23 touchdowns and one interception.
“I’m a tough, gritty guy,” Shaw said. “I feel like I’m smart with the ball.”
But without ideal size (6-foot-1, 210 pounds) and arm strength, he went undrafted. In fact, the Browns were the only team to have him in for a visit. He signed with them after the draft and was added to the practice squad after he was cut at the end of training camp.
He spent the first 16 weeks splitting scout-team reps at quarterback with Manziel, serving as an extra practice body at safety, going largely unnoticed in the practice squad section of the locker room and studying the game plan and opponents’ defenses alongside Hoyer and Manziel.
“Well, I did everything Johnny and Brian did except for play,” Shaw said. “I was in the meeting rooms. I was doing everything they were. I was trying to stay as sharp as possible because you never know when you’re going in. It just happens to be that way this week, and we’ll see how it all turns out at the end of the week.”
“He’s a competitive guy, and he’s tough,” Hoyer said. “I think he’s done his due diligence in meetings and stuff like that. It’s definitely not easy, and I know he’ll do everything he can to prepare to play.”
Shaw made an impression on coach Mike Pettine with his gritty preseason play and work throughout the season. Shaw didn’t get much work in the preseason as the competition between Hoyer and Manziel played out, but took advantage of the limited time he had.
He went 8-for-9 for 123 yards, a touchdown and a 155.8 rating against Washington. He ran six times for 20 yards in the finale against Chicago.
“I think I proved to myself that I can play in this league, and hopefully, if I get that opportunity, I’ll make some plays and we can come out with a win,” Shaw said.
Pettine liked him as early as his predraft visit and workout.
“I’ve spoken on it before, just that ‘it factor,’” Pettine said. “You just look at him and does he pass the eyeball test? No. And he doesn’t have the strongest arm and he’s not the fastest or the biggest, but he’s found a way and he’s just got something about him. He’s well-respected by his teammates and he goes out and he works his tail off on the practice field.
“He’s a guy that you like having around just because there’s a lot of positive energy coming from Connor, so he was a guy that we did like. I don’t know exactly where he ended up on the final draft rankings, but he was a guy that we targeted and we were fortunate to be able to get him here after the draft.”
Shaw took the first-team reps Tuesday and Wednesday and is preparing to face the Ravens and their fierce pass rush.
“He did a great job today,” left tackle Joe Thomas said Tuesday. “I was impressed. Nobody’s seen or heard from him from the No. 1 offense in a long time because even going back to training camp I can’t really remember taking any reps with him. But he stepped right in today and hardly made any mistakes calling the plays and I was impressed.”
With the quarterback carousel that’s been spinning in Cleveland since 1999 - Shaw would be the 22nd starter - fans are trained to greet each new experiment with great expectations. Shaw was asked if he’d view the start Sunday as an audition to get into a competition for the starting job next year.
“I don’t see it that way, and I really can’t focus on it like that,” he said. “If I have the opportunity to play, then I’m going to play with the best of my ability the only way I know how. We’ll see how it all turns out after the season.”
Shaw has wanted to be a starting quarterback in the NFL since he was 5. All those years didn’t prepare him for the final week of his rookie season.
“Yeah, it’s pretty crazy,” he said. “I didn’t see it turning out like this, but nonetheless, I’ll be ready if I’m called on.”
