Where Is Josh Shaw?

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Another week passes with cornerback Josh Shaw suspended. Is he ever going to play? USC says little about his status. A reader offers his own theory: “Josh Shaw is still being listed as a USC captain in the weekly release.  He has essentially been `suspended’ seven games, and counting. That seems a bit excessive for lying, no matter how big the lie. I am guessing there is a problem arising out of the legal representation (impermissible benefit not available to other students). I am wondering when USC will come clean on this story.”

87 thoughts on “Where Is Josh Shaw?”

  1. wolfman, that Video Report was …..SUBLIME!!!

    you were funny, informative, and impressed with an encyclopedic knowledge of every Southern Cal gaffe from this season (a lengthy list!)

    You been working out, wolfman?

    lastly, Reid was on top of her game, definitely her best edition yet!!

    #RightSally?

    • Scottie: I had to laugh at your comment that USC should be focusing on the upcoming Utah game and not all this off-field drama – and you kept a straight face! There’s only one person who continually drags these nonissues through endless gyrations – and it ain’t Reid.

      • I’m surprised that Scottie didn’t make a smarta$$ comment about Neil Armstrongs shiny helmet….

        • Were it up to Wolfie, he’d have the Armstrong statue right next to Tommy Trojan, a juxtaposition of the earthbound warrior and the moonwalker.

          Or maybe he’d plant Armstrong across the plaza next to Traveler in a face off, or in front of the McKay Center next to the Nike shoes.

          Wherever Wolfie would eventually put Armstrong, it would be a bad idea, trust me.

    • “Reid was on top of her game….”????? Seriously? …. Wolfie all but scolded her for not taking a video of the Lendale White incident….she almost cried….

        • Better and BIGGER with each episode…..Wolfie has been hitting Five Guys again….Standing with his arms resting behind him makes his gut protrude that much more…not a good look…

          • He’s gone up to the XXXXL sweatshirt. And is it just me, or has Scottie gotten more gray hairs since the last video?

          • the wolfman’s an Adonis…..Helen we both know if you and the wolfman were ever in the same hotel lounge, you’d throw your room key at him like it was Engelbert Humperdinck.

            #TicketToParadise

        • Unfortunately, Reid is always looking at or nodding to Wolfie as though he is her master, or some sort of creature to be worshipped. I find it strange.

  2. What does USC have to come clean about on this story? This is an off-field situation with Josh Shaw and not USC.

        • Scott Ross died and had dementia related symptoms…as did Junior Seau…Rey Rey will probably be diagnosed with the same symptoms, as will many other TORGAN Footballers.
          It must SUCk to know the end is near for soooooo many Torgans and you can joke about it.
          Fit Un knuckleheads

      • And FSU has no responsibility to explain to the media what Winston did or did not do – this is totally on Winston’s shoulders.

        What exactly to you expect FSU to “come clean” about the Winston actions Chuckie?

        • all the reader asked for was an honest answer to the question, is he coming back? “coming clean” simply referred to the fact HH is stonewalling.

          FSU is expected to tell their Students, faculty and press, why Jamies Winston is or is not allowed to play in view of his various legal troubles.

          these are not privacy issues, a simple “he is not playing pending results of police investigation” is all they need to say.

          • The Winston case could get very interesting. I suspect it will turn into FSU vs Winston and each one will try and throw the other under the bus. Whereas typically the school and athlete stick together. But FSU has too much to lose should they be found to complicit.

    • If only Carmen Trutanich was still City Attorney we would have had resolution by now. Mike Feuer, the Harvard geek who is City Attorney now, doesn’t have any concept of the importance of the season. The wheels of justice will grind slowly now.

  3. Wolf is such a bad “journalist” that he is sourcing an anonymous “reader” claiming USC has something to come clean on.

    Wolf, all you do is try to hurt your Alma mater and continue to ruin your credibility and reputation, at least what’s left of it.

  4. Dude, you have reach a new LOW posting BS like this. I’m serious a heartbeat, you have some mental issues

      • “Fit Un”??????Really? You can’t even get the quotation right.
        You GREAT BIG DUMMY!

        (Dementia is some nasty stuff)

  5. Legal Representation being an impermissible benefit? That makes absolutely no sense.

    This is only if the school pays for his attorneys, which I believe they do not. Otherwise, Jameis Winston and half of the SEC would never be eligible to play football again. You can contract away a lot of rights when accepting a scholarship as a football player. However, you cannot contract away your 6th amendment right to an attorney.

    Can’t believe that you would pass along something so aggressively stupid. Check that, Actually, I can.

    The reason he is being held out is pretty clear to any sentient organism who actually spends time around the team and asks questions. Josh Shaw jumped out of his girlfriends balcony after a verbal domestic dispute. Domestic violence, especially among football players, is a hot-button issue. The current athletic department is hypersensitive regarding player behavior and negative press.

    However, it was the current athletic department that put out the Shaw as hero story in the first place. And the current athletic department cannot get out of its own way when creating issues: running onto the field and arguing with refs, lecturing a tipsy, washed-out running back during a game.

    However, the real issue seems to be the competence and fitness of Pat Haden as AD. No one forced USC to push the Shaw-hero story, especially since teammates and the coaching staff were suspicious to being with. And Sark has repeated said that the matter, as of now, is out of his hands. Is the current administration holding Shaw out more out of embarrassment of their own initial incompetence? No one forced Haden to run down to the field and argue with the refs. No one forced Haden to start a hissy fight with Lendale White.

    Maybe NOBS was half right. Garrett failed in his ultimate task as AD, but perhaps Haden is not exactly the second coming of Rufus VonKleinscmidt.

    • Wolf just throws something out there and hopes it sticks.

      ,,,,,,and this guy makes a living doing it, pathetic

      • Have you ever seen Scottie post a reader’s “theory” that didn’t fit his twisted agenda? And I think we all know who his “unnamed sources” are.

      • and you…put huge amounts of thought, coming up with originality and insight in every post would NEVER “just throw something out there”,….would you DUMB BELL? (over 5,000 posts and counting)
        fit un Knucklehead!

        • Only 5.000, looks like I have a long way to go if I’m going to catch you…..feel proud

          #PickaFinger

    • of course we all agree with the notion that he is entitled to an atty, but he has a known “big money” atty and any deal to rep him now in exchange for big money he will earn later violates the “extra benefit” NCAA rule.

      compare it to a kid of very modest means who shows up driving a new Audi R8 convertible, and the dealer gave it to him for $5K. he’s got every right to drive and own a car, but that is an Extra (you can pay me later) benefit he got for being an athlete with pro potential.

      #ReggieRedoux

      • Most players get high priced attorneys. Shaw got one, Sanchez got one (a UCLA alum to boot), Jameis Winston got one. Ricky Manning got one, Corey Paus got one. Shabazz got one when fighting the NCAA last year . . .

        #TrollOn!

    • Haden was in the hosptial that weekend – all weekend – this is not on Pat Haden but it is on the staff who chose to go forward with Shaw’s bull rather than wait to fully vet his tall tale.

      • It’s Haden’s staff, and I would assume they reflect Haden’s priorities. And I think even we can agree that Haden has, oddly enough for someone who was hired in part for his PR skills, been, at times, lacking in PR skills: “Win the right way.” “Notre Dame is the brand name in college football”, “I support Lane Kiffin 150%”, arguing with refs, getting into hissy fits with Lendale . . .

        • I’m not questioning your post – the problem is a matter of trust – naive trust at that – a staff the foolishly believed this ‘hump’s’ and that of his ‘family’ and bought into it w.o. vetting it thoroughly- a foolish rush for publicity.

          As for the rest of your items – Haden was loyal to Kiffin until that was untenable (2013 AZ St. massacre)…no argument on the LenDale White mess – all of Haden.

          Shaw is not coming back – his teammates have no respect for him and Haden understands fully the indelible mark this would leave on Troy to let him back

          Moving forward Haden is better than Garrett ever was or could be – he (Haden) needs to let go of the ‘power scepter’ and stay out of the limelight – fast.

          • I agree that a big roadblock is the team. If he came clean earlier, then maybe, but not this far into the season. I seems they have moved on without him.

          • Do you really know if his team-mates have lost respect for Shaw? I would think so, but haven’t heard if it’s actually true.

          • That was what I read the week the mess exploded – not sure if it was Wolf or Klein in the Times but yes – no names were mentioned for attribution but fellow teammates had lost all respect for him – rightly so – he should be sent packing if hasn’t already – the school gave hm one final moment to pull it all back but this clown only corrected he hadn’t crawled from the pool – cut him and do it publicly

          • The subtext in Ryan Abraham and Dan Weber’s podcasts is that Shaw has some ‘splainin’ to do with teammates, who are being good teammates but not publicly flagging him or “hurting” his draft chances, abd they would welcome him back because they need reinforcements, but that is all. Any authority Shaw had as a leader is pretty much gone.

    • I agree with almost everything you said. But to me, it seems obvious that the reason they are not putting him back on the team is that he has not been cleared legally. The last thing USC wants is to reinstate him only to find out that the DA subsequently decides to charge him with a crime. The police, by the way, asked him to come in for a further interview and his attorney refused and said he had discussed it enough with them. The police department then said that because they couldn’t discuss it with Shaw further that they could not close the case, i.e., they will keep it open in the hopes of getting additional evidence that would support filing a criminal complaint. So, the police dept. is essentially using Shaw’s career as leverage or “continuing to investigate” depending on how you want to look at it. Meanwhile Shaw is caught in the middle of his attorney saying his life could be ruined if he speaks to them more, and watching his career evaporate before his eyes.

      • Excellent analysis. As the season dwindles down the pressure on Shaw to spill the beans increases.

      • And USC participates in helping the PD leverage Shaw to waive his 5th Amendment rights. Why? Haden’s got no nuts.

    • George, your hypothesis is that Shaw and GF yelled and screamed, neighbors called the police, and Shaw jumped down three stories.

      But how was that going to help him, if she wanted to charge him with criminal battery or the like? If anyone got physically abused, it had to be her, right? His leap of foolishness wasn’t going to help him at all regarding battery.

      So, perhaps drugs and/or a lot of alcohol were involved?

      I know that’s a unexpected inference regarding college students. 🙂 Illicit drugs seem more consistent with the jumping, unless Shaw was blind drunk.

      We’re to believe that the police investigation continues? Re abuse, the woman either cooperates to charge him, or not, I would think. Re some crime of theft, did someone claim to missing some property? Re illicit drugs, if any were found, would that be suppressed pending some event? But what event?

      What’s peculiar is that GF has never been questioned by the press. I haven’t even seen a report that she was approached, and wouldn’t say anything. Did I miss that?

      What USC could really use right now is Josh Shaw. With Jackson’s and
      Bowman’s emergence, this could have been quite a DB group–and that’s
      even with Cravens having to be added to the front seven.

      I think USC’s stance with the police department is misguided. Why help the police to leverage Shaw to waive his 5th Amendment rights? That’s is just wrong. Why not inquire with the PD whether any charge is planned at this time? If the police say they still haven’t decided, and don’t offer a compelling explanation why not, and what’s at stake, tell the press that the police are dawdling on the matter, so USC will be loyal to Shaw, with the understanding that if the police ever produce evidence of significant moral turpitude, Shaw will again be removed from the team.

      Haden is a lawyer. Instead, he’s acting like a police department flunky. He’s scared of his shadow.

      Regarding Haden, that’s what happens when you hire a home-grown novice for the long run. And for second in command, you hire his home-grown novice college buddy. Did anyone ask a few management professors at the business school how a top-flight organization would typically handle “the Garrett/NCAA problem,” and what kinds of issues and factors might typically be anticipated?

      The intuitive move would have been to have Haden step in as short-term interim AD, while a search was conducted for an experienced professional. Or, to insist that Haden hire a retired, savvy, high-powered AD to groom him behind the scenes.

      Anyway, USC has its AD and its coach–the beginner and the 50th percentiler. The irony is how much USC has improved overall as a university in the last 20 years.

  6. A reader says? Are you serious? Scott, please do not spread rumors, you are professional journalist and need to act like one.

  7. “A reader offers his own theory…” should read: “A troll offers his own theory…”

  10. This whole “Shaw is essentially serving seven game suspension” is a bunch of nonsense, anyway…So he is being listed as a captain… ..big deal……Is Shaw even healthy enough to play?….has he been cleared by the USC medical staff?….That is when the clock of a actual suspension should start ticking…. look at Tre Madden and Lamar Dawsons season long lingering injuries…..unless this gets resolved quickly, Shaw won’t have any 2014 game film to help him in the NFL Draft….and he probably won’t be invited to the NFL Combine….His draft stock will likely be determined by his USC Pro-Day…..

    • Shaw ruined himself absent some miraculous turn of events unforeseen by mankind. It’s still the strangest form of unexpected character degradation I can ever remember, since no criminal event may have even occurred. I admit, I’d by the book to read the true story, in Shaw’s words under oath. Otherwise, forget about it.

      Were I an NFL guy, I wouldn’t draft Shaw under any circumstances unless his NFL combine (no, not the USC Pro Day) was so amazing that he would project as a definite, sure-fire starter, which I highly doubt.

      • You say this about Shaw, but let’s see where Winston gets drafted… and his sins were much greater than Shaw’s. Just look at how the NFL handled Rice. It’s all about money up there.

        • Very true – if players had to be 100% to play in the NFL then good luck (Brodie @ Stanford, Hornung @ Notre Dame) but a GM would be a fool to ever believe anything Shaw said again.

          • I never thought Shaw was a great player or even an NFL talent. Good, not great. NFL? Marginal, late rounder.

            It’s just that his unfathomable, huge lie about saving his drowning child-cousin and willingness to foist the story on gullible USC admin and coaches has kind of turned me off on the guy.

            I admit, I’m officially biased against him. I shouldn’t be sitting on his jury, that’s for sure.

          • Jack ‘that’ is the problem ‘…gullible USC admin…’ The fact his ‘posse’ (family/friends) were adamant in stating it was true is another confirmation of what a moral vacuum this clown was raised in – “Shhh if Josh gets the honor in time so will we!”

            This wasn’t haden’s mess but it has lead to Pat over managing since it broke –

          • You could be right. One thing I’m fairly sure of: Haden never for a moment thought he’d be dealing with the wide variety of weird stuff that has come up.

            Since I’m a Haden fan, it’s hard for me to blame him as much as others. But I do believe he has recently struggled with how to respond to incidents, though I still can’t blame him for Lendale White’s obscure notions of what people with sideline and locker room access to a program like USC are expected to say in public, heck, even in private. It’s a different world and people that travel in those circles don’t invite trouble unless they are fully ready to cross over, like Jon Arnett.

          • I too like Pat – I just hope he’s looked hard in the mirror since Sunday’s announced cancellation of the filming permit to White and honestly said ‘This is all on me’ – get out of the limelight Pat – you’re a manager act like one – leave the street stuff to your staff

          • The only thing I could see coming “clean” about is that there may have been some “minor” touching. Not enough to get the DA involved but enough to concern the admin.

            I don’t mean to minimize domestic violence, but if there are no third-party witnesses, and no visible or internal physical damage, and if a victim refuses to testify, there isn’t anything for the cops and the DA to do.

            From what Dan Weber has reported, it looks to be nothing more than very loud screaming. But only Shaw and his girlfriend really know.

          • He is big and can play man. Big corners who can play run and man, and safeties who can cover are currently in demand in the NFL. Shaw can play both.

            Could have been a mid- to early rounder, depending on his combine and his 40. Now, if he never plays, but has a good combine, and if he comes clean in the interview, he should be a late round pick.

          • If he comes clean in the interview, and it amounts to domestic violence, I wouldn’t want to be his agent.

            I just don’t see him at corner. For sure only an NFL safety for me.

            All considered, I’d say he’s a 6-7 round guy if he looks great at the USC Pro Day, as he’ll never get invited to the combine and many teams will simply not take him, period. But all it takes is one.

          • Come on George…you can do better than taking the SUNSHINE PUMPING ROUTE. Lay off the COOL AID. Don’t any of you RAH RAH’S remember the story about Vontaze Burfict. Huge talent with a head case…UNDRAFTED…but made up for it all with a couple of outstanding seasons on the field. Burfict didn’t get drafted….Head case Shaw, hasn’t got a chance.
            fit Un Clown School!

          • Disagree about the great player thing. I believe that he has the ability to be great in the NFL.

            If it is a contrite Shaw who ‘fesses up’ immediately for his behavior, thus ending any further nose growing, I am right there with most others and would calmer for the kid to get a break.

            But he apparently is a suborn dog and sticks to the story that he conjured up. And, worst of all, (as rusoviet points out) a passel/posse of family jumps in feet first to support the deception. Liar, Liar, pants on fire and in the case of his Sis, Liar, Liar, bra on fire.

            What the administration does will speak volumes. I hope their actions do not cause me to lose a bit of respect for my university, but Mr. Shaw should be caster-sized ( a trifecta of castration circumcision, and ostracize). OK, I overreacted, just ostracized.
            Bottom line…Doing the right thing or attempting to win at all costs.
            7 game SUSPENSION is a farce. His physical condition dictates if and when a return is possible. To quote Senor Thai…something about “Lipstick on a pig.”

          • Larry – Shaw is out permanently – no slack – say what we all think about Notre Dame unlike FL St., they did the right thing on those 4-5 cheaters – lying is the same as cheating and worst he thought nothing about the school about the very place that gave him a shot at a professional career – Shaw is quintessential spoiled brat athlete who has been massaged all his life – good riddance to bad business.

        • Difference is Winston is a first-round talent. I think Shaw’s a late rounder with nowhere near the upside athletically. NFL teams need QBs and will gamble. Guys like Shaw are a dime a dozen, unless he is really much better than I remember.

  11. Classic Wolfie: “Is he ever…?”; “I am guessing…?”; “I am wondering…?”

    When you’ve got no sources, you’ve got the same questions as all your readers.

  12. So juicy, isn’t it scottie? You keep wondering, “Where is he?” and then when he comes back, it’ll be, “Can you believe he’s back!?!” You’ve got them checkmated, scottie.. any movie is a lose.

  13. This is clearly a new regime at USC. Things have changed. Maybe Shaw should have chosen North Carolina instead. It wouldn’t have been a problem and he wouldn’t even have had to attend class.

  14. I got it on good authority that cj spiller and shaw are coming to usc this year! #packagedeal

  15. Shaw is the DB Cooper of SCCC. He made one big jump and was never heard from again. So now the only question remains, where is the boosters’ cash?

  16. So you have no facts, so why not just make up some drama. I guess you got to keep feeding the trolls. Who else is gonna listen to you?

  17. I don’t know how this “reporter” sleeps at night. Goodness. Do your editors even care that you are quoting speculation from any a-hole on this?

    Also, in your other segment, you say it’s obvious Haden had White kicked out of the Coli. Yet, you have not a single source to back that up and even your young reporting partner neither saw, nor heard, that happen. She was more professional than you, only recounting what she witnessed, But you had to break in with your unsubstantiated BS.

    I’ve never encountered a poorer sports journalist than yourself, Scott.

  18. Steve Sarkisian has a long history, dating back to when he was Pete Carroll’s assistant, of putting players in the dog house for whatever stupid reasons.Remember Vidal Hazelton ? Sark didn’t like him at all and accused him of faking injuries so he didn’t have to practice,so he ended up transferring to another University after his Father got into Sarkisians face. He also tried to do the same thing to Stefon Johnson for a couple of seasons until Johnson’s Mother talked to Coach Carroll, then things changed. So the Josh Shaw situation may not have anything to do with a legal matter, it just may be Sark being Sark.

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