Shawn Wilkins (born October 16, 1994) is an American football player (quarterback and wide receiver) who led the Bremerhaven Seahawks of the GFL 4th division to a 5–0 start during the 2017 season, before being sidelined with a concussion.
Wilkins, a highly recruited football player out of Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School in Upton, Massachusetts, was the first football player to be on scholarship at a Division I FCS football program (Bryant University). Wilkins completed his high school career as one of the team Captains, MVP for Offense, Colonial Athletic League All Star - 2011 & 2012, Ranked in the top ten for receiving in Central Mass (two years), and ranked 27th overall class of 2013 in Massachusetts by ESPNBoston.[1] He committed to Bryant in April 2013.[2][3]
While at Bryant, Wilkins was a wide receiver and backup long snapper. Upon transferring to Penn State University (World Campus) Wilkins joined Europlayers and signed under contract to play football in Germany for the GFL.[4] Wilkins was a member of the Pforzheim Wilddogs playing wide receiver, safety, cornerback, punter, kick returner and back-up quarterback.[5] Upon completion of his season with the Wilddogs, Wilkins returned to a tryout with the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks of the Professional Indoor Football League.[5] Through that tryout and latter into 2016 Wilkins received a roster spot with the Steel City Stampede of the Major Indoor Football League.[6]
On January 10, 2016, Wilkins attended the College Gridiron Showcase in Bedford, Texas for a Pro Free Agent Day as a quarterback.[7] It was from this showcase, Wilkins moved to Pennsylvania to train with quarterback coach Anthony Glaud of ASK Athletics.
On April 16, 2016, Wilkins competed for a roster spot on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers,[8] opting instead to head back to the GFL (third division) and play the 2017 season with the Bremerhaven Seahawks.[9]
To round out the 2017 season, Wilkins was chosen in the 60th round of the Rivals Professional Football League draft by the Michigan Bearcats.[10]
References edit
- ^ "Shawn Wilkins". ESPNBoston. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
- ^ "Blackstone Valley Tech wide receiver/safety Shawn Wilkins commits to Bryant". Boston Herald. Archived from the original on January 27, 2016.
- ^ Mandeville, Ben (April 11, 2013). "Blackstone Valley Tech Star to Play Football at D1 Bryant Univ". Archived from the original on January 28, 2016.
- ^ "The Beat: Wilkins ready for an adventure in Deutschland". Milford Daily News. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
- ^ a b "The Beat: Arena football could be the next step in Wilkins' gridiron odyssey". Metrowest Daily News. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
- ^ "Steel City Stampede". Europlayers. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
- ^ "Pro Free Agents". January 5, 2016.
- ^ 81Blackstone (May 19, 2016), Shawn Wilkins Quarterback 2016 (April) Winnipeg Blue Bombers Workout, retrieved August 17, 2018
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ 81Blackstone (September 21, 2017), Shawn Wilkins Quarterback Bremerhaven Seahawks 2017, retrieved August 17, 2018
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "2017 Rivals Professional Football League drafted players by round (media)". Issuu. Retrieved August 17, 2018.