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The Cincinnati Bengals were so infatuated with USC cornerback Josh Shaw that attempted to trade up for him. According to Geoff Hobson with Bengals.com, the team couldn't find a "trading partner" but (obviously) lucked out when he fell to them at No. 120 overall. Despite his talents, he slipped in the 2015 NFL draft.
Why did he slip?
Shaw is the player who infamously suffered two high-ankle sprains after claiming that he had jumped from a third-story balcony to save his nephew, who was drowning in a swimming pool at a family function. A report surfaced that Shaw had lied about the incident, forcing USC to suspend Shaw indefinitely, which turned out to be for 10 games. The way Shaw injured his ankle -- jumping off a balcony -- was accurate. But the reason why he did it, was not.
"He made a mistake; it was a one-time deal. He’s a very smart guy; he graduated in 3.5 years from USC. So school was important," Bengals defensive backs coach Vance Joseph said. "He’s a good person. And I spent time with Josh and I’m comfortable with Josh as a person. He’s very sharp. He understands he made a serious mistake and it won't happen again. He’s fine."
"I was in excruciating pain," he said. "But I thought, how do I explain to my coaches that, as a senior captain, I just shattered both of my legs?"
He said he called USC officials Sunday morning, but only after he had a plan.
"I wanted to come up with something that they would say, ‘Josh, if you got hurt, that's a good reason to get hurt,'" he said. "That's where fabrication came in."