via The Ripist Blog
EDIT [8/28 1:40 AM ET]: And the story is completely fake. Update and my reaction can be found here. I’m keeping the rest of the article below to keep an honest archive of my reporting.
EDIT [8/26 1:46 PM ET]: There is a chance the below story could be false based on information from USC today:
USC coach Steve Sarkisian says the story of Josh Shaw saving his drowning nephew might be false and will be vetted by the university.
— Yahoo Sports College Football (@YahooSportsCFB) August 26, 2014
Sources told me incident did not involve family party or rescuing nephew from pool. #USC investigating claims
— InsideUSC (@InsideUSC) August 26, 2014
I will continue to track this as it develops. – Tex.
Usually I don’t ever see a need to create a post specifically for a story about a player on a rival team. What Josh Shaw did though definitely warrants it.
According to the Ripsit Blog on the official USC football site, Shaw will be out indefinitely after suffering two high ankle sprains while rescuing his nephew that was drowning. Shaw jumped off a second story balcony (yes, you read that right), suffered the ankle sprains, crawled into to the pool, and managed to save his nephew using only his upper body to hold him and grab a nearby ladder.
As if that selfless act wasn’t enough, get a load of this quote from the story:
“I would do it again for whatever kid it was, it did not have to be my nephew,” Shaw said today. “My ankles really hurt, but I am lucky to be surrounded by the best trainers and doctors in the world. I am taking my rehab one day at a time, and I hope to be back on the field as soon as possible.”
What a class act, color me impressed.
Unfortunately for Shaw, his heroic acts has placed him on the shelf indefinitely. I can only imagine how hard it is for a CB to rehab off of one ankle sprain much less two. I’m sure the recovery will be rough for Shaw, but I’m also sure that’s really the last thing on his mind right now.
You never wish any kind of injury on your rival (well, okay some terrible people do) much less one caused by something this crazy off the field. The most important thing is that both Shaw and his nephew will be okay.
Get well soon, Shaw, and I hope you will be able to line up against the Irish come November.
Texan by birth, Irish by choice.
First-generation Domer and a former student manager, HLS podcast host, HLS Sim creator, Extra Life streamer, and technical problem haver. You can find more non-Notre Dame related writing on his Patreon.
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Definitely thumbs up for Shaw. Rival or not.
Wow, if this really is a lie, then back to F-USC. They’d come within a hairs width of making me hate them as much as I currently hate Michigan.
I’m curious about the full story. But whatever this turns out to be, I think it would be a mistake to blow it out of proportion. Sometimes kids make bad decisions trying to explain away embarrassment.