Sam Shields: Defensive Player of the Week

According To Peter King of CNNSI:

In Green Bay, you can say the same thing about Starks, who's gotten some tough love from McCarthy, and free-agent cornerback Sam Shields, who has been terrific as the season's gone on. Great story, this Shields.

An all-state receiver in high school in Sarasota, Fla., the 5-foot-11, 185-pound Shields went to Miami to play receiver, which he did for three years. Entering his senior season, the Hurricanes had a corner need and moved him to defense. "Never played corner in my life,'' Shields said after the Pack survived and advanced. "But it's what the team wanted, and I thought it might be better for my future.''

When the Pack scouted him after the season, regional scout Brian Gutekunst saw his raw speed and recommended him as a free agent. Sunday, in the biggest game of the year, he played about 70 percent of the snaps.

"Why? Because he's gotten better in a hurry every week,'' defensive coordinator Dom Capers told me afterward. "Plus, every practice he's been in since he's come here, he's made a play. When you make plays like that, you get noticed.''

Maybe the Bears should have noticed him more. Late in the first half, driving at the Green Bay 41, Jay Cutler threw a deep ball up the left side for Johnny Knox; Shields leaped high and snagged it, sending Green Bay into the half with a 14-0 lead. Late in the fourth quarter, down 21-14, Caleb Hanie had the Bears at the Green Bay 29. On fourth-and-five, Hanie threw into double coverage and Shields stole his second ball of the day.

"I'm speechless,'' Shields said meekly, grinning widely.

Shields reminded me of Brown the week before, when I saw him in the Steelers' locker room in Pittsburgh after the win over the Ravens. Giddy, almost. Just happy to be there. Now these college football afterthoughts nearly a year earlier are headed to the Super Bowl as important players. It's a crazy game.

Defensive Players of the Week
Sam Shields, CB, Green Bay.

The rookie corner from the U (University of Miami, for you who don't watch the players introduce themselves during prime-time games) strip-sacked Cutler late in the second quarter, forcing a fumble and a Bear punt; then intercepted Cutler and Hanie in the second and fourth quarters, respectively, to clinch the win. Charles Woodson began the postseason as the most famous and accomplished Packers cornerback, but now here come Tramon Williams and Shields with back-to-back two-interception games to spark playoff wins in Atlanta and Chicago.



(cnnsi.com)