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Shane Matthews was the starting Quarterback at the University of Florida for 3 years (1990, 1991 and 1992), under head coach Steve Spurrier. During his remarkable college career, Matthews remained undefeated at every home game in the SWAMP. He was voted to All SEC QB status in 1990, 1991 and 1992 and SEC Player of the Year in 1990 and 1991 as he led Florida to back to back SEC Championships. In 1991, despite setting a school record for career passing yards, Matthews finished 5th in the Heisman voting.
Upon finishing his college career, he was signed by the Chicago Bears in 1993. He then went on to spend a couple years with the Carolina Panthers, but remained a back-up. The Bears brought Matthews back for the 1999 season and in his second stint with the team he played a much bigger role. Matthews had his best season in the NFL in 1999, starting seven games, throwing for 1645 yards and 10 touchdowns. Matthews played the next two seasons with the Bears, starting a total of 8 games in that span. He also relieved starter Jim Miller in the 2002 (2001 NFL season) playoff game against the Philadelphia Eagles after Miller separated his shoulder and could not continue.
ESPN's Chris Berman gave Matthews the nickname "The Shane Matthews Band" when the quarterback appeared on the network's NFL highlight show, NFL Primetime. The nickname was a reference to the Dave Matthews Band.
In 2002, Matthews signed with the Washington Redskins and started 7 games, throwing for 1251 yards and 11 touchdowns. Since that season, Matthews has returned to his back-up and third-string role with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2003 (0 games) and the Buffalo Bills in 2004 (3 games, 0 starts). In 2005, Shane was on the roster of the Bills, but was the third-string quarterback behind J.P. Losman and Kelly Holcomb. In December of 2006, he was signed as the 3rd string quarterback for the Dolphins. On March 2, 2007, Matthews officially retired from the NFL.
Shane grew up in Pascagoula, Mississippi where he was the High School Player of the year at Pascagoula High School and a member of their Pascagoula High School Hall of Fame, where he was a three sport athlete (Football, Baseball and Basketball).
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