 Sheppard with thePhiladelphia Eagles in 2005 | |||||||||||||||
| No. 26, 29, 21 | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Cornerback | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | (1981-04-08)April 8, 1981 (age 44) Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight | 194 lb (88 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school | Raines (Jacksonville) | ||||||||||||||
| College | Florida | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 2002: 1st round, 26th overall pick | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
Playing | |||||||||||||||
Coaching | |||||||||||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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Lito Decorian Sheppard (born April 8, 1981) is an Americanfootball coach and former player. During his playing career ascornerback, he played in theNational Football League (NFL) for ten seasons. He was selected by thePhiladelphia Eagles in the first round of the2002 NFL draft after playingcollege football for theFlorida Gators. He played for the Eagles for seven seasons, and was selected to thePro Bowl twice. He also played for the NFL'sNew York Jets,Minnesota Vikings, andOakland Raiders. As a coach, he was the safeties coach for theOrlando Apollos of theAlliance of American Football (AAF) in 2019.
Sheppard was born inJacksonville, Florida in 1981.[1] He attendedWilliam M. Raines High School in Jacksonville, where he was an all-state selection andUSA TodayAll-American atdefensive back for the Raines Vikings high school football team.[2] Sheppard had eighteeninterceptions in twenty-nine games as a junior and senior, and led the Vikings to an undefeated season and a state championship in 1998.[2] In 2007, eight years after he graduated from high school, theFlorida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) recognized Sheppard as one of the "100 Greatest Players of the First 100 Years" of Florida high school football.[2]
Sheppard accepted an athletic scholarship to attend theUniversity of Florida in Gainesville, Florida,[3] where he played for coachSteve Spurrier'sGators teams from1999 to2001.[4] He was a first-teamAll-American as a sophomore in2000, and a first-teamAll-Southeastern Conference (SEC) selection in 2000 and 2001.[4] In his three-season college career, he started twenty-two games, recorded eight interceptions, had eighty-seven tackles, and returned twenty-seven kickoffs for 472 yards (an average of 22.5 yards per return).[3] Sheppard declared himself eligible for theNFL draft after his junior year.[3]
In one of a series of articles published byThe Gainesville Sun in 2006, he was ranked as No. 44 among the 100 greatest Gators from the first 100 years of Florida football.[5]
| Height | Weight | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | 194 lb (88 kg) | 37.5 in (0.95 m) | 10 ft 0 in (3.05 m) | 11 reps | ||||||||
| All values fromNFL Combine[6] | ||||||||||||
In the2002 NFL draft, Sheppard was selected in the first round (twenty-sixth pick overall) by thePhiladelphia Eagles.[7]
In 2004 Sheppard had five interceptions, including two returned for touchdowns. He was named Defensive Player of the Month for the month of November after returning two interceptions for touchdowns. Sheppard was selected to his first Pro Bowl in 2004, and he was also named first-team All-Pro for his first and only year.
2005 was the first of three injury-filled seasons for Sheppard. He missed six games and finished with three interceptions.
On October 8, 2006, Sheppard became the first player in NFL history to have two interception returns for touchdowns of more than 100 yards. Both returns came against theDallas Cowboys (2004 and 2006). The most recent return sealed a 38–24 win over the Cowboys and secured 1st place in the division for the Eagles.
In the EaglesWild Card playoff game on January 7 against theNew York Giants, Sheppard dislocated hiselbow. He missed the next playoff game against theSaints, which the Eagles lost 27–24.
In a 2007 game against theGreen Bay Packers Sheppard suffered an injury. Sheppard went through another injury-filled season and finished with two interceptions.
In the 2008 offseason, thePhiladelphia Eagles signed formerNew England Patriots cornerbackAsante Samuel, which fueled speculation that Sheppard was available via trade. Sheppard changed agents toDrew Rosenhaus soon afterwards.
During the 2008 season, Sheppard saw much reduced action due to good performances by starting cornersAsante Samuel andSheldon Brown.
Sheppard was traded to theNew York Jets on February 28, 2009, for a fifth round pick in the2009 NFL draft and a conditional pick in the 2010 NFL Draft.[8] The Jets restructured Sheppards' contract, adding one year and "new" money to the contract in 2010.[9] He was released on March 4, 2010.
Sheppard signed a one-year, $2 million contract with theMinnesota Vikings on April 21, 2010.[10] He became a free agent following the2010 season.[11]
Sheppard was signed by theOakland Raiders on August 26, 2011, released during the final cuts on September 3, and then re-signed by the team on October 31. During the remainder of the2011 season, he played in nine games and started seven of them.[1] He became a free agent after the season.[12]
| Year | Team | GP | Tackles | Fumbles | Interceptions | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Comb | Solo | Ast | Sack | FF | FR | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | PD | |||
| 2002 | PHI | 12 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2003 | PHI | 16 | 51 | 44 | 7 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 34 | 34.0 | 34 | 0 | 18 |
| 2004 | PHI | 15 | 56 | 52 | 4 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 172 | 34.4 | 101 | 2 | 14 |
| 2005 | PHI | 10 | 31 | 27 | 4 | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 72 | 24.0 | 34 | 0 | 9 |
| 2006 | PHI | 13 | 30 | 25 | 5 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 157 | 26.2 | 102 | 1 | 19 |
| 2007 | PHI | 11 | 51 | 47 | 4 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 25 | 12.5 | 16 | 0 | 5 |
| 2008 | PHI | 16 | 21 | 18 | 3 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 2009 | NYJ | 11 | 31 | 25 | 6 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 2010 | MIN | 13 | 18 | 15 | 3 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 2011 | OAK | 9 | 43 | 40 | 3 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Career[13] | 126 | 345 | 303 | 42 | 3.0 | 3 | 1 | 19 | 460 | 24.2 | 102 | 3 | 85 | |
| Year | Team | GP | Tackles | Fumbles | Interceptions | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Comb | Solo | Ast | Sack | FF | FR | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | PD | |||
| 2003 | PHI | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2004 | PHI | 3 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 2006 | PHI | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2008 | PHI | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2009 | NYJ | 3 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Career | 12 | 27 | 23 | 4 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
In 2017, Sheppard became the defense coach for the James Weldon Johnson Trojans and won many games with them.[14]
Media related toLito Sheppard at Wikimedia Commons
