| No. 58, 56 | |||||||||||||
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| Position: | Linebacker | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born: | (1964-03-04)March 4, 1964 (age 61) Frewsburg, New York, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight: | 235 lb (107 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school: | Frewsburg (Frewsburg, New York) | ||||||||||||
| College: | Penn State | ||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1987: 1st round, 8th pick | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
As a player: | |||||||||||||
As an administrator: | |||||||||||||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||
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Shane Patrick Conlan (born March 4, 1964) is an American former professionalfootball player who was alinebacker in theNational Football League (NFL). He playedcollege football for thePenn State Nittany Lions, winning two national championships in1982 and1986, although he was red-shirted prior to the start of the 1982 season and did not play that season. In 1981, prior to his Penn State career and after his senior season atFrewsburg High School in which he played under head coach Thomas Sharp, Conlan was voted Western New York high school Player of the Year. During his career at Penn State, Conlan had 274 tackles, including a school-record 186 solos. He finished his football career as a three-timeall-pro with theNFL'sBuffalo Bills and theLos Angeles/St. Louis Rams.
Conlan was born and raised inFrewsburg, New York.[1][2]
Conlan capped his junior season at Penn State in the 1985 national championship game in theOrange Bowl against theUniversity of Oklahoma. The finale to his senior year was in the 1986 national championship game versus theUniversity of Miami in the1987 Fiesta Bowl, Conlan had eight tackles, two interceptions. Most memorably, he returned the second of his two interceptions 38 yards to the Miami 5-yard line to set upD.J. Dozier's game-winning touchdown. With Penn State's 14–10 victory, Conlan's squad completed an undefeated season, securing the 1986 national championship.
As captain, Conlan led the 1986 squad in tackles with 79, including a team-high 63 solo stops. During his final two collegiate seasons (1985 & 1986), he was named anAll-American atoutside linebacker, making him the sixth two-time All-American at Penn State. He received this honor from NEA in 1985 and fromWalter Camp,The Football News, Football Writers, Football Coaches,Associated Press,United Press International, andCollege and Pro Football Newsweekly in 1986. In addition, Conlan was a 1986 finalist for the prestigiousButkus Award as the nation's top linebacker. He was elected to theCollege Football Hall of Fame in 2014.[3]
On December 11, 2014, theBig Ten Network included Conlan on "The Mount Rushmore ofPenn State Football", as chosen by online fan voting. Conlan was joined in the honor byJohn Cappelletti,Jack Ham andLaVar Arrington.
Conlan was selected in the first round with the eighth overall pick by the Buffalo Bills in the1987 NFL draft.[4] After his rookie season, he was awarded the 1987NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year by theAssociated Press. From 1988 to 1990, Conlan enjoyed three straight trips to thePro Bowl. Conlan played with the Bills (1987–92), where he played in the first 3 of the BillsSuper Bowl teams and theLos Angeles/St. Louis Rams (1993–95) before retiring from theNFL in 1995.
Since Conlan's retirement from the NFL, he has worked for Esmark Inc. as the company's Vice President of Commercial Real Estate. In 2013, he was named thePittsburgh Power's Vice President of Corporate Partnerships.[5]
Conlan has four children, including Patrick (b.1992), a former NCAA division III college quarterback (Hobart University), son Chris (b. 1997), an NCAA division I Wide Receiver (William & Mary), and son Dan (b. 2000), an NCAA division I basketball player (Penn State).