Background
Stuckey was born in Daleville, Alabama on October 22, 1975. He never knew his father.
Stuckey was born in Daleville, Alabama on October 22, 1975. He never knew his father.
He is currently a practicing attorney in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Stuckey played high school football at Daleville High School, then matriculated at Vanderbilt University, majoring in Cognitive Studies before transferring to Troy University where he majored in Marketing and Business Administration. After being released by the Minnesota Vikings after training camp, Stuckey signed with the New England Patriots, where he made the team as a linebacker and wore jersey number 93.
He started in six games, recovered one fumble during the 1998 season, and became the only free-agent rookie to start in the NFL playoffs, against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The fumble recovery marked the eleventh time in NFL history that an NFL rookie recovered a fumble in his very first regular season football game. In his online autobiography, he also indicated that his "heart wasn"t in the game".
Financial concerns compelled Stuckey to re-enter professional football, and he signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who allocated him to the Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe. After his season with Amsterdam, Stuckey was placed on injured reserve by Tampa Bay due to an injury sustained with the Admirals.
After his recovery, Stuckey signed with the Los Angeles Xtreme of the XFL, where he played on their 2001 world-championship team
Later he played for the Indiana Firebirds of the Arena Football League before injuries forced him to give up football for good. Following his football career, Shawn Stuckey attended The Citadel, where he worked on his Master of Business Administration while serving as assistant coach of the college"s football team He published two law review articles and an American Bar Association (American Bar Association) article.
One of his articles was honored by the Minnesota Women Lawyers as the recipient of their 2007 Equal Justice Award, which recognizes the best written law student article on a topic of equal justice.
Stuckey is currently (as of 2008) co-chair of the legal department for the Saint Paul Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. He was asked to give testimony before the United Nations in Geneva in February 2008, during the 72nd Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. He was also the keynote speaker at the 4th Annual National Black Pre-Law Admissions Conference in Houston, Texas.
Undrafted as a rookie, he signed with the Minnesota Vikings where he was a member of the same rookie class as Randy Moss.