Steven Sheffield (born March 4, 1988, in Austin, Texas) is currently a member of the Spokane Shock of the Arena Football League. He played for the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Sheffield played quarterback for the Red Raiders for four seasons, seeing action in three3 seasons. Sheffield was thought of as perhaps the best back-up quarterback in the Big 12 Conference and maybe in the entire nation for his gutsy and heroic performances. Sheffield's record as a starter was 4–0 during his collegiate career.
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Sheffield prepped at John B. Connally High School in Pflugerville, Texas, where he led CHS to the Texas Class AAAA State Semifinals in 2004 and 2005 and won the District 26-4A District Championship in 2004 and 2005. During his final two seasons, he led his teams to a combined 23–6 record. He was first-team all-district in 2004 and district MVP and All-Centex in 2005. He passed for 1,600 yards in 2004 and followed with 2,700 yards in 2005 and also completed 34 touchdowns passes to only six interceptions. He was involved in Fellowship of Christian Athletes while in CHS. He was recruited by mainly Division II schools, but was contacted by former Tech Coach Mike Leach after former Alabama Crimson Tide Quarterback Greg McElroy backed out of his commitment to Tech and Sheffield was offered a preferred walk-on spot at Texas Tech, which he accepted.
Sheffield enrolled at Tech when Tech was considered very loaded at the quarterback position. Sheffield enrolled with fomer Texas High School All-Stater Taylor Potts, whom he would do battle with later on for the starting spot. Graham Harrell and Chris Todd battled for the 1 and 2 position, with Sheffield, Potts, and Ryan Rowland battling for scout team reps and the either Harrell or Todd's heir apparent. Sheffield spent 2006 on the scout team.
Before the start of the 2007 season, Chris Todd transferred to a junior college in Kansas, and eventually ended up at Auburn, with Graham Harrell becoming the uncontested starter, and Ryan Rowland and Garrett Riley stayed on the scout team. Potts and Sheffield were moved up as second and third string, respectively. Sheffield saw his first college in action in a 75–7 blowout win over Northwestern State University. During the 2008 season, he was delegated back to the scout team.
After a historic 2008 season, Graham Harrell graduated and Taylor Potts took over with many believing Sheffield to be a career back-up. He moved up to the number 2 spot, and saw action in the second game against Rice University when he threw a 26-yard touchdown to Tramain Swindall for his first career TD. After two effective games against ranked teams Texas and Houston, Potts looked like the uncontested starter. However, against the New Mexico Lobos, Potts started poorly and knocked out with a concussion late in the first half with the score tied at 7. Sheffield entered the game with just over one minute left and led a 4-play drive that was capped with a last second TD pass to flanker Alexander Torres, giving the Raiders a 14-7 halftime lead. Sheffield would then lead Tech to a 48-28 win. After this, Sheffield's nickname of "Sticks" for his lanky body build helped him become very popular on campus. The next game, against the Kansas State Wildcats, Sheffield torched KSU for 7 touchdowns and almost 500 yards passing and the Red Raiders blew out the Wildcats, 66-14. Then facing off against # 15 Nebraska, Sheffield led the Red Raiders into Lincoln and soundly beat the Huskers 31-10, despite a dominating defense led by future first round draft pick Ndamukong Suh. However, Sheffield would break his foot while scoring on a Quarterback keeper to ice the game for Tech. Taylor Potts came back to start against rival Texas A&M University, and played poorly and was benched in favor of third string Quarterback Seth Doege. The Raiders would then beat Kansas, lose to Oklahoma State, then trounce Oklahoma behind a strong performance by Potts, and beat Baylor to end up 8-4 overall and earn an invite to the Alamo Bowl.
Potts got the start against the Michigan State Spartans in the Valero Alamo Bowl, and the Raiders led most of the game until the end. Potts was pulled when Tech's offense started to sputter and Sheffield came into to lead the Raiders to two drives, first with a Touchdown Pass to Detron Lewis to regain the lead, and then another drive that ended in a Baron Batch TD run, for a final of 41-31. Despite the late game heroics, Potts was named MVP of the game.
Tommy Tuberville was named as head football coach at Texas Tech after Mike Leach was fired, and new offensive coordinator Neal Brown named Potts starter again, much to the chagrin of most of the Raider nation. Sheffield did not see action in the first game, despite Tuberville stating that Sheffield would see playing time. He did see action against New Mexico and was responsible for two touchdown drives, one passing and one running. In a much anticipated game against the Texas Longhorns, Sheffield made an appearance after Potts was once again, ineffective against the Longhorns, but was pulled after only one series. Sheffield would see action in every other game after that, but as a wideout in the "Wild Raider" formation. After Potts continued to struggle, Sheffield was announced as the starter against the Missouri Tigers, however, for the first time in his career was ineffective as the Tigers harassed and threw Sheffield totally out of rhythm. Potts came back in, and led the Red Raiders to a 24-17 win over Mizzou, who was ranked and at the top of the Big 12 North at the time. Sheffield would see action at Quarterback for the final time against the Weber State Wildcats, and left the game to a standing ovation at Jones AT&T Stadium on Senior Day.
Sheffield graduated from Texas Tech University with a Bachelor's Degree in Communication Studies. He is a Christian. His final career numbers were 134 completions out of 194 attempts for a 65.6 career completion percentage, with 1,578 yards, 17 touchdowns, and only five interceptions. After completing five years playing for Texas Tech, Sheffield was invited to the Competitive Edge Sports NFL Preparation Camp in Atlanta, Georgia where he spent three months and performed well. Though not drafted in the 2011 NFL Draft, many experts believe he could be picked up as a free agent. He is currently QB for the AFL Spokane Shock in Spokane, Washington.
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