By Mark Eckel/Engagement Insider
There were no ifs, or maybes, or let’s see what happens. JaCorey Shepherd was going to his graduation at the University of Kansas and was walking with his classmates.
“That was something, I made it a point that was something, I wanted to do,’’ Shepherd, a rookie cornerback with the Philadelphia Eagles, said. “When I visited with teams before the draft and then when I got here, I let them know I was going back for graduation.’’
May was a busy month for Shepherd. The Eagles selected him, Saturday, May 2. He was in Philadelphia the following weekend for a rookie minicamp, May 8-10, flew back to Kansas for the commencement, May 19, and then was back East for team workouts.
“It was a little crazy,’’ Shepherd said. “I came in for the rookie camp. Then they flew me back for the graduation, plus I had one more final to take, and then I was right back (in Philadelphia) for the workouts. It was all kind of a whirlwind experience.’’
images by Philadelphia Eagles
He wouldn’t have it any other way. Shepherd wasn’t just satisfied as being a member of the Jayhawks’ Class of 2015, he was going to walk and get that diploma handed to him in front of his friends and family.
“You work so hard for those four years to graduate,’’ he said. “I was definitely going to walk with my class and graduate with them. And then for me personally, I’m the first from my immediate family to graduate from a big school like that, so it meant a lot to my parents, too.’’
Both of Shepherd’s parents made the trip from Texas to Lawrence, Kansas, and so did both sets of grandparents, a sister and a brother.
“It was great to see them all there,’’ he said. “They weren’t going to miss it. Being drafted and getting a chance to play in the NFL is great. It’s something every player dreams of having happen to them. But for me graduating from college was something I really wanted to do as well.’’
And he did it in four years, no red-shirt, no five-year plan. He did it on time, with leaving early “never an option, I was graduating,’’ he said.
“I’m proud of that,’’ Shepherd continued. “I knew going in I wanted to do that when I picked my school. That’s just the way I was raised. My parents were always tough on me about my grades. Education was very important.’’
Shepherd knew he wanted to major in the business field and graduated with a degree in management and also had a minor in entrepreneurship.
“I worked as hard as I could off the field as I did on the field,’’ he said. “I always worked on my grades. Football is great, but you know it’s going to end some time. That’s just the way the game goes, it could end at any time I wanted something to fall back on that was good for me. Something that I could really use to help me make money, not just doing anything.’’
Shepherd estimated that probably about 20 seniors from the Kansas football team walked in the graduation procession that Sunday in May. He was the only one, who was headed back to a NFL OTA when it was over.
While his NFL career hasn’t even started yet, Shepherd has advice and gives it to high school students both back in his native Texas and in the Kansas area.
“It’s something I always talk to kids in high school, or at camps when they ask me to talk, I tell them right up front. You have to get your education,’’ he said. “And then especially if you’re getting a red-shirt year, I didn’t get a red-shirt year, but if you do use that to get ahead of the game. You have to take advantage of that extra year.’’