View source for Brad Shearer

{{Short description|American football player (born 1955)}}
{{Use American English|date=September 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox NFL player
| name        = Brad Shearer
| number      = 72
| position    = [[Defensive tackle]]
| birth_date  = {{Birth date and age|1955|8|10|mf=y}}
| birth_place = [[Houston, Texas]], U.S.
| height_ft   = 6
| height_in   = 3
| weight_lbs  = 250
| high_school = [[Westlake High School (Texas)|Westlake]] ([[Austin, Texas]])
| college     = [[Texas Longhorns football|Texas]]
| draftyear   = 1978
| draftround  = 3
| draftpick   = 74
| pastteams   = 
* [[Chicago Bears]] ({{NFL Year|1978}}&ndash;{{NFL Year|1981}})
| highlights  = 
* [[Outland Trophy]] (1977)
* [[List of unanimous All-Americans in college football|Unanimous All-American]] ([[1977 College Football All-America Team|1977]])
* 2× First-team All-[[Southwest Conference|SWC]] ([[1975 All-Southwest Conference football team|1975]], [[1977 All-Southwest Conference football team|1977]])
* SWC All-Decade Team (1970s)
| statlabel1  = [[Quarterback sack|Sacks]]
| statvalue1  = 1.0
| pfr         = SheaBr20
}}

'''Sterling Bradford Shearer''' (born August 10, 1955) is an American former professional [[American football|football]] player who was a [[defensive lineman]] for three seasons with the [[Chicago Bears]] of the [[National Football League]] (NFL).  He played [[college football]] for the [[Texas Longhorns football|Texas Longhorns]], earning [[unanimous All-American]] honors and recognition as the best college interior lineman in the country in 1977.  A third-round pick in the [[1978 NFL draft]], he played professionally for the NFL's [[Chicago Bears]].

== Early life ==

Shearer was born in [[Houston, Texas]].<ref name=nflprofile>National Football League, Historical Players, [http://www.nfl.com/player/bradshearer/2525428/profile  Brad Shearer].  Retrieved June 26, 2012.</ref>  He graduated from [[Westlake High School (Texas)|Westlake High School]] in [[Westlake Hills, Texas]],<ref name=dbfprofile>databaseFootball.com, Players, {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20120601104309/http://databasefootball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=SHEARBRA01  Brad Shearer]}}.  Retrieved June 26, 2012.</ref> a suburb of [[Austin, Texas|Austin]], where he played for the Westlake Chaparrals high school football team.

== College career ==

Shearer received an athletic scholarship to attend the [[University of Texas at Austin]], where he played for the [[Texas Longhorns football]] team from 1974 to 1977.<ref name=utprofile>TexasSports.com, Football, All-Time Lettermen, [http://www.texassports.com/genrel/shearer_brad00.html  Brad Shearer Profile].  Retrieved June 26, 2012.</ref>  He was a two-time All-[[Southwestern Conference]] selection in (1975, 1977),<ref>TexasSports.com, Football, [http://www.texassports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/fb-all-conference.html  All-Conference] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110919144314/http://www.texassports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/fb-all-conference.html |date=September 19, 2011 }}.  Retrieved June 26, 2012.</ref>  As a senior team captain in [[1977 Texas Longhorns football team|1977]], he averaged ten tackles per game, led the Longhorns to a No. 1 ranking,<ref name=utprofile/> and was recognized as a consensus first-team [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]].<ref>''2011 NCAA Football Records Book'', [http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/2011/Awards.pdf  Award Winners], National Collegiate Athletic Association, Indianapolis, Indiana, p. 7 (2011).  Retrieved June 26, 2012.</ref>  He was also awarded the [[Outland Trophy]], recognizing him as the best interior lineman during the 1977 college football season.<ref name=utprofile/><ref>Associated Press, "{{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20130124162032/http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=WoJJAAAAIBAJ&sjid=wwsNAAAAIBAJ&pg=4110,2414602&dq=brad-shearer+outland+trophy&hl=en  Shearer Named Outland Winner]}}," ''The News and Courier'' (December 11, 1977).  Retrieved June 26, 2012.</ref>

== Professional career ==

The Chicago Bears picked Shearer in the third round (74th pick overall) of the [[1978 NFL draft]],<ref>Pro Football Hall of Fame, Draft History, [http://www.profootballhof.com/history/story.aspx?story_id=2012  1978 National Football League Draft] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610041930/http://www.profootballhof.com/history/story.aspx?story_id=2012 |date=2011-06-10 }}.  Retrieved June 26, 2012.</ref> and he played for the Bears from {{NFL Year|1978}} to {{NFL Year|1981}}.<ref name=nflprofile/>  In three NFL seasons, he appeared in thirty-four regular season games for the Bears, and started two of them.<ref name="pfrprofile">{{Cite web |title=Brad Shearer Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft, College |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/S/SheaBr20.htm |access-date=2024-05-23 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref>  He did not play during the {{NFL Year|1979}} regular season,<ref name=pfrprofile/> and his pro career was later cut short by a knee injury.<ref>Associated Press, "[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6b4yAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Ye8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=5545,573042&dq=brad-shearer+knee+injury&hl=en  Bears pay Shearer for wounded knee]," ''Ottawa Citizen'' (December 11, 1986).  Retrieved June 26, 2012.</ref>

== See also ==

{{Portal|American football|Biography|College football}}
* [[1977 College Football All-America Team]]
* [[List of Texas Longhorns football All-Americans]]
* [[Texas Longhorns]]

== References ==

{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

{{Outland Trophy}}
{{1977 College Football Consensus All-Americans}}
{{Bears1978DraftPicks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shearer, Brad}}
[[Category:1955 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:All-American college football players]]
[[Category:American football defensive tackles]]
[[Category:Chicago Bears players]]
[[Category:Texas Longhorns football players]]