Shaw attended Palmdale High School in Palmdale, California. He played cornerback, quarterback, and wide receiver. As a senior, he had 50 tackles and an interception on defensive, passed for 2,279 yards with 18 touchdowns as a quarterback and rushed for 921 yards and 14 rushing touchdowns. He also participated in track. He was rated by Rivals.com as a four-star recruit and was ranked as the third best cornerback in his class. He committed to the University of Florida to play college football.
College career
Shaw attended Florida from 2010 to 2011. He appeared in one game as a true freshman and redshirted. As a redshirt freshman in 2011, he appeared in 10 games with one start and recorded 22 tackles. Prior to the 2012 season, Shaw transferred to the University of Southern California. He was granted a hardship waiver and was eligible to play immediately without sitting out the year. He started his USC career as a strong safety and was moved to cornerback during the middle of the season and became a starter. He appeared in all 13 games with seven starts and had 30 tackles and two interceptions. As a junior in 2013, Shaw started all 14 games at both cornerback and safety. He had 67 tackles, four interceptions and a touchdown. Prior to his senior season, Shaw was suspended by USC after he had lied about how he had suffered injuries to both his ankles. He had originally told the team that he suffered the injuries while jumping from the second story of an apartment building to save his nephew who was drowning in the pool. In reality, he suffered the injuries after jumping from his balcony to avoid the police who had been called by a neighbor after hearing an argument between him and his girlfriend. Domestic violence was looked into by police, however no charges were filed. Shaw was reinstated in November and played in the final three games.
Professional career
Coming out of USC, Shaw's draft projections varied from the third round to the fifth or sixth round. The varying projections were mainly due to his talent in comparison with character concerns. He received an invitation to the NFL combine and completed all of the required combine and positional drills. On March 11, 2015, Shaw participated at USC's pro day and performed positional drills. He was ranked the 11th best cornerback in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com and was ranked the 12th best cornerback by NFL analyst Mike Mayock.
On May 2, 2015, the Cincinnati Bengals selected Shaw in the fourth round with the 120th pick of the 2015 NFL draft. He signed with the Bengals on May 18, 2015. Shaw played 15 games in his rookie year with 15 tackles and 1 pass defended. During the season opener against the New York Jets on September 11, 2016, Shaw made a game-sealing interception, and it was the first interception of his career, leading to a 23–22 victory. On September 1, 2018, Shaw was placed on injured reserve. He was released on September 6, 2018.
On March 18, 2019, Shaw signed a one-year contract with the Arizona Cardinals. He was placed on injured reserve with a shoulder injury on August 25, 2019. On November 29, 2019, CommissionerRoger Goodell suspended Shaw indefinitely through at least the end of the 2020 season for betting on NFL games. He filed an appeal of the suspension on December 3, but rescinded it on December 19 and he was moved from injured reserve to the reserve/suspended list. He is eligible to apply for reinstatement on February 15, 2021.
