By: Justin Boone
jboone@ticats.ca
Q: You capped off your college career with a Vanier Cup win, it doesn’t get much better than that does it?
Shaw: It’s one of the highlights of my life really. Its one of the biggest accomplishments I have going for me and I just can’t wait to get that ring on my finger.
Q: Give Ticats fans a quick rundown on your football journey from start to CIS champs.
Shaw: I’ve played football since I was six. I came up through the ranks, played a bit of junior ball in Victoria, B.C. and then coach Dobie at Manitoba somehow talked me into going to one of the coldest places on earth (Laughs). It was good though, a few of the guys from my junior team went there as well and we build a group that decided we wanted to go out and get a National Championship and that’s what we did.
Q: What’s life been like since the end of your season?
Shaw: It’s been a tough road. I’ve never worked so hard in my life as I have the last couple months. I got a trainer and I’m working six days a week including running at the track. I’m trying to do all the right things, and it’s definitely paid off.
Q: You’ve been going through all this draft stuff with your buddy and teammate Justin Cooper, he joked about how competitive you guys get with each other. What do you get the best of him in?
Shaw: I get him in a lot of things, but he’s a lot stronger than me. So the 40-yard dash is probably the one thing I get the best of him in, but we’re competitive in everything we do. Whether it’s playing cards or anything, we try to beat each other. We have a great friendship that started on the field. We’re roommates right now and even things as simple as who gets to hold the controller, we’re fighting over everything.
Q: What are you going to miss most about your college career?
Shaw: The locker room obviously. You build friendships with these guys over the last four years that you’ll have for the rest of your life. But we’re leaving on a good note, the highest achievement we can get and now I’ll be starting it all over again and trying to build the same thing with whatever team drafts me.
Q: Is there anyone in the CFL right now who you would compare yourself to or model your game after?
Shaw: I love watching Brent Johnson on B.C. He’s the man. A good Canadian guy, and he’s just a total athlete and can do amazing things at that size. I really admire him.
Q: Once your CFL career is behind you, what’s the plan for life post-football?
Shaw: I’d like to be a firefighter. Helping people and being a positive part of the community, plus you have that whole team atmosphere again in the job scenario. That would be one aspiration for sure.
Q: What’s something people might not know about Justin Shaw?
Shaw: There’s not much. What you see is what you get.
