{"id":8549,"date":"2021-01-29T11:17:37","date_gmt":"2021-01-29T16:17:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/?p=8549"},"modified":"2021-01-29T11:59:09","modified_gmt":"2021-01-29T16:59:09","slug":"a-georgia-southern-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/2021\/01\/29\/a-georgia-southern-man\/","title":{"rendered":"A Georgia Southern Man"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Shai Werts Overcomes Obstacles
on and off the Gridiron<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

It was supposed to be a blowout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Campbell University, a middle-tier, lower-division program from North Carolina, should\u2019ve been an easy meal for an Eagles team looking to shake off a roller coaster offseason marred by the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, the Eagles took the home field without 33 of their players, several of them starters. Some were sidelined with COVID-19, some were injured, and some were pulled at the coach\u2019s discretion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a game that fans expected to be lopsided, the Eagles had to fight for every point with whoever was available. In the fourth quarter, they were trailing the Camels 20-13 before winning the game in a nail-biting finish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Shai Werts, senior quarterback for Georgia Southern, challenges like this have been familiar territory. In four years as starter for the Eagles, he\u2019s faced some of the most difficult and unimaginable obstacles a young player \u2014 a young man \u2014 could ever face. In spite of that, he\u2019s not only become one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play for the University, but he\u2019s also grown into the model of a Georgia Southern man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe talk about identity,\u201d said Head Football Coach Chad Lunsford. \u201cWe talk about being blue collar. We talk about being disciplined and tough. He\u2019s definitely got a great work ethic. He is a very self-disciplined person. And when we talk about toughness, it\u2019s not just physical. We talk about mental toughness and, you know, for what he\u2019s had to overcome and what he\u2019s had to face adversity-wise, he\u2019s definitely tough.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Werts joined the Eagles back in 2016, he wasn\u2019t used to losing. He\u2019d just finished a dazzling four-year run as the starting quarterback for the Newberry High School Bulldogs in Newberry, South Carolina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During his tenure as QB1, Werts accounted for more than 6,000 yards and 73 touchdowns and was named the 2015 High School Sports Report – South Carolina High School League Division I AA Offensive Player of the Year. 247Sports rated him the No. 37 dual-threat quarterback in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Georgia Southern, however, he arrived on a team in transition. As he rode the bench his redshirt freshman year, he watched a bowl-winning team that went 9-4 the previous season flounder at 5-7 under a new coach. And when he finally made his debut as starting quarterback the next year, under a new offensive coordinator and brand new offense, the Eagles lost six games in a row.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI took every loss on the chin,\u201d he said. \u201cThat year was probably one of the lowest points of my life \u2014 one of the lowest points in my playing career, but I persevered through it all. I didn\u2019t tuck my tail. I didn\u2019t run from the competition. I didn\u2019t run from the naysayers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The losing season alone would\u2019ve been enough to sap the confidence of any college quarterback, but before Werts could even begin to work for his vindication on the field, he was dealing with crushing personal struggles off of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

During the 2018 football camp, Werts and his family lost everything in a house fire. No one was hurt, but Werts couldn\u2019t be there with his family to sort through the ashes of their grief. Eagle Nation rallied behind the quarterback and his family, raising money to help them rebuild their lives. For anyone else, the calamity might have served as a distraction. For Werts, it was motivation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Eagles soared in 2018, going 10-3 and winning one of the most thrilling bowl games of the year against Eastern Michigan. It was a singular moment for the team, a moment they couldn\u2019t imagine being overshadowed by anything. But at the beginning of the 2019 season, Werts would face his most grueling personal trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As he was traveling to Georgia Southern to report for football camp, police in Saluda, South Carolina, stopped Werts for speeding and subjected him to a contentious interview which led them to search his car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Police noticed a white substance on the hood, which Werts swore was \u201cbird poop.\u201d A field test kit said it was cocaine. He was arrested for speeding and misdemeanor possession of cocaine. In an instant, everything he worked for, all of his ambitions and his future hung in the balance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you looked at how the headlines were portraying it, you would think I was 100% guilty. No doubt,\u201d said Werts. \u201cSo you\u2019ve got all these different kinds of stories. In my cell I\u2019m thinking, \u2018How am I going to explain this? Are they going to believe me? Are they going to think I\u2019m lying?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Werts was suspended from the team pending the investigation, but Lunsford went to bat for his quarterback. Lawyers quickly had the substance examined with a more reliable substance test, and it was found to be bird poop. Werts was cleared, but it didn\u2019t make everything go away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe arrest, it messed with me a lot,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was traumatic. I expected that when I got out of it, things would go just back to normal. It was really the complete opposite. I couldn\u2019t really sleep. Eventually, I felt like I wasn\u2019t really there. I didn\u2019t have a terrible season, but I didn\u2019t have the season I worked for and that I know I should\u2019ve had.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Eagles went 7-5 that year, and suffered a tough bowl loss against a strong Liberty University team. Family members and teammates say Werts didn\u2019t talk about the arrest or about his internal struggles, but he would find his voice in the midst of even more adversity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As 2020 brought the coronavirus pandemic and threw the football season into question, Werts like many Americans was confronted with the realities of racial injustice after the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis. Werts was asked to speak publicly about the feelings he\u2019d held onto so closely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat if that was me that night? It could\u2019ve easily been me,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s things like that that were continually playing in my head for a few days. I know how my family felt, and I only spent 18 hours in the county jail. Imagine how his family feels and they\u2019re never going to see him again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In September 2020, during football camp, Werts led his teammates in a peaceful Black Lives Matter march. For the young quarterback and his teammates, it was a way to express the pain they were feeling inside. For Lunsford, it was a way to support his players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of pressure being the quarterback at Georgia Southern,\u201d Lunsford said. \u201cBut there\u2019s a lot more pressure on him being a young black man that is the quarterback at Georgia Southern who does have a big platform. I\u2019m just amazed at how he\u2019s grown through this whole thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite all the obstacles, Werts ranks among the top quarterbacks in Georgia Southern history. After the Eagles dominating bowl win in New Orleans, Werts has 34 career passing touchdowns, tied with legendary Eagles QB Tracy Ham. He is a member of the 3,000-3,000 club with more than 3,000 passing and rushing yards, and is currently second for total career offensive yards with 6,860, behind Ham’s 8,969.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coach Lunsford once asked his quarterback what he wanted his legacy to be at Georgia Southern. Without hesitation, Werts answered, \u201cI\u2019m going to be the best quarterback to ever play for the Eagles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI feel like if you don\u2019t have that kind of confidence when you step on the field, you don\u2019t need to be playing this sport. I respect the hell out of Tracy Ham. I respect the hell out of Jayson Foster. But at the end of the day, when I leave here, I want to be known as one of the best quarterbacks to ever put on a jersey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo they\u2019ll say every time that boy there stepped on the field, he gave it his all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No matter what stood in his way. \u2014\u00a0Doy Cave<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shai Werts Overcomes Obstacleson and off the Gridiron It was supposed to be a blowout. Campbell University, a middle-tier, lower-division program from North Carolina, should\u2019ve been an easy meal for an Eagles team looking to shake off a roller coaster offseason marred by the pandemic. Instead, the Eagles took the home field without 33 of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":8555,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[65],"class_list":["post-8549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-athletics","tag-winter-2020"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8549"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8549\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}