Next on our Huskies Wire countdown of Washington’s best first-round picks is a two-sport athlete during his time on Montlake. Defensive tackle Danny Shelton wasn’t just the anchor of the defensive line, but a stand-out track athlete in the shot put, where he earned a spot on the Pac-12’s All-Academic Second Team.
Shelton is yet another homegrown Husky, as he was a four-star recruit out of Auburn High School in Auburn, Washington, where he was ranked as the No. 10 defensive lineman in the country.
During his senior year at Auburn, he won the 4A state championship in the shot put with a throw of 60-foot-1. Just before his graduation, Danny and his brothers were in an altercation where his brother Shennon was killed, which is why he wears No. 55, to honor him.
Once he got to Montlake, he played 13 games and started one as a true freshman. Over his next three seasons, he started every game and in is four years he accumulated 111 tackles, 24 tackles for loss, and 11.5 sacks.
Shelton, who was taken No. 12 overall by the Cleveland Browns, was the first defensive lineman taken from Washington selected in the first round since Steve Emtman was the No. 1 overall pick in 1992. In his rookie season, he played in all 16 games for the Browns, starting 15.
In 2016, he started every game, collecting 1.5 sacks that season before he suffered a wrist injury in 2017 that caused him to miss two games.
Prior to the 2018 NFL season, he was traded to the New England Patriots and helped lead the team to a victory in Super Bowl LIII over the Los Angeles Rams. The team declined his rookie contract’s fifth year option before the 2018 season, but re-signed him to a one year deal for 2019.
At the conclusion of 2019, he found signed a two-year, $8 million contract with the Detroit Lions and was placed on the injured reserve list in December of 2020 and was eventually released in March of 2021.
Shelton spent the 2021 season with the New York Giants, playing in 13 games before he hit free agency one more time.
The Kansas City Chiefs signed him to their practice squad in 2022, and Shelton earned his second Super Bowl ring after the Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII. Kansas City then re-signed him before the 2023 season, but released him in September and Shelton is still searching for his next team.