Shawn Oakman

Early years

Oakman attended Penn Wood High School in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania. He played both football and basketball. He committed to play college football at Penn State University in July 2010.

Penn State University

Oakman was redshirted as a true freshman at Penn State in 2011. In February 2012, Oakman was dismissed from Penn State for violation of team rules. On St. Patrick's Day of 2011, Oakman went to "The Mix", a store on Penn State's campus. Without any money left on his student card, he concealed a sandwich. After an employee approached him and asked him if he was going to pay for the sandwich hidden in his coat, Oakman denied it. He then attempted to purchase a juice, where the cashier then held his card, he grabbed the employee's wrist, commandeered his card, placed the sandwich and drink on the counter, and proceeded to leave. On Monday, May 13, 2011, after multiple messages by head coach Bill O'Brien, he was told that he was dismissed from the Nittany Lions football team. He transferred to Baylor University in July 2012.

Baylor University

As per NCAA transfer rules, Oakman took the entire 2012 season off. Oakman played in 13 games as a backup defensive end in 2013. He recorded 33 tackles and two sacks. In his first year as a starter, Oakman had a breakout season in 2014. He finished the season with 19.5 tackles for loss and 11.0 sacks. He earned third-team All-America honors from the Associated Press and was a consensus All-Big 12 selection. Oakman was projected by some analysts and scouts to be a first round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft. Instead of declaring for the draft, he decided to return to Baylor for his senior season. In 2015, Oakman was not able to match his successful 2014 season. He recorded only 4.5 sacks in 2015.

Pre-draft

Several early mock drafts projected Oakman to be a first round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. Chris Burke of Sports Illustrated penciled in Oakman as the first overall pick in his "2016 NFL Mock Draft 1.0," which was published a few days after the conclusion of the 2015 NFL Draft. Oakman's production dropped in 2015 and his draft stock fell throughout the season. One AFC area scout commented that he would not select Oakman in the first three rounds of the draft. Some of the concerns about Oakman were his skinny lower body, lack of pass-rush technique, and "inconsistent motor chasing plays and inability to make plays against better competition." After Oakman's arrest on a sexual assault charge, which occurred only two weeks before the 2016 NFL Draft, an NFC executive told Lance Zierlein of NFL.com that Oakman was "undraftable now" because the case is unlikely to be resolved before the start of the draft. Zierlein believed the arrest would likely result in Oakman being removed from all NFL team boards.

2016 NFL Draft

Oakman went undrafted in the 2016 NFL Draft. After the draft, he wasn't expected to get signed as an undrafted free agent due to the legal issues he was facing at the time.

Personal life

Oakman was named in a January 2013 Waco police incident report alleging he physically assaulted a woman. According to the report, Oakman grabbed the alleged victim under her armpits and shoved her into brick walls and cabinets at her South Waco apartment. The alleged incident was about six months after Oakman enrolled at Baylor after being kicked off the football team at Penn State University for physically assaulting a female cashier who reportedly tried to stop him from stealing food from a campus store.

On April 13, 2016, Oakman was arrested in Waco and charged with sexually assaulting a woman at his off-campus apartment. A Waco police affidavit states that the woman met Oakman at a bar and Oakman asked her if she wanted to go to his residence. They walked to Oakman’s duplex and Oakman forced her into a bedroom, where he forcibly removed the woman’s clothes, forced her onto the bed, and sexually assaulted her, according to the affidavit. On July 20, 2016, Oakman was indicted on charges of second-degree felony sexual assault by a grand jury in McLennan County.

In popular culture

At the Cotton Bowl Classic on January 1, 2015, a picture of Oakman on the jumbotron at AT&T Stadium went viral across social media, including social media site Twitter. The image became "an internet sensation" overnight because of his intimidating build, with Oakman standing at 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m).