Slingin it with QB Velocity #6 with Former Harvard and Current LSU Offensive Lineman Liam Shanahan

For Season 3 Episode 6 of Slingin It with QB Velocity we got the chance to sit down and talk to current LSU center Liam Shanahan.

Liam grew up in Marlborough, Massachusetts and played his high school football at Marlborough High School. He played college football at Harvard for his undergrad and now is playing college football at LSU.

In the episode, we talk about his recruiting process, his experience at Harvard, how it is playing in LSU, and what he wants to do after his time at LSU.

Be sure to check out the podcast on YouTube, Apple, Spotify and anywhere else you listen to podcasts.

Fun fact: Liam is 1 out of 2 football players to play at LSU after playing at Harvard!

When was the first moment you fell in love with the game of football?

Growing up I was always a big sports guy playing all sports. I actually wasn't even allowed to play football. That was too big for a lot of those. Usually back in the day.

Yeah, but once I got to start playing like in seventh or eighth grade in the middle school team going up into high school. That was when it really started to click for me that was this was a sport that I felt like was meant to be. Compared to everything else I was playing so.

Did you have someone that you looked up to growing up?

Yeah, I mean when I was in in middle school, you know, I thought like I want to a public middle school in Marlborough, Massachusetts. You know and go on to the Varsity games on Friday night as it was like going with Super Bowl every week. I thought all those guys are like the coolest guys that like around says that's kind of who I wanted to be.

I always looked up to men like that, I got to work as hard as I can to be able to play on Friday nights. Yeah, I'm over worker but that's kind of how it's always been for me. You know from there then playing up at college Harvard and then now it'll be playing at LSU. So, I guess for me I'm always looking up to whatever is next.

Do you have a favorite NFL lineman?

Oh. Yeah, I always like David Andrews with the Pats. I'm a big Pats guy. That's probably why. Yeah, I think he plays some good ball. Then it was fun to watch the center for the Bucs Ryan Jensen this past season especially this playoff run you know. He really brought his own sort of tenacity to the game which was kind of fun to see.

How have you been able to persevere through this pandemic?

Certainly, it’s been a crazy year. It's insane that you would think it's already been over a year at this point. Yeah, but for me, I didn't know I was going to LSU. I heard what I was doing, so I certainly have.

It’s kind of been a little bit of a rollercoaster throughout the whole thing. Which is exciting for me. Yeah, you know. But you know one thing that the really the biggest thing for me is just trying to keep things in perspective.

I’ve been fortunate enough, where I haven't necessarily suffered some of the losses other people have as a result of the pandemic. So I just kind of keep trucking along one day at a time, even when it gets tough sometimes, but. Yeah, so someone's always got worse than you. So, you gotta take advantage of what you have. And so, I think about it sometimes.

How was your recruiting process like?

I was recruited by a lot of Ivy league schools. Patriot League. Yes, BC and Syracuse some of the bigger schools up in the New England area. But I kind of fell in love with Harvard it was really the first school that recruited me hard, so my first visit I made up my mind. They got really good football program there.

How did you gain attention and try to standout?

Yeah, I just focused on every Friday night as the opportunity to put what I can do on film. You know, in terms of every high school game, is really the biggest opportunity to get film and put together a tape that college coaches will be looking at or we will be looking for you know.

And on top of that, going to camps and whatnot was big for me. The first time I talked to Harvard was after I went to their camp as a Junior in high school. I hadn't really talked to the coaching staff for that, but I thought it would be a good opportunity even if not to get recruited. But just to get some work with some college coaches you know. So that's kind of how it went for me.

Any advice you want to give the younger generation of lineman?

This thing is just work every day. I mean there's no shortcuts. Do you want to play at the next level? You got to be the type of guy who's going to be in the weight room. You know almost every day.