Sterling Shepard

Early life

Shepard was born on February 10, 1993. Shepard attended Heritage Hall School in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where he rushed for 1,115 yards and caught 133 passes for 2,335 yards and 38 touchdowns in his high school football career. As a senior, he carried the ball 28 times for 303 yards and eight touchdowns and caught 73 passes for 1,243 yards and 17 touchdowns. Following his senior season, he was selected to the Under Armour All-American Game. In addition, Shepard competed in basketball and track at Heritage. As a senior in 2011, he placed second in the long jump at the State Meet with a leap of 6.69 meters (21'11.5").

Shepard was a consensus four-star recruit by ESPN.com, Rivals.com, 247sports.com and Scout.com. He committed to the University of Oklahoma to play college football under head coach Bob Stoops.

College career

As a true freshman at the University of Oklahoma in 2012, Shepard played in all 13 games with four starts and had 45 receptions for 621 yards and three touchdowns. He made his collegiate debut on September 8, against Florida A&M, and had three receptions for 48 receiving yards. In the following game, he had seven receptions for 108 receiving yards and his first collegiate receiving touchdown against Kansas State. As a sophomore in 2013, he started 12 of 13 games, recording 51 receptions for 603 yards and seven touchdowns. On September 14, against Tulsa, he had the best game of his collegiate career to that point with eight receptions for 123 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns. In the 2014 Sugar Bowl against Alabama, he had his first collegiate rushing touchdown on a 13-yard play. Shepard started 12 of 13 games as a junior in 2014. He started off the season very strong with career-highs in receiving yards at first against Tulsa with 177 and 215 later on against TCU. After recording 49 receptions for 911 yards and five touchdowns through the first seven games of the season, he suffered a groin injury on a reception against Iowa State, which caused him to miss the rest of that game and the next week's game against Baylor and limited him to one reception for 13 yards during the final four games. As a senior in 2015, he played in all 14 games and had 86 receptions for 1,288 yards and 11 touchdowns. On September 2, against Tennessee, he caught a five-yard touchdown from Baker Mayfield with only 40 seconds remaining to help force overtime. In the second overtime, he caught a game-winning 18-yard pass from Mayfield. For his collegiate career, he had 233 receptions for 3,482 yards and 26 touchdowns.

Personal life

His father, Derrick Shepard, played at Oklahoma and in the NFL from 1987 to 1991 as a wide receiver. He died when Sterling was six. His uncles, Darrell (1980–81) and Woodie (1975–79), also played at Oklahoma.

Shepard married model Chanel Iman on March 3, 2018. On August 10, 2018, their first child, Cali Clay Shepard, was born. On December 17, 2019, they welcomed their second daughter, Cassie Snow Shepard. In January 2022, Shepard and Iman announced that they would be getting divorced.

Shepard was engaged to his long-term girlfriend, Carolyn Estephany.