Tyler Allen Sheehan is a former American football quarterback. Sheehan played collegiately at Bowling Green State University after a standout career at La Salle High School in Cincinnati, Ohio. After going undrafted in the 2010 NFL Draft, he signed with Houston Texans, where he was released after training camp. In 2011, he signed with the Cincinnati Commandos of the Continental Indoor Football League. Sheehan led the Commandos to a perfect 10-0 regular season, winning the league's MVP award. In the playoffs, Sheehan led the Commandos to the 2011 CIFL Championship Game, where they defeated the Marion Blue Racers 44-29. After the Commandos season ended, Sheehan signed with the Arizona Rattlers of the Arena Football League, but never appeared in a game. In 2012, Sheehan returned to the Commandos and led them to a 7-2 record, this time in the United Indoor Football League. The Commandos took the first place seed into the playoffs, and won Ultimate Bowl II 62-44 over the Florida Tarpons.
Early life
Sheehan was born on November 17, 1987 in Cincinnati, Ohio to parents Dale and Rosalyn Sheehan. His father played football at Wooster. Tyler Sheehan attended La Salle High School, where he was a three-year letterwinner on the football team. As a senior in 2005, he was named the team's most valuable player and the conference Quarterback of the Year. He was also named an all-conference, honorable mention all-city, all-district, and All-Southwest Ohio player. Sheehan also played baseball for two seasons. A Scout.com two-star prospect, he was not highly recruited and received a scholarship offer only from Bowling Green.
Sheehan committed to Bowling Green State University on November 29, 2005.
College career
Sheehan enrolled at Bowling Green State University and played on the football team as a true freshman. He saw action in four games and completed 23 passes on 43 attempts for 192 yards. He threw for no touchdowns, but four interceptions and was sacked six times. Against Toledo, he passed for 33 yards including a season-long of 21 yards to receiver Corey Partridge.
Prior to the 2007 season, he competed in fall camp with starter Anthony Turner for the number-one position. Sheehan narrowly won the starting job just five days before the season-opener against Minnesota. He started all 13 games of the season and recorded 303 completions on 476 attempts for 3,264 yards and 23 touchdowns, to become the fourth quarterback in school history to throw for 3,000 single-season yards. He threw for 11 interceptions and was sacked 28 times. Sheehan was named the Mid-American Conference (MAC) Offensive Player of the Week three times. In his first career start against Minnesota, he threw for 388 yards and two touchdowns and caught a 24-yard touchdown pass. In overtime, Bowling Green elected to attempt a two-point conversion, rather than tie the score with a kick. Sheehan connected with receiver Freddie Barnes for the game-winning conversion in what The New York Times called "perhaps one of the most exciting of the college football season". That season, he was the nation's only quarterback to record two receiving touchdowns. In the 2008 GMAC Bowl loss to Tulsa, he injured his left ankle late in the first half. Late in the season, USA Today wrote that "Tyler Sheehan directs one of the MAC's most diverse offenses."
That season, he was the only 3,000-yard quarterback in the East Division of the MAC. ESPN compared Sheehan with other top passers in the conference, noting that he threw for fewer interceptions than Dan LeFevour of Central Michigan, and had a higher completion percentage than Nate Davis of Ball State. Sheehan himself said:
Dan [LeFevour] can do more things with his feet than I can, but I think I can make some different throws that he can't make. Nate Davis has a great arm. I think, ability-wise, there's not much difference between us, but we each bring something different to the table to help our team win. And I think our different abilities showed when you look at the stats from last year.