Shawn Oakman

Shawn Oakman is a defensive end in the Canadian Football League with the Toronto Argonauts. He was a member of the Baylor Bears football team throughout his time in college. Oakman has played for multiple teams in the American Arena League, including the Triangle Torch and the West Virginia Roughriders. He has also played for the Bismarck Bucks of Champions Indoor Football and the Los Angeles Wildcats of the XFL.

On January 1 2015, an image of Oakman that was displayed on the jumbotron at AT&T Stadium during the Cotton Bowl Classic quickly went viral across social media, notably on Twitter, because of Oakman’s great height—he is 6 feet 9 inches tall. Oakman was projected to be selected within the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft by a number of early mock drafts. However, during the 2015 season Oakman’s output was lower, and as a result, his draft stock fell throughout the year. In addition to this, Oakman found himself in legal difficulty in April of 2016, when he was arrested in Waco and charged with sexual assault. Oakman was found not guilty after the case was tried from February 26 to February 28, 2019.

Oakman signed a contract to play with the Toronto Argonauts in February of 2021. As a late addition to the roster in March 2021, he participated in the People’s Championship of Fan Controlled Football, a professional indoor football league that was established in 2017 as the first sports league controlled by fans.