Heath Shuler

Heath Shuler

Joseph Heath Shuler (born December 31, 1971 in Bryson City , Swain County , North Carolina ) is an American politician . Between 2007 and 2013 he represented the state of North Carolina in the US House of Representatives . He previously had a career as a football player in the NFL .

Career

Football career

Heath Shuler attended Swain County High School until 1991 and then studied psychology at the University of Tennessee until 2001 . While still in high school, he began a football career as a quarterback . During his college career, he was among the best of his age and came second in the Heisman Trophy .

Shuler joined the NFL Draft in 1994 and was the third player in that draft to be signed by the Washington Redskins . The Redskins planned to build a new team around the young Heath Shuler. His rookie season was mediocre (ten touchdowns , twelve interceptions , quarterback rating of 59.6), and Washington won only three season games. His second season in 1995 was hardly better: after only three touchdowns, but seven interceptions, he was pushed to the bench by reserve quarterback Gus Frerotte in the middle of the season . He spent most of the 1996 season on the bench as the third quarterback behind Frerotte and Brian Mitchell . 1997 Shuler was given to the New Orleans Saints , where he was initially again starting quarterback, but in the middle of the season after poor performance (two touchdowns, 14 interceptions, quarterback rating 46.6) had to make room for his substitute Mario Bates . After a foot injury, he retired from professional sports. In 1998 he was still in the training squad of the Oakland Raiders , but played no more games. For his failures, the former number three draft pick Shuler was voted one of the "25 greatest sporting disappointments" by the sports broadcaster ESPN .

At that time, he was starting a real estate company in Knoxville , which is still one of the largest of its kind in eastern Tennessee .

Political career

Politically, Shuler became a member of the Democratic Party . In the 2006 congressional elections , he was elected to the Eleventh constituency of North Carolina in the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC , where he succeeded Charles H. Taylor on January 3, 2007 . After two re-elections, he was able to exercise his mandate in Congress until January 3, 2013.

Shuler is considered a conservative democrat. He was deputy parliamentary group leader of the Blue Dog Coalition in the 112th Congress , an alliance of conservative members of the Democratic Party in terms of finance and social policy. Politically, Shuler is against the liberalization of abortion laws, against control of gun ownership, and for a hard line against illegal immigrants. On these points he is relatively close to the Republican Party . On economic and environmental issues, however, he is on the Democratic party line. In Congress he was a member of the Budget Committee and the Transport Committee and two sub-committees. In 2012, he decided not to run again and became a lobbyist for Duke Energy after leaving Congress on January 3, 2013 .

Shuler has lived in Waynesville, North Carolina, since 2003 . He is married to Nikol Davis, with whom he has two children.

proof

1. ↑ ESPN25: The 25 Biggest Sports Flops , ESPN.com.
2. ↑ Bruce Henderson: NC Rep. Heath Shuler takes Duke Energy job. In: McClutchy.com , November 27, 2012.

Web links

Commons : Heath Shuler  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Web presence at the congress ( Memento from December 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
• Heath Shuler on NFL.com
• Heath Shuler in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)