New Orleans Saints rookie quarterback Tyler Shough has no issue with people butchering his last name. It just comes with the territory of having a misleading spelling.
“It’s literally impossible to pronounce it if you don’t know it,” says Shough, which is pronounced “Shuck”, like aw shucks. “It’s all good.”
Constantly being asked how do you say your name again isn’t as bad as the recurring questions Shough fielded in the lead-up to the 2025 NFL draft. His injuries throughout his seven college seasons and his age were popular topics. But even those questions didn’t bother Shough, who will be a 26-year-old rookie by late September.
It’s not difficult to keep a positive mindset after all the challenges Shough overcame to be a top quarterback prospect, including dealing with multiple collarbone injuries. There were times when Shough doubted whether he would play football again, but his determination paid off, and now the Saints’ second-round pick is the favorite to be the Week 1 starter.
Last week, at the NFLPA Rookie Premiere, Shough sat down with Sports Illustrated to discuss his journey from being Justin Herbert’s backup at Oregon to three years filled with injuries at Texas Tech to his breakout season at Louisville.
Sports Illustrated: Tyler, you have three degrees. Does that in a way help with what you’re learning here at the NFLPA Rookie Premiere, which focuses on the business side of sports?
Tyler Shough: The degrees that I have—political science, criminal justice, business—I think it’s applicable to everything here. Some not—maybe criminal justice, political science—not really. But to interact with everybody has helped for sure.
SI: Why those three degrees? Just trying something different while you played college football for seven years?
TS: So my dad was a cop. He did SWAT for a time as well. He was a cop for 25 years in San Diego and in Arizona. So that was the initial interest with that. I actually did some ride-alongs. I wanted to maybe be a federal agent. Once football kept going, I started to fall in love with the process of coaching and teaching and mentoring and everything like that. That’s kind of where my master’s degree came in from there.
SI: Being here in Los Angeles for the Rookie Premiere, you’re not too far away from home, right?
TS: Yeah, definitely some familiar faces, familiar spots as well. You can’t beat the Mexican food, either. It’s good to be back over here.
SI: Speaking of your family, many saw the video of your dog being just as excited as everyone about you being drafted by the Saints. Do you get many questions about your dog?
TS: She’s definitely a hot topic, especially after that. It was crazy because she was literally passed out the whole day. She was just chilling because we were hanging out. Then everybody started cheering and being excited, so she was getting in on it. It was pretty funny. Her name is Murphy. She’s a golden retriever, about two and a half [years old].
SI: Sticking with names, am I going to pronounce your name right? Tyler “Shuck”. Is that right?
TS: Yeah, that was good. It should be Shuck, but it’s European, Scottish—I don’t know. It’s hard to learn or hard to say, but once you learn it, it’s pretty easy.
SI: Do you get tired of people butchering your name?
TS: No, it’s literally impossible to pronounce it if you don’t know it. It’s all good.
SI: Being in New Orleans, how’s that been so far?
TS: It’s been a lot of fun. Obviously, it’s different with the humidity—different environment. You’re close to the Gulf. You’re down there. The people are awesome. The food is, obviously, really, really good. So everything is different in a great way, and I’ve been there the past few weeks really early. I wanted to go down there, get acclimated, meet some of my new teammates, and just get started on everything.
SI: Which is worse? Humidity in New Orleans or the desert dry heat in Arizona?
TS: The summers in Arizona are really bad. It’s kind of pick your poison. When it gets to 117, 120, that’s hot. But in general, I do think humidity is worse, just because you’re always sticky or wet, but we’ll see. I’m about to find out. Talk to me in a couple of months.
SI: Tyler, working with your new head coach Kellen Moore, how’s that been so far? Have you had chances to pick his brain?
TS: It’s been very good. He’s extremely smart. I think he’s done it at multiple teams, at different levels—college, high school, pro, coaching, playing. It doesn’t matter. He’s had success everywhere he’s been. That’s really cool. I think that’s one of his greatest strengths. Just the whole coaching staff is really, really good. I’m excited to continue getting to learn from him.
SI: Do you still keep in contact with Justin Herbert?
TS: I haven’t talked to him in a while. It was more right after the draft when he got drafted a couple of years ago. We kind of connect every now and then about golf tournaments and stuff like that. We’ve been so busy with our own journeys.
SI: Kellen got to coach Herbert with the Chargers in 2023. Has he told you about that? Does he want to use you in a similar way?
TS: Kellen and I talked about him … his whole experience there. That was really cool. It helps when you’re watching Justin Herbert, Dak Prescott and Jalen Hurts on film. Those guys are really high-level players. It makes the plays look really good, and it’s easy to learn from.
SI: You had a tough journey in college with multiple injuries and playing for three different programs. Knowing that, have you had a moment to soak in being a second-round pick for an NFL team?
TS: You try every single day to appreciate it. I’m super grateful for it just because I got that perspective of not knowing if I was going to play, and I know deep down inside me that I can be as good as I want to be. It hasn’t really hit some days because I’m going from back to back to back things and I got to New Orleans pretty early, right after the draft. I started working out at Tulane. It’s definitely busy, but what else would you rather be doing? I love it.
SI: Did you have a few prior connections from people currently with the Saints?
TS: Oh, yeah. There are a couple of former Oregon guys—Juwan Johnson, Ugo Amadi—a couple of Texas Tech guys on the staff that I knew as well. There were some weird connections for sure down the line, and I’m really excited to work with them.
SI: Were you not surprised when the Saints called because of those relationships you already had?
TS: I was surprised because I hadn’t heard from them since our visit. I think usually that’s a good thing if you don’t hear anything from them. I’m not sure, though. After I left there, I was, ‘Man, this would be a really good scenario.’ Just the people there, the whole staff, it was very attractive, and I love the system as well. Once it finally happened, it was like a huge weight off my chest because I was like, ‘Man, this would be good.’ And then they were on the clock, and it finally happened and it was awesome.
SI: Tyler, did you play any other sport besides football?
TS: I played baseball in high school outside of football. I loved it. I was probably a baseball-first kid growing up. I always had a good arm. I picked up quarterback in middle school, and just fell in love with that.
SI: Are you a big Arizona Diamondbacks fan?
TS: Oh, yeah. Love the purple. The throwbacks are sick, but yeah, it was tough when they lost the World Series a couple of years ago. But it’s always fun rooting those guys on.
More NFL on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Tyler Shough Q&A: It’s ‘Shuck’ As in Aw Shucks.