Buffalo Bills defensive end Shaq Lawson spent just one season with the Miami Dolphins, but that was all it took for the Clemson alum to regret leaving Buffalo.
In a recent interview with Spectrum News 1 in Buffalo, Lawson admitted that leaving the team that drafted him for what he thought were greener pastures in Miami nearly derailed his career.
"At the time I thought that was the best decision for me," Lawson said. "Looking back...I'd probably say that's probably the worst decision I made.”
Lawson spent the first four years of his career with the Bills. The team declined his fifth-year option and he signed a three-year, $30 million contract with the Dolphins in March of 2020.
He played in 14 games, starting seven, and registering 32 tackles, four sacks, four tackles for loss, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery before he was traded to the Houston Texans in the offseason for Benardrick McKinney and a 2021 seventh-round pick.
Perhaps his most memorable moment in Miami came in a 34-31 win over the Arizona Cardinals in which he returned a fumble 36 yards for the opening touchdown.
The Miami defense continues to wreak havoc.
— Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) November 8, 2020
Shaq Lawson scoops a Kyle Murray fumble and takes it to the house to put the Dolphins (+6) up 7-0. pic.twitter.com/hzqaOmnXHq
Lawson didn’t stick long in Houston — he was traded to the New York Jets right before the start of the 2021 season for a 2022 sixth-round pick. After his release in January, he ended up back in Buffalo.
“It was a humbling two years,” Lawson continued. “This year I consider a humbling year for me trying to get my career back. …If you would have seen me [in Miami then New York] you'd be like 'This is Shaq?' I'm quiet. I'm not talking. I'm just strictly about ball. Not joking and things like that. And that's not me. I like to have fun, like to joke. I still take the game serious, but me I got to be interacting and cracking jokes. So that was my biggest part. I couldn't be myself."
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