Third Generation Bruins WR Looking to Carve His Own Path

Two catches. An injury. A redshirt.

You haven’t seen much of wide receiver Carter Shaw, the third-generation football player determined to carve out his own legacy.

Most would say the Shaw family is part of college football royalty. Carter grew up watching his father, David, coach Stanford to two Rose Bowl victories. As a kid, he dreamed of playing for him.

Which, unintentionally, may have cost him.

“He was probably under-recruited, and I think my position at Stanford may have had something to do with that,” David told the Los Angeles Times. “I think people assumed he was going to come play for me.”

But as Carter grew older, he realized he didn’t want to follow in his father’s footsteps — at least not directly. There was no rift, no falling out. He simply wanted to escape the assumptions that came with his family name.

So he walked on at UCLA, chasing self-made dreams.

“Now he just gets to go be Carter Shaw,” David said. “Everything he gets, he’s earned, and his dad isn’t in the head coach’s office pulling strings for him.”

Now, with a new season on the horizon, Shaw is ready to take matters into his own hands.

The top wide receiver spot is wide open in Westwood. Logan Loya graduated. J. Michael Sturdivant transferred to Florida. The career high for receiving yards on the current roster? Just 392.

That leaves plenty of opportunity for a young, hungry receiver to emerge.

In 2024, Shaw showed flashes. He caught a 27-yard pass in Week 1 against Hawaii — his first career reception and a sign of the quickness that sets him apart. A few weeks later, he snagged another one, this time for 18 yards against Minnesota.

But then, he vanished — first due to the logjam ahead of him, then due to a season-ending injury.

Still, a 27-yard catch in a tight opener from a walk-on freshman? That’s no small thing. And Shaw’s speed? That’s real.

As a redshirt sophomore, his outlook is brighter than ever. He’ll have former five-star QB Nico Iamaleava throwing him the ball, and with no entrenched WR1 on the roster, Shaw will have every chance to rise.

The question now: Can Carter Shaw step out of the Shaw shadow and into the spotlight?

For most walk-ons, that’s a tall order. But this one just might be built for it.