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John Samuel Shenker didn’t want his time on The Plains to end quite yet.
The Auburn tight end wanted to return for one more season, and it didn’t even take Shenker until the offseason to reveal that he would be coming back for one more fall ride with the Tigers.
Shenker said that he told then first-year coach Bryan Harsin during last season’s bowl game against Houston that he wanted to come back and play another year.
“I said, ‘I’m coming back and it’s not for me, it’s for Auburn,’” recalled Shenker, who in 2021 broke the single-season receptions and yards records for an Auburn tight end with 33 catches for 413 yards.
Shenker’s loyalty to Harsin and the program was rewarded, as he was named 1 of 3 team captains on Tuesday, along with linebacker Owen Pappoe and defensive lineman Derick Hall.
Shenker said he wanted to help Harsin and the program move forward after a 6-7 season in 2021. He didn’t want a losing season to be his last on The Plains.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
