Buffalo Bills wide receiver Tyrell Shavers said he didn’t send his jersey to Pope Leo XIV, even though the NFL team shared a photo of Michael W. Fisher, bishop of the Diocese of Buffalo, handing the pontiff a No. 14 Bills jersey.
Shavers wears No. 14 for Buffalo.
“So many people sent me that,” Shavers said during an appearance on FanDuel TV’s “Up and Adams,” “and we were in meetings and my phone just started blowing up. Like, I’m feeling it. I’m like, ‘What’s going on right now?’ My phone’s just vibrating, vibrating. And then they sent it. I look at the picture. I’m like, ‘Whoa. That’s crazy.’ But yeah, now I’m here, and I just had a good game, so we just got to keep it going.”
Pope Leo XIV received the Bills jersey on Oct. 27. Before that date, Shavers had six receptions for 120 yards and one touchdown in 10 games in his NFL career. Since the presentation, Shavers has six receptions for 121 yards and one touchdown in three games.
The pope’s jersey has Leo on the back nameplate, not Shavers.
“It was a special delight to present the gift of a personalized Buffalo Bills jersey to our first American pontiff,” Fisher said, “and he expressed his gratitude for this symbol of hometown pride.”
Shavers is in his third season with the Bills. He spent the first year entirely on the practice squad without getting into a game.
Shavers was waived at the end of the preseason again in 2024, then rejoined the Bills’ practice squad. He played in three games and took his first NFL reception 69 yards for a touchdown.
This season, Shavers made the team coming out of training camp and, on Sundy, had the best game of his NFL career with four receptions for 90 yards and one touchdown in a 44-32 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“I always knew I could do it from when I made the team,” Shavers said, “and, obviously, I came to the NFL. But it just gives you a little extra boost when you go out there and have a career day, so I just got to keep stacking it and carrying it over.”
Shavers played in two seasons at Alabama, one at Mississippi State and two at San Diego State before joining the Bills as an undrafted rookie in 2023.
Shavers said “Unstoppable” would be the title if a movie was made about his football journey “just simply because of all the trials and tribulations that I had to go through -- going to three different schools, coming to the NFL undrafted, being cut twice. I still found a way to keep going and have success and make a way to where I am now.”
The Bills will square off against the Houston Texans at 7:15 p.m. CST Thursday at NRG Stadium in Houston. Prime Video will televise the game.
The Texans defense has yielded the fewest points and yards in the NFL this season, and Shavers will contend with cornerbacks Derek Stingley Jr. and Kamari Lassiter, a former American Christian Academy standout.
“I’m excited,” Shavers said. “I love big games. I love big challenges. Best defense in the NFL. Stingley, Lassiter, they have a really good secondary over there. Physical. They’re tough technicians. We got our hands full, but we just got to focus on the things that we can control, and I think we should be good.”
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