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Tom Shaw helps makes NFL dreams reality at Disney complex

As the NFL draft nears, Tom Shaw's workouts help prospects boost their stock.

LAKE BUENA VISTA - Here in Disney's land of make-believe, a new magic kingdom has sprung to life in the past six months. And it is making believers out of college football stars with big dreams for NFL draft day.

Seven blue-chip prospects projected as first-round picks - including USC running back Reggie Bush, Ohio State receiver Santonio Holmes and Virginia offensive tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson - have been regular visitors in recent months to Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex.

So have dozens of other collegians hoping to improve their standing in the eyes of scouts, coaches and general managers at the NFL combine two months ago and the draft April 29-30.

All have been drawn to the entertainment and sports mecca by Tom Shaw - a man known for his strength and conditioning wizardry. His intensive workout program has trained 77 eventual first-rounders in 13 years, and also helped many veterans get in shape during the offseason.

The long list of collegians to go through his predraft program includes many big names, such as quarterbacks Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Michael Vick, defensive end Jevon Kearse and receiver Hines Ward. It costs $750 a week - a fee often covered by agents - to take part in the grueling regimen that emphasizes speed and explosiveness. Even Yankees outfielder Johnny Damon worked out for a month before spring training.

On this breezy, late Thursday afternoon, Shaw, a native of New Port Richey, can be found at his usual spot: moving around the football fields and track at the Wide World of Sports. This is the new home of Tom Shaw Performance Enhancement.

He is busy working out one of his college alumni, cornerback Ike Taylor of the Super Bowl champion Steelers - one of many program graduates who come back each year to donate their time as instructors.

Other vets such as cornerback Deion Sanders and quarterback Drew Bledsoe have worked out with Shaw as pros, and return to help teach as well.

"These guys have been with me a long time and they come back to volunteer their time to help these young kids," says Shaw, 45. "And that's one thing that sets us apart and has given us our reputation."

That reputation is why NFL scouts, personnel executives and GMs call him virtually every day for his views on players.

"I'm not going to lie," Shaw says. "If you're lazy, you're lazy. If you work hard, I'm going to call everybody I can for you. All it takes is a shot."

Helping players get a good one is his greatest reward.

Shaw especially enjoys training a player who might not get drafted, but can sign as a free agent and still have a long NFL career. Or seeing a player who might have gone low move up on draft day as Taylor did when he was picked in Round 4 in 2003. "Hey, Ike Taylor ended up running fast enough that the Steelers took a chance on him," he says.

Taylor, who had a key interception in Pittsburgh's Super Bowl win over Seattle, showed up to help Shaw coach just two days after the game. He remains grateful. "Whether it's jumping, speed, agility, power or whatever, he can make you better," Taylor says. "I was running 4.3s (in the 40) and he had me down to 4.25. He's an amazing coach."

But last year, Shaw needed a helping hand, too.

The career strength and conditioning coach - who earned three Super Bowl rings as an assistant with the New England Patriots - had operated his program since 1993 in Kenner, La. But when Hurricane Katrina hit, his facility was needed to house relief supplies and trucks, which carried blue tarps into New Orleans to cover ravaged rooftops.

Shaw had to find a new home for his business. After several months without success, he and his partners contacted Disney.

They spoke to Reggie Williams, vice president of Disney Sports Attractions and a man who knows a bit about the NFL after a 14-year career as a linebacker with the Cincinnati Bengals.

"It was a win-win opportunity," Williams says. "We pride ourselves in having a great facility, but facilities are just that without great athletes competing and training in them. And with Tom, we knew we'd have some of the great aspiring athletes."

Williams also was impressed by the number of established NFL players who have returned to help Shaw: "What I know about Tom is the loyalty of the athletes he engenders. Players can sometimes be fickle and have an "all about me' outlook. So when athletes come back, it means someone is doing all of the right things."

What Shaw does is summed up by the name on his T-shirt: SPARQ, a Nike-sponsored fitness organization that rates him as one of six Master Trainers.

The letters stand for Speed, Power, Agility, Reaction, Quickness and reflect a philosophy rooted in his years as a track man. Shaw was a star at Gulf High, where he set school records for the 100-yard dash (9.6 seconds), 220 (21.9) and long jump (23 feet, 1 inch).

He graduated from Central Michigan University with a B.A. in education and an M.A. in exercise physiology. He went on to serve as track coach and assistant football coach at Hudson High for four years, followed by eight years at Florida State as assistant track coach and speed and conditioning coach for several sports.

It was there that he got to know many of the Seminole football players, including Sanders, the multisports star who thrived under Shaw's workouts with the track team. Sanders soon encouraged teammates to work with Shaw. "Not all of them ran track, but they just wanted to get faster," Shaw says. "There were about 30 guys. Even the freshman and sophomores said, "If Deion's doing it, then I need to do it.' "

But the turning point came in 1993, when Shaw went to work as an assistant strength and conditioning coach for Mike Ditka's Saints and opened up his program. A handful of Seminoles wanted to get in shape for the February NFL combine, so their agents sent them to work out with Shaw in Kenner. "And that started a business," he says.

A year later, other predraft programs opened and today they abound. But Shaw is considered the pioneer. He points to his player-coaches as his biggest asset. "Deion's going to teach them what it's like to be an NFL cornerback," Shaw says. "I can tell them 100 times, "I want you to do it this way.' Deion tells them one time and they get it."

"He's not just a good trainer, a good fitness coach, a good person to know, but he's truly a friend," Sanders said in a recent Fox Sports segment on Shaw. "And he looks out for your best interest."

Former Dallas guard Crawford Ker, WingHouse founder and a co-sponsor of Shaw's program, coaches the offensive line. Pittsburgh's James Farrior and Seattle's Jamie Sharper work with the linebackers; New England's Brady and St. Petersburg native Shaun King, signed by Detroit, help tutor the quarterbacks.

Shaw, meanwhile, focuses on training techniques that improve speed and power.

Players train for the 40 being pulled by bungee cords, aiding their acceleration. They run with cables pulling against them.

They run behind carts that hold large mirrors, so they can adjust their form and make it more efficient on the spot. They do running drills in a large heated pool. They practice vertical jumps on minitrampolines with cords pulling them downward.

Then there are the rigorous weight workouts and nutritional programs. And now there's Disney, with whom Shaw just signed a seven-year contract.

"As it turns out, this is the best facility in the world, not just the country," Shaw says. "We have access to everything. Ten football fields, a weight room, six basketball courts, resort apartments. The guys even have access to all the (theme) parks."

And with his help, they have access to an NFL dream.