Pro Scout
After spending 10 seasons (1997-2006) establishing himself as one of the best linebackers in Buccaneers history, Quarles enters his third season as a pro scout for Tampa Bay. Quarles responsibilities include the in-season scouting of Buccaneers opponents and all NFL free agents. He also participates in the scouting and evaluation of the Tampa Bay roster. In 2007, his first season in the front office, Quarles helped guide the Buccaneers to the NFC South division title.
During his 10 seasons on the field, Quarles helped lead the Buccaneers to three division titles (1999, 2002 and 2005) while also earning a world championship following the 2002 season in Super Bowl XXXVII. He also made his first Pro Bowl appearance in 2002 as a member of the top-ranked defensive unit in the NFL. Overall, Quarles was a member of a Buccaneers defense that ranked first in the NFL in total defense on two occasions (2002 and 2004) and finished the season in the Top 10 in eight of his 10 years as a player.
Quarles’ decade of service left its mark on the Buccaneers’ record book. His 148 career games played and 113 career starts as a Buccaneer rank eighth and ninth, respectively, in team history. He also ranks fourth in team annals with 985 career tackles, including a career-high and team-best 196 tackles in 2005, the second-highest total in a single season in team history. Quarles played all three linebacker positions during his career and remains as the only player in team history to record a touchdown and a safety. In 1999, he posted a team-record 31 special teams tackles and in 2001, Quarles recorded the longest play in team history with a 98-yard interception return for a touchdown.
Quarles was, and remains, one of the most philanthropic figures in the Tampa Bay Area. Since its inception in 2004, the Shelton Quarles IMPACT Foundation has had the mission of benefiting at-risk children, youth and their families by providing assistance, programs and events designed to build self-esteem, provide unique life changing opportunities and help them to set and achieve their life goals. It has raised over $400,000 since its inception to fund several programs, including, Mother’s Day Miracles Summer Stipend and Home Team Harvest. In addition to these signature programs, the foundation has hosted the Celebrity Golf Classic for the past five years which benefits needy children and families throughout the Bay Area.
In 2008, Quarles hosted the IMPACT Tour at Aston Martin/Jaguar of Tampa which raised more than $20,000 for the IMPACT Foundation. He also championed the 2008 Habitat for Humanity Super Build, helping to provide local individuals with decent, affordable homes to live and raise their families. The Foundation has helped provide eight homes as part of the program. This past offseason, the IMPACT Foundation completed interior makeovers on the homes of two single-mothers in Tampa as part of the Foundation's Mother's Day Miracles program that provides single-parent families with a complete home makeover. The IMPACT Foundation also sent the two families on an all-expense paid weekend getaway to Orlando while they received new furniture for their homes as well as new interior design work, household items and accessories.
Quarles has participated in many charitable endeavors through the Buccaneers organization. In 2007, he walked the runway for “Fashion Funds the Cure” fashion show to benefit the Pediatric Cancer Foundation and that same year, Quarles traveled with three other NFL players to visit U.S. troops at military bases throughout the Persian Gulf as part of the NFL-USO program.
Upon Quarles retirement, Florida Governor Charlie Crist named him as chairman of the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority in September of 2007. As chairman, Quarles leads a seven-county, 15-member board that has a stated goal of building a transportation master plan over the next two years that will tackle the significant transportation issues facing the greater Tampa Bay area today and in the future.
An avid golfer, in the Spring of 2009 Quarles was part of the winning foursome of the Transitions Championship Pro-Am at Innisbrook.
Quarles is married to Damaris and the couple resides in Tampa with their daughter, Gabriela Nicole and sons, Shelton Eugene, Jr. and Carlos Antonio.
