Eagles’ Will Shipley steps back into a former life on a night to remember with the Philadelphia Wings
Before being a first-team All-American at Clemson and the Eagles’ fourth-round selection in the 2024 NFL draft, he was a state champion lacrosse player alongside his older brother, James.

Eagles rookie running back Will Shipley stands with the backs of his heels on the white restraining line of the Philadelphia Wings’ turf, lacrosse stick in hand. Shipley is shooting around with Philly’s National Lacrosse League franchise at Wells Fargo Center before its 8 p.m. matchup with Rochester on Saturday.
Rubber lacrosse balls whip toward Wings backup goaltender Deacan Knott. Occasionally, a shot whizzes above Knott and caroms off the plexiglass boards towards the midfield line, drawing cries of “heads! heads! heads!” from the shooters.
It doesn’t take long for Shipley to assimilate with the Wings. Before he was a first-team All-American at Clemson and the Eagles’ fourth-round selection in the 2024 NFL draft, he was a state champion in lacrosse alongside his older brother, James, at Weddington High School in Matthews, N.C.
Shipley prides himself on his versatility, which shined through in last Sunday’s 55-23 Eagles rout of Washington in the NFC championship game. Shipley recorded 77 rushing yards and his first career touchdown while also forcing a fumble on a second-quarter kick return. The fumble gave the Eagles the ball on the Washington 24-yard line, allowing Philadelphia to go up 27-12 on an A.J. Brown touchdown catch. The victory sent the Eagles through to Super Bowl LIX, which is set for 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 9.
Part of his ability to impact the game in different ways, Shipley said, is rooted in his background as a lacrosse player.
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La(cross)e training
Growing up outside of Charlotte, Shipley played lacrosse before playing football, though he insists football was his “first love.” Shipley first picked up a lacrosse stick in elementary school after missing the cut-off date for youth football registration.
“I was sitting there like, ‘Dang, I can’t put a helmet or pads on,’” Shipley said. “My parents are like, ‘What are we going to do with this kid?’ So [I] put a lacrosse helmet on and got a stick.”
After deciding to take his athletic pursuits more seriously in middle school, Shipley grew into a prized lacrosse recruit alongside James. Weddington won two 1A/2A/3A North Carolina state championships with both Shipley brothers on the roster. James was named MVP of the 2019 state championship game, which Weddington won over Chapel Hill, 16-5. Will and James combined for seven goals and five assists in the win.
The 2019 state championship proved to be the final competitive lacrosse game of Shipley’s career. The 2020 schedule was canceled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Shipley departed high school to play football at Clemson before the 2021-22 season started.
“My last game ever was played with [James],” Shipley said. “[He’s] someone that means a lot to me. He’s a role model to me … My last lacrosse memory is with him.”
After graduating from Weddington, James played four seasons of lacrosse at Penn. He captained the team as a junior in 2023 and was named second-team all-Ivy for the Quakers as a senior in 2024. Shipley got “five or six” opportunities a year to see his brother play at Franklin Field.
“Watching him play the sport that he loves, that I love as well, was always a cool experience,” Shipley said.
Shipley played any sport he could as a kid but landed on football. By the time his high school career was done he was the second-highest-ranked running back in the class of 2021 by ESPN. Shipley fielded offers from the likes of Alabama and Georgia, before deciding to commit to Clemson. Shipley credits, in part, his versatility on the football field to his diverse athletic background.
“In today’s world I think there’s a lot of specialization,” Shipley said. “[Both] from kids and parents pushing their kids to choose a sport early on. That’s never something my parents did. I played football, basketball, lacrosse, I ran track, I played baseball for a year. I believe that they kind of go interchangeably, especially football and lacrosse.”
Shipley’s Swiss-Army quality at Clemson helped him earn the Tigers’ starting running back job midway through his freshman season. He was the first player in Atlantic Coast Conference history to be named First Team all-ACC at three different positions in 2022, receiving honors as a running back, all-purpose player, and specialist.
“It’s a lot of the same dynamics,” Shipley said. “Lacrosse definitely helped me in football in terms of change of direction, eye-hand coordination. Things that I still use today. They’re things that give me value at what I do today.”
Just a couple of ‘Philly rookies’
Sporting a slightly oversized off-white Mitchell & Ness T-shirt, grey cargo pants, gum-soled Nike Blazer Lows and a silver cross necklace, Shipley tosses back and forth with Wings rookie forward Brennan O’Neill. The two start a conversation about the differences between the indoor, or “box,” and outdoor versions of lacrosse.
O’Neill, who was the fourth player to be taken first overall in both the pro-indoor and pro-outdoor leagues this summer, informs Shipley that box play allows for “wall ball” everywhere as a result of the hockey-style boards. In 2023, O’Neill led the NCAA in points in his junior season at Duke. He also won the Tewaaraton Award, given to the top collegiate lacrosse player.
O’Neill and Shipley crossed paths in club lacrosse tournaments a couple of times, despite the nearly 700 miles of interstate that separate Matthews, N.C. from O’Neill’s Long Island hometown of Bay Shore, N.Y.
“I got a chance to play against [O’Neill] twice,” Shipley said. “He was a grade older than me, so our summer teams were usually in different levels of the tournament. He was the headline of every tournament you went to.”
After O’Neill’s senior season at Duke ended with a 14-11 loss to Maryland in the quarterfinals of the NCAA championship, he was selected first overall by both the Wings and the Denver Outlaws of Premier League Lacrosse. He finished his collegiate career with 207 career goals, which ranks fifth all-time.
“[O’Neill is] the G.O.A.T. of lacrosse,” Shipley said. “That’s how everybody viewed him. That’s how I viewed him, as well … From middle school, to playing against him in high school, to watching him play at Duke against my brother, and now up at the professional level, it’s been really cool to see how he’s climbed and how he’s endured. He continues to be the best, even with all the pressure that comes with that.”
Back in the warmup line, Shipley dips and fires a shot that sails above Knott. Even with an admitted lack of aim, the power behind the shot creates some enthusiasm from the players around him. If the Wings gave Shipley a team-issued pair of loose nylon black and red shorts, it would be hard for the untrained eye to pick him out from the rest of the roster.
O’Neill and Shipley meet on the Wings’ midfield logo for a jersey-swap photo opportunity. Shipley is presented with a black Wings jersey with his number, 28, and name on the back. O’Neill gets a home midnight green Eagles jersey, with his name and number, 34. The athletes exchange signatures on their jerseys, with Shipley inscribing “PHILLY ROOKIES” on O’Neill’s Eagles jersey.
“He can play,” O’Neill says when asked about Shipley’s shootaround performance.
New Orleans dreams
Shipley’s collegiate tenure at Clemson was remarkable, but some team accolades were notably absent. In the six seasons before Shipley’s arrival on campus, Clemson claimed six consecutive ACC titles and appeared in six consecutive College Football Playoff brackets, winning two national titles. Between the 2015 season and the 2020 season, the Tigers played in two semifinal games at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans’ Superdome.
Between Shipley’s freshman season in 2021 and his final college season in 2023, Clemson claimed one ACC title and did not make the playoff.
“New Orleans was brought up frequently as somewhere that held bowl games and where we thought we were going to get to,” Shipley said.
Shipley did play in the Eagles’ 15-12 Week 3 victory over the Saints in New Orleans. But after missing out on big games in the Big Easy with Clemson, Shipley has an opportunity to play for a Super Bowl in the Superdome as a rookie with the Eagles.
“I think it’s a little poetic,” Shipley said. “I look back at my college career and we definitely didn’t accomplish what we set out to. What I went to Clemson to do was win a national championship. Having the chance to go back [to Clemson for my senior season], that was something that was kind of always lingering in my mind … It was something that I debated with for quite some time. Having made the decision that I made, I think I’m very happy.”
Before Shipley embarks for New Orleans to play for a Super Bowl, he has a Wings game to watch. He jokes with O’Neill at the midfield jersey swap about picking up lacrosse as a second sport. But, he says, he’s getting ahead of himself. He needs to see how the indoor game looks first.
“I would love it,” Shipley laughs. “I don’t think the Eagles would love it. But seriously, being out there and getting a stick back in my hands and shooting the [stuff] with the guys … I just love the lacrosse culture. I think it’s something really special.”
With Shipley in attendance along the boards, the Wings fell to Rochester, 15-12. O’Neill finished with a goal and an assist.
“Who knows?” Shipley said. “Maybe when I retire from football, I could get a stick back in my hands and see what it’s about. Hopefully, that’s a long way down the road. It’s a special sport. I’m excited to be out here and watch it tonight.”
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