SMHS Football Great Calling It a Career

For the first time since 2005, J.P. Shohfi is passing the time doing anything but preparing to play football. For it was then, as a mere 2nd-grader, that Shohfi was last able to think about something other than the pigskin.
After a storybook career at San Marino High School and a Cinderella experience at Yale, Shohfi is now filing the sport away in the annals of his own personal history, though it’s quite possible he will forget the experience long before those who had the pleasure of watching him play.
Shohfi, who like so many others will experience a “virtual” graduation from Yale on May 18, was not selected in last month’s NFL draft and, though he and his coaches received plenty of free agent interest from several teams, SMHs’ all-time leader in scoring and pass receiving is moving on.
“Honestly, I decided a few months ago,” said Shohfi when reached this week at his New Haven, Connecticut, apartment, where he has remained quarantined since Yale shut down in early March. “Back in December and January, I decided to focus on medicine and give up football. I talked to a couple of agents, but my mind was already made up. I got a lot of calls from a few different teams so it’s nice to know that there was some interest out there, but the NFL is big business and the most important thing is to have your heart in it.”
Nevertheless, Shohfi remains confident that he could have possibly played at the sport’s highest level.
“I think it is something I could do if I wanted to,” Shohfi said. “My focus wouldn’t be 100% on that goal right now, but I have the confidence that I could perform at that level. It was nice to get the notoriety from those teams who called.”
NFL franchises sign hundreds of free agents in the hours and days following the conclusion of the annual draft, but Shohfi had already made known his intentions. Instead, Shohfi will graduate with a degree in psychology, take a year off and apply to medical schools, a career path he explored while still at SMHS. Shohfi has not yet determined his eventual field of study, but said he had several interesting experiences while shadowing medical professionals at Yale.
“At medical school, you get that time and experience to narrow it down,” Shohfi said. “I am keeping my options open. I just want to help as many people as I can.”
Many feel Shohfi could continue to play in the NFL and it was a common opinion that he was terribly under-recruited out of high school when he chose Yale. But the son of Kim and Dr. John Shohfi feels he made the right decision four years ago.
“There were a lot of moments during my recruiting experience that I realized this was the place I was supposed to be,” he said. “I am so lucky to have had the opportunity to be here at Yale. I an incredibly thankful.”
Shohfi was named captain of the 2019 team, an honor that is bestowed upon only one player per season. He led the Bulldogs to an epic 50-43 overtime win over longtime rival Harvard in the final game of the season, clinching the Ivy League title in the process. He said that the remarkable circumstances surrounding his swan song didn’t result in the eventual decision to hang up his cleats, though he did admit “it helped.”
“It would probably be the same decision either way, but that was a great way to call it a career,” Shohfi said. “For me, it was an ease on my conscience to go out the way we did. It takes a great individual, focused effort to play in the NFL. I love football because of what I can do with other people. I value the connections and the relationships that were formed by the game. At the end of the day I want to hold onto what I did in high school and college.”
And he did plenty. A three-year varsity starter at SMHS, Shohfi caught 239 passes for an astonishing 5,052 yards, both records, and the yardage mark was at the time a national high school record. He ended up in the end zone after 61 of the catches, another record.
During his senior season, the Titans finished 15-1 while winning Rio Hondo League, CIF and California Southern Region championships before eventually losing the state title game in Sacramento.
Although his jersey number changed to 88 at Yale from the familiar 81 he wore at SMHS, much of the success remained the same. During his junior year, Shohfi caught 55 passes for 836 yards and six touchdowns, including a one-handed scoring effort against Brown that made ESPN SportsCenter’s Top 10 list.
This past fall, Shohfi earned his first career All-American award after a historic senior season. The all-Ivy League first teamer and all-New England selection led the Bulldogs and the Ivy league with 62 catches, 1,012 receiving yards, 10 touchdown receptions, 6.9 receptions per game and an average of more than 112 receiving yards per game. The 10 touchdown catches ranks fourth in the Yale single-season record book while he also ranked third in yards and 10th in receptions. He finished his career at Yale ranked second in receiving yards (2,501), third in touchdowns (10) and fifth in catches (161).
So it’s no surprise when Shohfi said it feels “weird” not preparing for another season on the gridiron.
“Even under these circumstances, it’s just so different,” he said. “I am no longer obligated to stay in shape or be mentally prepared. I think it will fully hit me in the summer or maybe the fall. That’s when I will feel it.”
He still reminisces about that magical 2015 season, and several of his teammates gathered over the Christmas holidays to watch tape of the 36-35 come-from-behind win over Chatsworth Sierra Canyon that propelled the Titans into the State Small Schools championship game.
“It feels like it just happened,” said Shohfi, his voice retreating into the past. “The memories are still so vivid. We could all remember every single play. It’s something we obviously think about a lot and still appreciate.”