Shane Dronett was born in Orange, Texas and attended

high school in Bridge City. Attending the University of

Texas at Austin on a football scholarship, Dronett was

named All-American in 1991 and was drafted by the

Denver Broncos out of college in the second round of

the 1992 NFL draft. He played in all 16

games his rookie season and had 6.5 sacks.

 

After playing with the Broncos for three seasons, he

left for the Atlanta Falcons in 1996, and after four games

joined the Detroit Lions. After the Lions released Dronett

at the end of the 1997 season, he was rehired by the

Falcons and their new head coach Dan Reeves, who had

originally drafted Dronett to play for the Broncos. As a

lineman he played a significant role in the Falcon's

defense, which ranked second in the NFL against the

run. The falcons were the NFC champions, and played his former team, the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXXIII.

 

In January 2000, Dronett signed a five-year $20 million-dollar contract but was released from the Falcons in 2003 after suffering a torn ACL and several knee and shoulder problems.

 

In 2007, Dronett was diagnosed with a benign brain

tumor. Following his death in 2009 scientists determined that Dronett suffered from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a brain condition associated with athletes who endure repeated impacts to the head.