With an assist from hometown football hero Byron Jones, the Osgood Shootout returns to New Britain]

Last Aug. 14, the “last” Osgood Shootout concluded at New Britain High School, or so it was said. The last of the 96 scholarships it has funded were distributed, and Darwin “Bubby” Shaw, who conceived and drove the summer basketball tournament for three decades, was ready to call it a long, successful run that made its mark.
It was getting harder and harder for Shaw to raise the needed $10,000 to $12,000 from local businesses to run the tournament.
“A few of (the sponsors) weren’t able to donate any more,” Shaw said, “and so I thought, ‘I don’t want the tournament to just end one day because nobody else supported it.’ So I said it’s a good time to stop, because at least we invested 30 years in.”
Two days later, Shaw learned that Byron Jones, who had donated two pairs of NFL tickets for the raffle in 2022, wanted to talk. Jones’ father, Donald, put them in touch.
He may have been a Pro Bowl cornerback, but this was one shutdown Byron Jones couldn’t abide.
Dom Amore: Cowboys’ Byron Jones leaves a piece of his heart back home with New Britain’s youth
“He said, ‘Coach, I just got to ask you this, are you stopping the shootout because you want to stop the shootout, or are there other reasons?'” Shaw remembered.
Jones asked what it would cost to run the tournament, asked to see the budget. Then he called back. “He said, Coach, if you want to do it, I want to be the one to back you.. … I want to be the one who helps you keep this thing going,'” Shaw said.
Shaw has known Byron Jones since he was a 7-year-old getting around on his bike. Serving the community in New Britain is nothing new for Jones, who rose to become an NFL Pro Bowl cornerback. He grew up there, playing in its youth programs, then played football at St. Paul in Bristol, and at UConn. A first-round draft pick with the Dallas Cowboys, he ended up becoming the highest paid cornerback in NFL history, signing an $82 million contract with the Dolphins.
Since 2017, Jones has been returning to his hometown to run a football camp with the Police Athletic League. He’ll be doing that again on Aug. 5, a free camp for kids age 9-14. The Osgood Shootout, with Jones’ backing, will return for a 31st year Aug. 12-13.
“I just want to give back to the community and show the kids that you can come from anywhere, and go anywhere,” Jones told The Courant at his football camp in 2019. “You’ve just got to put in some hard work. For the kids, it’s important to see a product of New Britain, Connecticut, going somewhere far in life.”
Jones’ playing career has apparently ended. At the NFL combines in 2015, he set an unofficial world record in the standing long jump, 12 feet, 3 inches, but he missed the 2022 season after rupturing his Achilles. Last February, he said in a Tweet that he could no longer run or jump because of his injuries.
“It was an honor and privilege to play in the NFL,” Jones, 30, said in his Tweet, “but it came at a regrettable cost I did not foresee. In my opinion, no amount of professional success or financial gain is worth avoidable chronic pain and disabilities.”
It was an honor and privilege to play in the NFL but it came at a regrettable cost I did not foresee. In my opinion, no amount of professional success or financial gain is worth avoidable chronic pain and disabilities. Godspeed to the draft class of 2023.
— Byron Jones (@TheByronJones) February 25, 2023
He was released by the Dolphins in March, and has said little since.
But he continues to make his statement in New Britain. Shaw, long-time teacher and coach at New Britain, started the Osgood Shootout as a way to pay forward the opportunities his track coaches at New Britain High, Irv Black, and Kentucky State, William Exum, gave him. He worked tirelessly to bring in famous players to help raise funds to run the tournament and the scholarships it generates, a single $250 scholarship the first year, to multiple $500 scholarships in its more recent years.
After moving the event indoors, Shaw has gotten NBA players like Andre Drummond, who he expects back this year, Kemba Walker, Ryan Gomes among others to come and play, helping full the gym. Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau, a New Britain native and high school classmate, has helped Shaw out through the years with tickets or other items to raffle off. Ray Allen got involved and hosted 25 players at a Celtics-Heat game.
Jones, who wore No. 31 for the Cowboys, Shaw’s favorite team, committed to sponsoring the 31st Osgood Shootout in August, but Shaw kept it quiet until May.
The 26th Annual Osgood Shootout well underway at NBHS. The high school division has plenty of action on tap. Highlights tonight on @FOX61News! #OsgoodShootout pic.twitter.com/fv9Il72sho
— Nate Brown (@NateBrownSports) August 18, 2018