01
Fund the research
In April 2026, proceeds from the TShaw Strong 5K to Beat ALS funded a gift to the Vanderbilt ALS Research Center in Nashville. Earlier golf tournaments sent every dollar to Team Gleason.
See where the money wentNashville, Tennessee
Stand up
and fight.
Tim Shaw played six seasons in the NFL. Five months after he retired, at 30 years old, he was diagnosed with ALS. TShaw Strong is what he built next: funding ALS research in Tennessee and keeping this disease in front of the people who can end it.
“Stand up and fight” is Tim’s own line, spoken at the Tennessee State Capitol in 2015.
Photo needed: Tim Shaw, founder of TShaw Strong. A portrait that carries both the athlete and the man living with ALS. Vertical crop, roughly 1200x1600.
TShaw Strong by the numbers
$300,000+
Raised by the Golf Invitational since 2016
$200,000+
Granted to Team Gleason since 2016
$18,500
To ALS research at Vanderbilt, March 2026
100%
Volunteer-led, no officer takes a salary
What TShaw Strong does
A small organization with a specific job.
We are volunteer-led. No officer of TShaw Strong takes a salary. What we raise, we move: into research, into events that fund it, and into keeping a disease most people never think about in front of people who can do something about it.
02
Bring people together
Two events a year: a 5K in Brentwood and a celebrity golf tournament in Williamson County. They are how we raise nearly everything we raise, and they are how the Middle Tennessee ALS community finds each other.
See the events03
Keep ALS visible
Tim still has a locker at the Titans facility and still shows up to practice. In 2026, six Major League Baseball players wore his name on Lou Gehrig Day. Attention is a resource, and he spends it on this.
How the mission worksPhoto needed: Tim Shaw in a Tennessee Titans uniform, 2010 to 2012. TShaw Strong must own or license this image. Do not use Getty, AP or team photography without written permission.
Who is Tim Shaw?
He was the guy on kickoff coverage. Then he was the guy with ALS. He decided he would be neither.
Tim Shaw was a Penn State linebacker and an Academic All-American who spent six years in the NFL: Carolina, Jacksonville, Chicago, and three full seasons in Tennessee, where he captained special teams twice. He set a Bears club record with 30 special teams tackles in 2009. In 2012 he blocked a punt against Pittsburgh; the Titans would not block another for thirteen years.
He was released after the 2013 training camp. That is when he first noticed something was wrong. In August 2014, at 30, he was diagnosed with ALS, a disease whose average age at diagnosis is 55.
He has now been living with it for more than a decade. He communicates with his eyes. He still writes post-game reports for Titans players.
Next up ยท 18 days away
TShaw Strong 5K to Beat ALS
A 5K, a 1K Kids Fun Run, and a virtual option in Brentwood, Tennessee. Proceeds fund ALS research, including a 2026 gift to the Vanderbilt ALS Research Center.
Photo needed: The start line of the TShaw Strong 5K to Beat ALS. Wide, landscape, shot low from in front of the pack as the horn goes. Must read as a real crowd, and the TShaw Strong banner or arch must be visible in frame.
Transparency
Where your money goes.
Small nonprofits usually ask you to take this on faith. We would rather show you the filings. Our IRS Form 990s are public, our officers are unpaid, and every grant we have made is named below.
Vanderbilt ALS Research Center
ALS research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, funded by the TShaw Strong 5K to Beat ALS and presented to the research team on March 2, 2026.
2026$18,500Team Gleason
Year-end grant.
2025$5,051.77Team Gleason
Year-end grant.
2024$10,102.27Team Gleason
100% of the proceeds of the inaugural TShaw Strong Golf Invitational.
2016$25,000Team Gleason
Proceeds of the 2017 TShaw Strong Golf Invitational.
2017$100,000+
“Are you going to stand up and fight for your life? Or are you going to accept what someone tells you is reality and fade away?”
Partners
The organizations standing with us.
- Tennessee Titans Foundation
- Beaman Toyota
- Andrews Cadillac
- Fleet Feet Nashville
- High Beam Marketing
- Team Gleason
- Vanderbilt ALS Research Center
Give
ALS does not pause between fundraisers.
A one-time gift funds research. A monthly gift funds it reliably, which is how research actually gets done, and how families actually get helped. Both are tax-deductible. EIN 92-2550544.