WEST SENECA, N.Y. (WKBW) — Family and friends are excited to watch Los Angeles Rams linebacker Shaun Dolac on Monday, as the West Seneca East and University at Buffalo grad is set for his first game against the Buffalo Bills.
"I’ll definitely still be rooting for the Bills, but I think it’s a great thing," West Seneca East head football coach Jim Maurino said. "To see two Western New York Section 6 products (Joe Andreessen) on opposite sides of the ball, and both on 53-man rosters in the NFL, I think it speaks volumes of the type of football we are playing here."
"You can’t live here in Buffalo and not fall in love with the Bills, certainly, my wife and I have. We’re always rooting for them. But we have to root for Shaun and the Rams in this game too," University at Buffalo head football coach Pete Lembo said.
Right in the middle of the Rams’ roster is a taste of Buffalo, number 56 Shaun Dolac.
“You see him pop up on the screen, and it always doesn’t seem real when you see it. Just to say, I know that kid,” Maurino said.
For Maurino, he first knew Shaun as the little brother.
“Knowing what great players John and Ian were, we just kind of expected Shaun to be a good player as he moved up the ranks with us,” Maurino said. “The biggest thing with all the Dolac boys was they were always very versatile.”
In 2016, those boys lost their father, John, to a battle with cancer, but a piece of advice that John gave his youngest son was something he’d carry with him every day.
“He said, ‘No matter what you do, always stay humble and never give up,’” Shaun said in 2025.
After showing flashes through an injury-filled junior year, Maurino noticed a difference in Shaun’s senior season.
“Halfway through senior year, when he was kind of putting up the numbers that he was and dominating in the games, I thought he could definitely play at the next level,” Maurino said. “As a running back, the first guy never brought him down. He was able to break tackles like no real running back I’ve ever seen… but I always knew the defensive side of the ball was for him. He has that unteachable knack for the football.”
West Seneca East would make the 2018 state championship game but fell just short of a title.
For Shaun, that unteachable defensive knack would take him to a year at Milford Academy, then back home to star at the University at Buffalo.
Through another tragedy, the unexpected death of his friend Andrew, Shaun had a standout 2024 season.
His 168 tackles set a school record and led the nation, awarding him 2024 MAC defensive player of the year and consensus All-American honors.
“My life is a better one because of Shaun Dolac coming into it,” Lembo said. “Shaun has been through plenty of adversity in his life, and it’s never slowed him down. It’s never set him off course.”
Despite all of his accomplishments, Shaun never got an invite to the NFL Combine, and he ultimately went undrafted.
The Los Angeles Rams did eventually come calling and offered Shaun a chance to make the roster as an undrafted free agent, and he made the 53-man roster as a rookie.
Now in his second year on the team, you’ll find Shaun making tackles, mostly on special teams. 25 of them last year, and already 10 through four games this year.
WATCH: ‘Stay humble and never give up’: West Seneca’s Shaun Dolac set to play against Buffalo Bills
On Monday Night Football, he plays against his hometown Buffalo Bills for the very first time.
