He played college football for the Penn State Nittany Lions and was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the seventh round of the 2009 NFL draft.

Shipley was also a member of the Philadelphia Eagles, Indianapolis Colts, Baltimore Ravens, Arizona Cardinals, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

He spent the 2021 season as an offensive assistant for the Buccaneers, before making regular appearances on The Pat McAfee Show.

[2] He wrestled one year in high school at heavyweight, pinning the defending division IV state champion in his first match.

Shipley is known for his engaging personality and has served as the team Santa Claus for the Nittany Lions' annual Christmas party.

[11] He was also named an All-American,[12][13] a consensus first-team All-Big Ten selection, and the conference's Offensive Lineman of the Year.

Shipley competed with Samson Satele in training camp and was ultimately named the backup center to begin the season.

[26] He entered training camp competing with Gino Gradkowski for the vacant starting center position left by the retirement of Matt Birk.

[28] On August 31, 2014, the Colts claimed Shipley off of waivers after starting center Khaled Holmes suffered an injury during the first snap of the preseason.

He finished the 2014 season playing in 15 games, started five, and was ranked as the 13th highest graded center in the NFL by Pro Football Focus.

Shipley entered training camp competing to be the Cardinals' starting center, but was named the backup to Ted Larsen.

[24] The following season, Shipley entered training camp competing with rookie Evan Boehm and veteran Taylor Boggs after Larsen departed for the Chicago Bears in free agency.

On November 26, head coach Bruce Arians announced that Shipley may have a career-ending neck injury,[41] and he was placed on injured reserve two days later.

[42] Ultimately, it was revealed that Shipley had suffered from what he described as a "bruised spinal cord", and at age 34 opted to retire rather than undergo surgery.

[47] In 2023, during the off-season, he began training Buccaneers center Robert Hainsey, as well as Minnesota's John Michael Schmitz.

In addition to his appearances on The Pat McAfee Show, he had co-hosted "That's Hockey Talk", before being replaced by NHL player Mike Rupp.