He was a high school teammate of E'Twaun Moore during basketball season, and the two led the Cardinals to the Indiana class 4A state title in 2007.

He received Purdue's Newcomer Award - Defense for spring practice, was named a freshman All American by CollegeFootballNews.com and was selected to the Big Ten All-Freshman team by the Sporting News.

In an overtime win against Ohio State, Short was named the Walter Camp National and Big 10 Defensive Player of the week after finishing with 3 sacks.

[2] He was a first-team All-Big Ten Conference selection in 2011 and 2012, and received second-team All-American honors from the Associated Press in 2012.

[5] Short was invited to the 2013 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, which started on February 23–26, along with teammate Josh Johnson.

[9] When the NFL Combine approached, Short determined that he was not healthy enough to participate in the event, citing a bad hamstring.

[10] At Purdue's Pro Day on March 1, Short sat the event out as he was still nursing his hamstring.

[17] The Panthers finished first in the NFL with 60 sacks in 2013, second in points per game, and third in DVOA team defense.

Short currently ranks in the top 10 defensive tackles in the NFL in pass rush productivity.

[22][23] Through the first four weeks of the season, Short ranked third amongst defensive tackles in run stop percentage, bringing the runner down on 14.6% of snaps.

[25] Through the six weeks of the season, PFF rated Short as the second best defensive tackle in the NFL behind only Gerald McCoy.

During the final preseason game, he recorded a sack against Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Michael Vick.

[30] Through the first four games, Short ranked 2nd on the Panthers with 5 quarterback hurries and rated as PFF's 11th best defensive tackle in the NFL.

[38] Additionally, during Green Bay's last drive of the game, Short recorded a key quarterback pressure that led to the game-winning interception by Thomas Davis.

Short ended the regular season tied for the league lead in sacks among all defensive tackles.

[48] In 2016, Short started all 16 games for the Panthers, recording 55 tackles, 6 sacks, three passes defensed, and a forced fumble.