Shiner's career came to a close with one game for the 1974 New England Patriots. Once again, Shiner's role in 1974 was to be the backup to a prominent quarterback—this time Jim Plunkett. Shiner was sent into his only appearance in the 1974 regular season with the Patriots holding a 35–3 lead against the Baltimore Colts. After leading the Patriots on an 80-yard touchdown drive, Shiner took himself out of the game to give third-string quarterback Neil Graff a chance to play in Graff's first NFL regular-season contest. In an interview four decades later, Shiner said, "I wanted Neil Graff to get experience. Neil was a good kid, and I knew my time in the NFL was coming to an end."