UMES Art Shell named to Super Bowl’s Golden Team

ART SHELL

NEW YORK, New York — In preparation for the National Football League’s (NFL) golden anniversary of the most popular championship event in American professional sports, the Pro Football Hall of Fame Board of Selectors chose representatives for the “Super Bowl 50 Golden Team”. The prestigious list includes one of the many Hawks who have taken the field in the NFL’s biggest game—former Maryland State and Oakland Raiders tackle Art Shell.

Shell was placed on the offensive line, joining four other NFL legends. His pro teammate, the late Gene Upshaw, also won recognition, along with Forest Gregg of the Green Bay Packers, Larry Allen of the Dallas Cowboys and the late Mike Webster of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Other players named to the team included Joe Montana, Emmitt Smith, Reggie White, Lawrence Taylor and Ray Lewis, among others. Kicker Adam Vinatieri was the only active player named to the squad, and Pittsburgh’s Chuck Noll—a four time Super Bowl victor—was named head coach.

A native of Charleston, South Carolina, Shell’s road to the NFL’s Hall of Fame started right here in Princess Anne. Playing under the tutelage of another South Carolinian—the late Roosevelt “Sandy” Gilliam—Shell starred for four years as a Hawk before being drafted in the third round in 1968 by Oakland.

He then went on to play 14 years for the Raiders, 13 of those seasons in Oakland, helping to lead the team to two Super Bowl victories as a player (XI in 1977 and XV in 1981). Along the way, he was selected to eight Pro Bowl while winning numerous All-Pro awards and a place on the NFL’s 1970s All-Decade team.

After his playing career completed, Shell immediately joined the coaching staff, winning a third Super Bowl (XVIII in 1984) as an offensive line coach. In 1989, he broke barriers by being named the first African-American head coach in the NFL, leading his Raiders from 1989-1994 and again in 2006.

Shell is one of nine former Hawks to have played in a Super Bowl, but is the only one to ever win a championship more than once.

“Super Bowl 50” will be played February 7th in Santa Clara, California, pitting the AFC’s Denver Broncos against the NFC’s Carolina Panthers.

COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND EASTERN MEDIA RELATIONS