Arthur "Art" Shell (born November 26, 1946) is a former American collegiate and Professional
FootballAmerican football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, and often as Gridiron or Tackle football outside North America, is a competitive team sport known for combining strategy with physical play. The objective of the game is to score points by advancing the ball into the...
player in the
American Football LeagueThe American Football League was a major Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when it merged with the established National Football League . The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
and the NFL, and a two-time former head
coachIn sports, a coach or manager is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.- Staff :...
of the
Oakland RaidersThe Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team in the NFL based in the city of Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
. He holds the distinction of becoming the second-ever
African AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa. In the United States, the terms are generally used for Americans with at least partial Sub-Saharan African ancestry...
head coach (after
Fritz PollardFrederick Douglass "Fritz" Pollard was the first African American head coach in the National Football League . Pollard along with Bobby Marshall were the first two African American players in the NFL in 1920...
) in the history of Professional Football, and the first in the sport's modern era. He also holds the Pro Football record for playing the longest as a diabetic.
Playing career
Shell was drafted by the American Football League's
Oakland RaidersThe Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team in the NFL based in the city of Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
from
Maryland State CollegeUniversity of Maryland Eastern Shore, located on 776 acres in Princess Anne, Maryland, is part of the University System of Maryland...
. Playing
offensive tackleIn American and Canadian football, offensive tackles are a part of the offensive line. Like other offensive linemen, their job is to block: to physically keep defenders away from the offensive player who has the football....
, Shell participated in 24 playoff contests, including
Super BowlThe Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League, the premier association of professional American football. In most years, the Super Bowl is the most-watched American television broadcast. Many popular singers and musicians have performed during the event’s pre-game and...
s
XISuper Bowl XI was an American football game played on January 9, 1977 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California to decide the National Football League champion following the 1976 regular season...
and
XVSuper Bowl XV was an American football game played on January 25, 1981 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana to decide the National Football League champion following the 1980 regular season...
, and was named to eight
Pro BowlIn professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC-NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...
s.
Shell was elected to the
Pro Football Hall of FameThe Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, United States, on September 7 1963 with 17 charter inductees...
in 1989. In 1999, he was ranked number 55 on
The Sporting NewsSporting News is an American-based sports magazine. It was established in 1886, and it became the dominant American publication covering baseball — so much so that it acquired the nickname "The Bible of Baseball"...
list of the 100 Greatest Football Players.
Los Angeles Raiders
Through
Al DavisAllen "Al" Davis is an American football executive, who currently serves as the principal owner of the NFL's Oakland Raiders.-Early life:Davis was born in Brockton, Massachusetts...
, Shell is a member of the
Sid GillmanSidney "Sid" Gillman was an American football coach and innovator. Gillman's insistence on stretching the football field by throwing deep downfield passes, instead of short passes to running backs or wide receivers at the sides of the line of scrimmage, made football into the modern game that it...
coaching treeA coaching tree is similar to a family tree except it shows the relationships of coaches instead of family members. There are several different ways to define a relationship between two coaches...
. As coach of the Raiders (at the time located in Los Angeles), Shell compiled a record of 54 wins, 38 losses, and was named
AFCThe American Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League . The other is the National Football Conference . This conference, along with the NFC, contains 16 teams...
Coach of the Year in 1990, when the Raiders won the
AFC WestThe AFC West is a division of the National Football League's American Football Conference, formed in 1960 as the American Football League's Western Division. In 1970, it became the AFC West as a result of the AFL-NFL merger...
division with a 12-4 record, and advanced to the AFC championship game in the playoffs.
Al DavisAllen "Al" Davis is an American football executive, who currently serves as the principal owner of the NFL's Oakland Raiders.-Early life:Davis was born in Brockton, Massachusetts...
, owner of the Raiders, fired Shell after a 9-7 season in 1994, a move Davis later said he regretted.
After the Raiders
After leaving the Raiders, Shell went on to coaching positions with the
Kansas City ChiefsThe Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
and
Atlanta FalconsThe Atlanta Falcons are an American football team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are currently a member of the NFC South division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Falcons joined the NFL in 1965 as an expansion team...
, before serving as a senior vice president for the NFL, in charge of football operations.
2006 return to Raiders
Shell was officially re-hired by the Raiders as head coach on February 11, 2006. After leading the team to its worst record (2 wins, 14 losses) since 1963, Shell was fired once again by the Raiders on January 4, 2007
http://www.nfl.com/teams/story/OAK/9908560. Although the Raiders' defense was one of the best in the league, its anemic offense, along with a season long feud with wide receiver
Jerry PorterJerry Porter is an American football wide receiver who is currently a free agent. He was originally drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the second round of the 2000 NFL Draft...
led to the team's downfall and Shell's dismissal.
Head coaching record
| Team | |Regular Season | LA The 1989 Oakland Raiders season was the club’s 30th season in the NFL. Art Shell replaced Mike Shanahan, and in the process became the first black head coach in the NFL since Fritz Pollard coached the Akron Pros in 1921. The club finished with an 8-8 record....
|
1989 The 1989 NFL season was the 70th regular season of the National Football League. Before the season, NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle announced his retirement...
|
7 |
5 |
0 |
.583 |
3rd in AFC west |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|---|
| LA The 1990 Los Angeles Raiders season was the club's 31st season in the NFL. Led by Coach of the Year Art Shell, the club appeared in its first AFC Championship Game since the 1983 season.-NFL Draft:-Schedule:-Game details:...
|
1990 The 1990 NFL season was the 71st regular season of the National Football League. To increase revenue, the league changed the regular season so that all NFL teams would play their 16-game schedule over a 17-week period...
|
12 |
4 |
0 |
.750 |
1st in AFC west |
1 |
1 |
.500 |
Lost to Buffalo BillsThe Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the metropolitan area of Buffalo, New York. They play their home games in the suburb of Orchard Park, and beginning in 2008, one home game is played in Toronto. They are members of the Eastern Division of the American Football...
in AFC Championship Game. |
| LA The 1991 Oakland Raiders season was their 32nd in the league. They were unable to improve upon their previous season's output of 12-4, winning only nine games. The team qualified for the playoffs for the second straight season.-Season schedule:-Playoffs:...
|
1991 The 1991 NFL season was the 72nd regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XXVI when the Washington Redskins defeated the Buffalo Bills.-Major rule changes:...
|
9 |
7 |
0 |
.563 |
3rd in AFC west |
0 |
1 |
.000 |
Lost to Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
in AFC Wild-Card Game. |
| LA The 1992 Oakland Raiders season was their 33rd in the league. They were unable to improve upon their previous season's output of 9-7, winning only seven games. This was the first time in three seasons the team failed to qualify for the playoffs.-Schedule:...
|
1992 The 1992 NFL season was the 73rd regular season of the National Football League.Due to the damage caused by Hurricane Andrew, the New England Patriots–Miami Dolphins game that was scheduled for September 6 at Joe Robbie Stadium was rescheduled to October 18...
|
7 |
9 |
0 |
.438 |
4th in AFC west |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| LA The 1993 Los Angeles Raiders season was the club’s 34th season in the NFL.-Offseason:During the offseason the Raiders signed quarterback Jeff Hostetler from the New York Giants to lead the offense. Joe Kelly a former first round pick of the Bengals was signed to fill the middle lineback slot...
|
1993 The 1993 NFL season was the 74th regular season of the National Football League. For the first time in league history, all NFL teams played their 16-game schedule over a span of 18 weeks. After the success of expanding the regular season to a period of 17 weeks in 1990, the league hoped this new...
|
10 |
6 |
0 |
.625 |
2nd in AFC west |
1 |
1 |
.500 |
Lost to Buffalo BillsThe Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the metropolitan area of Buffalo, New York. They play their home games in the suburb of Orchard Park, and beginning in 2008, one home game is played in Toronto. They are members of the Eastern Division of the American Football...
in AFC Divisional Game. |
| LA The 1994 Los Angeles Raiders season was the team's 13th and final season in Los Angeles.-NFL Draft:-Schedule:-Standings:-References:...
|
1994 The 1994 NFL season was the 75th regular season of the National Football League. To honor the NFL's 75th season, a special anniversary logo was designed and each player wore a patch on their jerseys with this logo throughout the season...
|
9 |
7 |
0 |
.563 |
3rd in AFC west |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| OAK The 2006 Oakland Raiders season, which was supposed to improve on a lackluster 4-12 record from 2005, ended with the Raiders suffering through a 2-14 campaign, the worst record in the 2006 NFL season, the worst season since the club went 1-13 in 1962 and their worst since the National Football...
|
2006 The 2006 season of the National Football League was the 87th season played by the major professional American football league in the United States. Regular season play was held from September 7 to December 31, 2006...
|
2 |
14 |
0 |
.125 |
4th in AFC west |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| Raiders' Total |
56 |
52 |
0 |
.518 |
|
2 |
3 |
.400 |
|
| Total |
56 |
52 |
0 |
.518 |
|
2 |
3 |
.400 |
|
Personal
Shell is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate
Greek-letterThe Greek alphabet is a set of twenty-four letters that has been used to write the Greek language since the late 9th or early 8th century BCE. It is the first and oldest alphabet in the narrow sense that it notes each vowel and consonant with a separate symbol. It is as such in continuous use to...
fraternityFraternities and sororities are fraternal social organizations for undergraduate students. In English, the term refers mainly to such organizations at colleges and universities in North America, although it is also applied to analogous European groups also known as corporations...
established for African Americans.
Shell attended Bonds-Wilson High School in North Charleston, SC. The school is no longer in existence.
Shell is an alumnus of Maryland State College, now known as The University of Maryland Eastern Shore, located in Princess Anne, MD. He hosts an annual celebrity golf tournament
See also
He also has nephews Virgil Smalls, Brandon Shell, and Diondre Shell that play football in South Carolina. Two of them are offensive linemen and the youngest, Virgil, is a fullback.
External links