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In 1968 Shirley Chisholm became the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress. In 1972 she launched a campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, breaking another political barrier.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
 Shell in 2006 | |||||||||
| No. 78 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Offensive tackle | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | November 26, 1946 Charleston, South Carolina, U.S. | ||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | ||||||||
| Listed weight | 265 lb (120 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Bonds-Wilson (North Charleston, South Carolina) | ||||||||
| College | Maryland State (1964–1967) | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 1968: 3rd round, 80th overall pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
Playing | |||||||||
Coaching | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Career AFL/NFL statistics | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Head coaching record | |||||||||
| Regular season | 56–52 (.519) | ||||||||
| Postseason | 2–3 (.400) | ||||||||
| Career | 58–55 (.513) | ||||||||
| Coaching profile at Pro Football Reference | |||||||||
Arthur Lee Shell Jr.[1][2] (born November 26, 1946) is an American former professional football player and coach. He played as an offensive tackle in the American Football League (AFL) and later in the National Football League (NFL) for the Oakland / Los Angeles Raiders. He played college football at Maryland State College—now University of Maryland Eastern Shore—and was drafted by the Raiders in the third round (80th overall) of the 1968 NFL/AFL draft. He was later a twice head coach for the Raiders. He holds the distinction of becoming the second African American head coach in the history of professional football and the first in the sport's modern era. Shell was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2013 and into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1989.
Shell was born on November 26, 1946, in Charleston or North Charleston, South Carolina.[3] He was the oldest child of Arthur Lee Shell Sr., a machine set operator, and Gertrude Shell, who died when Shell was 15. After her death, Shell took on added responsibility caring for his siblings. Shell attended the segregated Bonds-Wilson High School, which no longer exists, graduating in 1964. He was coached by James Fields and Eugene Gray. He made all-state teams in both basketball and football.[4][5][6][7]
In 2015, Shell was inducted into the South Carolina Football Hall of Fame.[6]
Shell went to college at Maryland State College,[8] now the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES), an historically black college in Princess Anne, Maryland. He was coached by Roosevelt "Sandy" Gilliam, and played offensive tackle and defensive tackle on the football team. He was named a Little All-America his senior year in 1967, All-Conference in three seasons, and was named All-America by the Pittsburgh Courier and Ebony magazine in 1967. Shell's teams were 20–8–1. Future College Football Hall of Fame and NFL running back Emerson Boozer[9] was one of his teammates. He graduated in 1968 with a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial arts.[4][5][7] Shell is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.[1]
Shell was drafted 80th overall in the third round by the American Football League's Oakland Raiders.[10] Playing offensive tackle, Shell participated in 23 postseason playoff contests in the AFL and NFL,[11] including eight AFC or AFL championship games, a loss in Super Bowl II, and victories in Super Bowls XI and XV. He was a four time All-Pro (two times first-team and two second-team), and was named to eight Pro Bowls.[7][12][11][4]
He played 15 seasons for the Raiders. He was a top special teams player his first two years, and then moved to offensive line in his third year, becoming equally adept at pass and run blocking.[7] Shell played 156 straight games for the Raiders until he suffered a preseason injury in 1979, and after he recovered, Shell played another 51 straight games until he was injured again in 1982, his final season. Shell played next to Hall of Fame and 100th Anniversary All-Time teammate guard Gene Upshaw in three different decades.[7][13][14] He was also offensive linemates with Hall of Fame and 100th Anniversary All-Time teammate Jim Otto and Hall of Fame offensive tackle Bob Brown.[15][14][16][17]
Shell was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1989.[7] In 2019, he was named to the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.[14] In 1999, he was ranked number 55 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players.[18] In 2021, The Athletic listed Shell as the 76th greatest player ever.[12] He was also a member of the 1970s All-Decade Team and the Super Bowl Silver Anniversary Team (1990).[7]
He was inducted into the UMES Hall of Fame in 1984,[5] Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Hall of Fame in 2006,[19] the Black College Hall of Fame in 2011,[20] and the College Football Hall of Fame in 2013.[5] Since 2000, Shell has held the UMES Celebrity Golf Classic, a celebrity golf tournament.[5]
Shell was an offensive line coach with the Raiders from 1983 to 1988.[21] In 1989, the Raiders owner Al Davis hired Shell as his head coach to replace Mike Shanahan, becoming the first black head coach in modern NFL history, and the first since Fritz Pollard in 1925.[22][23]
Through Al Davis, Shell is a member of the Sid Gillman coaching tree.[24][25] As coach of the Raiders from 1989 to 1994 (at the time located in Los Angeles), Shell coached 12 games in 1989, and 16 games/year from 1990 to 1994, compiling a record of 54 wins and 38 losses.[26] Shell was named AFC Coach of the Year in 1990, when the Raiders won the AFC West division with a 12–4 record, and advanced to the AFC championship game in the playoffs,[27] becoming the first African-American coach to lead the team to the Conference Championship game.[23][21] Shell also received the Maxwell Club's coach of the year award (the Greasy Neale Award),[28] and Pro Football Weekly's NFL Coach of the Year Award.[29] Al Davis, owner of the Raiders, fired Shell after a 9–7 season in 1994,[30] a move Davis later called "a mistake."[31]
After leaving the Raiders, Shell went on to coaching positions with the Kansas City Chiefs (offensive line coach 1995-1996) and Atlanta Falcons (offensive line coach for four years before resigning in early 2001),[21] before serving as a senior vice president for the NFL, in charge of football operations. In 2004, Shell became the NFL's Senior Vice President over football operations, supervising all football operations and development.[4][19]
Shell was working for the NFL when he was officially re-hired by the-then Oakland Raiders as head coach on February 11, 2006.[23] After leading the team to its worst record (2 wins, 14 losses) since 1962, despite having one of the best defenses, Shell was fired for the second time as head coach of the Raiders on January 4, 2007.[32]
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| RAI | 1989 | 7 | 5 | 0 | .583 | 3rd in AFC West | — | — | — | — |
| RAI | 1990 | 12 | 4 | 0 | .750 | 1st in AFC West | 1 | 1 | .500 | Lost to Buffalo Bills in AFC Championship Game |
| RAI | 1991 | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 3rd in AFC West | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost to Kansas City Chiefs in AFC wild card game |
| RAI | 1992 | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 4th in AFC West | — | — | — | — |
| RAI | 1993 | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 2nd in AFC West | 1 | 1 | .500 | Lost to Buffalo Bills in AFC Divisional Game |
| RAI | 1994 | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 3rd in AFC West | — | — | — | — |
| OAK | 2006 | 2 | 14 | 0 | .125 | 4th in AFC West | — | — | — | — |
| Total[26] | 56 | 52 | 0 | .518 | 2 | 3 | .400 | |||
Shell is the father of Billie Dureyea Shell, the author of the Unfaithful book trilogy, and the great-uncle of Brandon Shell, an offensive lineman who was drafted in 2016 by the New York Jets.[33][4]
Source: Wikipedia. Article content is retrieved live through the MediaWiki API.
Arthur Lee Shell Jr. (born November 26, 1946) is an American former professional football player and coach. He played as an offensive tackle in the American Football League (AFL) and later in the National Football League (NFL) for the Oakland / Los Angeles Raiders. He played college football at Maryland State College—now University of Maryland Eastern Shore—and was drafted by the Raiders in the third round (80th overall) of the 1968 NFL/AFL draft. He was later a twice head coach for the Raiders. He holds the distinction of becoming the second African American head coach in the history of professional football and the first in the sport's modern era. Shell was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2013 and into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1989.
Brandon McArthur Shell (born February 6, 1992) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle for seven seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the South Carolina Gamecocks. He is the great nephew of Pro Football Hall of Fame tackle Art Shell.
Dennis Earl Green (February 17, 1949 – July 22, 2016) was an American professional football coach. During his National Football League (NFL) career, Green coached the Minnesota Vikings from 1992 to 2001 and the Arizona Cardinals from 2004 to 2006. He coached the Vikings to eight playoff appearances in nine years, despite having seven different starting quarterbacks in those postseasons. He was posthumously inducted into the Minnesota Vikings Ring of Honor in 2018. Green was the second African American head coach in modern NFL history, after Art Shell. He was the Minnesota Vikings head coach from 1992 to 2001. He was one of the winningest coaches of the 1990s, posting a 97–62 record as Vikings head coach. Green's best season in Minnesota was in 1998, when the Vikings finished 15–1 and set the NFL record for most points in a season at the time; however, the Vikings were upset by the Atlanta Falcons in that year's NFC Championship Game, and Green was unable to reach the Super Bowl throughout his otherwise successful tenure with Minnesota. Following his first losing record in 2001, he was fired just before the final game of the season. Green was hired by the Cardinals to serve as the head coach for the 2004 season, a franchise then noted for its futility, which had posted only one winning season in a quarter-century. In Arizona, Green was unable to match his success in Minnesota, and his poor win–loss record (16–32) with the Cardinals was similar to that of his predecessors in Arizona. However, many describe Green's tenure with Arizona as an inflection point in the history of the Cardinals, arguing that the culture of the team changed under Green, and that the core of the personnel in the Cardinals' 2008 Super Bowl run was acquired by Green.
Allen R. Davis (July 4, 1929 – October 8, 2011) was an American professional football executive and coach. He was the managing general partner, principal owner and de facto general manager for the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League (NFL) for 39 years, from 1972 until his death in 2011. Prior to becoming principal owner of the Raiders, he served as the team's head coach from 1963 to 1965 and as a part-owner from 1966 to 1971, assuming both positions while the Raiders were members of the American Football League (AFL). He served as the AFL commissioner in 1966. Known for his motto "Just win, baby", Davis managed the Raiders becoming one of the NFL's most successful and popular teams. The franchise enjoyed its greatest successes during the 1970s and 1980s where it was a perennial playoff contender and won three Super Bowl titles. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1992. Davis was active in civil rights, refusing to allow the Raiders to play in any city where black and white players had to stay in separate hotels. He was the first NFL owner in the modern era to hire a black head coach (Art Shell), the first to hire a female chief executive (Amy Trask), and the first NFL owner to hire a Latino head coach (Tom Flores). He remains the only person to have served as a scout, assistant general manager, general manager, assistant coach, a head coach, a commissioner (of a league), and an owner of a team.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →Madam C.J. Walker