Rushel Shell III (born September 7, 1993) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

and

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

, and was signed by the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2017. Shell has also been a member of the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third-old ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

High school career

Shell finished his career as the leading rusher in Pennsylvania state and

WPIAL The Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) is an interscholastic athletic association in Western Pennsylvania. It is District 7 of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association. History The Western Pennsylvania Inte ...

history. He also set a new national record by running for 100 yards or more in 39 consecutive games and ran for 200 yards or more 25 times in his high school career. In 2008, Shell was MaxPrep's national freshman of the year after rushing for 1,516 yards. He also became the first freshman to ever make the ''

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the All ...

''’s "Fabulous 22". In 2009, as a sophomore, Shell rushed for 2,740 yards—becoming only the third player in WPIAL history to rush for over 2,000 yards in the regular season, raising his career total to 4,256. He was again named to the "Fabulous 22" following the season. In 2010, prior to his junior season, he was named the ''

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review The ''Pittsburgh Tribune-Review'', also known as "the Trib," is the second largest daily newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Although it transitioned to an all-digital format on December 1, 2016, it rem ...

''’s preseason player of the year. He ran for 2,102 yards during the regular season (9 games), the third highest total in WPIAL history, and became the first WPIAL player to twice rush for 2,000 yards in the regular season. He finished the season with 2,510 yards, raising his career total to 6,766. Following the season, he was named the Post-Gazette's player of the year, was again named to the "Fabulous 22," and was selected as the inaugural "Mr. Pennsylvania" for football. MaxPreps also named him to their second team All-American team. In 2011, prior to his senior season, he was named to the Post-Gazette's pre-season Fabulous 22. On September 23, he set a new WPIAL record for most career rushing yards. He finished the regular season with 1,764 yards rushing, the most in the WPIAL. In his last game, he set a new state record for most rushing yards and broke the national record by rushing for 100+ yards for the 39th consecutive game. He finished the season with 2,302 yards, giving him 9,078 yards for his career. Following the season, he was again named the Post-Gazette's player of the year, becoming only the third two-time winner. He was also named second team All-American by Sports Illustrated.

Rushing records

On November 11, 2011, Shell broke the record for most rushing yards in Pennsylvania state history, finishing with 9,078 yards. The former state high school rushing record was 9,027 yards and was held by Bucknell's Jeremiah Young, who played at Steelton-Highspire High School. The total would rank him 10th in national history, according to the 2011 NFHS record book. In the same game, he finished with 100+ yards rushing for the 39th consecutive time, breaking the national record held by former

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

star

Billy Sims Billy Ray Sims (born September 18, 1955) is a former American college and professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for five seasons during the 1980s. Sims played college football for the Universi ...

. On September 23, 2011, Shell set a new WPIAL record for career rushing yards—finishing the game with 7,718 yards and surpassing Mike Vernillo's record of 7,646. Shell once held the Beaver County record for most rushing yards in one game (392, set October 8, 2010).

Senior season

Initial reports were that he ran for the following number of yards in each game: *September 2 (vs. Belle Vernon): 147 yards *September 9 (vs. Montour): 233 yards *September 16 (at Moon): 367 yards *September 23 (vs. Mt. Lebanon): 205 yards *September 30 (at Blackhawk): 109 yards *October 7 (vs. New Castle): injured *October 14 (at Central Valley): 264 yards *October 21 (at Ambridge): 226 yards *October 28 (vs. West Allegheny): 216 yards *November 4 (playoffs round 1, at Indiana): 256 yards *November 11 (playoffs round 2, vs. Franklin Regional): 292 yards Shell led the WPIAL with 1,764 yards during the regular season and ran for 2,312 yards total, giving him 9,078 yards for his career.

Junior season

Initial reports were that he ran for the following number of yards in each game: *September 3: 168 yards *September 10: 318 yards *September 17: 267 yards *September 24: 137 yards *October 1: 132 yards *October 8: 392 yards *October 15: 302 yards *October 22: 204 yards *October 28: 193 yards *November 5: 135 yards *November 12: 238 yards After adjustments were made, his final totals were: 2,102 yards during the regular season (9 games), placing him second in the WPIAL, and 2,510 yards for the season (an average of 228 per game) — giving him 6,766 for his career.

College career

As a high school senior running back at Hopewell High School, Shell was regarded by many as one of the top high school athletes in the country. He was ranked as the 11th best overall prospect (and 3rd best Running Back) in the class of 2012 by MaxPreps, 20th (#4 RB) by Scout.com, 24th (#3 RB) by ESPNU and 45th (#5 RB) by Rivals.com. After receiving numerous scholarship offers from top football programs throughout the country, Shell announced his commitment to Pitt on October 14, 2011. In 12 games with Pitt during his freshman season, Shell rushed for 641 yards on 141 carries and scored 4 touchdowns. He also caught 9 passes for 103 yards. Prior to his sophomore season, Shell quit the Pitt football team with the intention to transfer to another school. Shell initially decided to transfer to

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

before attempting to return to Pitt, but head coach

Paul Chryst Paul Joseph Chryst (born November 17, 1965) is a former American football head coach and former player. He was most recently the head football coach for the Wisconsin Badgers. Chryst was the head coach at the University of Pittsburgh from 2012 to ...

refused Shell's request. Shell ultimately narrowed his choices of transfer destinations to the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

and

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College ...

before deciding to enroll at West Virginia. In three seasons with West Virginia, Shell played in 35 games, carrying 450 times for 2,010 yards and 20 touchdowns. He also received 49 passes for 341 yards.

Professional career

Shell was signed by the

as an

on April 29, 2017. He was waived on June 14, 2017. Shell was signed by the

as a running back on May 17, 2018, but was later released on June 10, 2018.

References

External links

West Virginia Mountaineers bioRivals ProfileScout.com ProfileESPN ProfileESPN Q&A
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shell, Rushel 1993 births Living people People from Aliquippa, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Beaver County, Pennsylvania American football running backs Pittsburgh Panthers football players West Virginia Mountaineers football players Pittsburgh Steelers players