Donnie Shell (born August 26, 1952) 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 wit ...

strong safety Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their duti ...

for 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 Stee ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

between 1974 and 1987. Shell was a member of the Steelers famed Steel Curtain defense in the 1970s. Shell retired as the NFL strong safety career leader in

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team ...

s with 51. He started 11 consecutive seasons for the Steelers and was selected to the Steelers All-Time Team, the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were v ...

, the

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coac ...

(Class of 2020), and to the NFL Silver Anniversary Super Bowl Team.

Early life

Shell grew up in the town of Whitmire, South Carolina. He played on the Whitmire High School football team, where in his senior season as a linebacker, his team did not allow a single touchdown by opponents. Shell played college football for Willie Jeffries at

South Carolina State University South Carolina State University (SCSU or SC State) is a public, historically black, land-grant university in Orangeburg, South Carolina, United States. It is the only public, historically black land-grant institution in South Carolina, is a mem ...

, where he was teammates with future

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...

and Hall of Fame

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, pl ...

Harry Carson and earned All-American and all conference honors. He was inducted into the

in 1998. Shell was signed undrafted by the Steelers, where he played his entire career, winning four Super Bowls with the Steeler teams of the 1970s. Shell is a member of Groove Phi Groove Social Fellowship Incorporated.

NFL career

Shell was a five-time

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

er between 1978 and 1982, a 4-time All-Pro selection, and was the Steelers team MVP in 1980. He saved several possible six points in Super Bowl XIII and Super Bowl XIV. He had been in the top 15 in balloting for the

once before, in 2002 but with no success. The Professional Football Researchers Association named Shell to the PRFA Hall of Very Good Class of 2013 In 2019, despite not being in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he was chosen as a finalist for the NFL’s 100th Anniversary Team Shell resides in Rock Hill, South Carolina and was the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

Director of Player Development from 1994 to 2009. He played in 201 games for the Steelers, only behind other Steelers legends like

Ben Roethlisberger Benjamin Todd Roethlisberger Sr. (; born March 2, 1982), nicknamed "Big Ben", is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played college footbal ...

(249), Hall of Famer Mike Webster (220) and Hines Ward (who played in 217 games). On January 15, 2020, Shell was announced as a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Centennial Class of 2020. He was inducted by Tony Dungy, another Hall of Famer and Steelers legend.

Post-retirement

Shell previously served as Director of Spiritual Life at Johnson C. Smith University in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

. He currently lives in South Carolina and has three children and three grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shell, Donnie 1952 births Living people American football safeties Pittsburgh Steelers players Players of American football from South Carolina South Carolina State Bulldogs football players American Conference Pro Bowl players College Football Hall of Fame inductees People from Whitmire, South Carolina Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees