Shell, Arthur
Football
b. Nov. 26, 1946, Charleston, SC
A Little All-American as an offensive and defensive tackle at Maryland State-Eastern Shore College in 1967, Shell was a third-round choice of the Oakland Raiders in the American Football League's 1968 college draft.
He spent 16 seasons with the Raiders, in Oakland and Los Angeles, and played for two Super Bowl champions, after the 1976 and 1980 seasons. The 6-foot-5, 285-pound offensive tackle was an All-American Football Conference selection in 1974, 1975, and 1977. He appeared in eight Pro Bowls.
Shell started 142 consecutive games the first game of his rookie year until a knee injury shortly before the 1979 season forced him to miss five games. He retired after appearing in only eight games in 1982 and became an assistant coach with the Raiders.
After the team lost three of its first four games in 1989, Shell replaced Mike Shanahan as head coach, becoming the second black coach in NFL history (the first was Fritz Pollard, in the early 1920s). He guided them to a 7-5 record over the rest of the season. In 1990 the Raiders were 12-4 during the regular season and went to the American Football Conference championship game, where they were overwhelmed 51-3 by the Buffalo Bills.
Shell was fired after the 1994 season despite a 56-41 record overall. He spent several seasons as an assistant coach with the Kansas City Chiefs and Atlanta Falcons, then was hired by the NFL as senior vice president in charge of football operations and development. He returned as head coach of the Raiders in 2006.