.jpg) Shields atWhiteman Air Force Base in 2014 | |||||||||
| No. 68 | |||||||||
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| Position | Guard | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | (1971-09-15)September 15, 1971 (age 54) Fort Riley, Kansas, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||
| Weight | 320 lb (145 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Lawton (Lawton, Oklahoma) | ||||||||
| College | Nebraska | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 1993: 3rd round, 74th overall pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Will Herthie Shields (born September 15, 1971) is an American former professionalfootball player who was a guard in theNational Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. He playedcollege football for theNebraska Cornhuskers, earning consensusAll-American honors and winning theOutland Trophy. Shields played his entire, 14-year professional career with theKansas City Chiefs and never missed a game. Shields was selected to 12Pro Bowls, was a three-time First-TeamAll-Pro, a four-time Second-Team All-Pro, and was selected to theNFL 2000s All-Decade Team. He won theWalter Payton NFL Man of the Year award in the 2003 season, was inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame in 2011, and was inducted into thePro Football Hall of Fame in 2015.
Shields was born inFort Riley, Kansas.[1] He graduated fromLawton High School inLawton, Oklahoma,[2] where he played for the Lawton Wolverineshigh school football team. As a junior in 1987, he and fellow juniorsDewell Brewer,Butch Huskey,Kelly Stinnett andJames Trapp won an Oklahoma state championship.[3]
While attending theUniversity of Nebraska–Lincoln, Shields played for theNebraska Cornhuskers football team from 1989 through 1992. Shields was a consensus first-team All-American andOutland Trophy winner during his final year at Nebraska. He is one of eight Cornhuskers players to win the Outland Trophy. In 1999, he was selected to the Nebraska All-Century Football Team via fan poll and to the All-Century Nebraska football team byGannett News Service. In 2002, he was named to the Athlon Sports Nebraska All-Time Team. He is one of only 16 Cornhuskers to have his jersey retired by the team. In 1999 Shields was selected as an offensive guard to theWalter Camp Football Foundation College Football All Century Team. The other offensive guards selected wereJohn Hannah of Alabama,Aaron Taylor of Nebraska,Brad Budde of USC,Dean Steinkuhler of Nebraska andJim Parker of Ohio State. Shields was one of six Nebraska Cornhuskers selected to this team; the others beingJohnny Rodgers,Dave Rimington, Steinkuhler,Tommie Frazier and Taylor.
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft2+1⁄4 in (1.89 m) | 304 lb (138 kg) | 34+3⁄8 in (0.87 m) | 10+3⁄8 in (0.26 m) | 5.21 s | 1.77 s | 2.99 s | 4.60 s | 26.0 in (0.66 m) | 8 ft 7 in (2.62 m) | 18 reps | ||
| All values fromNFL Combine[4] | ||||||||||||
Shields was the third-round (74th overall) pick of theKansas City Chiefs in the1993 NFL draft,[5] after signing now Chicago Bears presidentKevin Warren to be his agent.[6] Shields played for the Chiefs from1993 to2006.[7] Beginning with a September 12, 1993 game against theHouston Oilers, he was in the Chiefs'starting lineup for every game, a team record and at the time, the second longest active consecutive starting streak in the NFL behindBrett Favre of theGreen Bay Packers. He started 231 straight games (including playoffs) at the right guard position; anNFL record. He went to thePro Bowl every year from1995 to2006, a total of 12, a Chiefs team record, and having played in all of them, he is tied withChamp Bailey andRandall McDaniel for most Pro Bowls played.[8] He was an important part in the Kansas City Chiefsoffensive line that consistently led the team to a top 5 finish in rushing offense.
Shields blocked forMarcus Allen,Priest Holmes andLarry Johnson during his career. He had blocked for 1,000-yard rushers for five seasons. He blocked for 4,000-yard passers for five seasons whileElvis Grbac did it in 2000 andTrent Green in 2003, 2004, and 2005. In 14 seasons, Shields never missed a game, and he failed to start only one contest, his first regular-season outing, as a rookie in 1993.[9] On April 15, 2007, following 14 seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, he announced his retirement from football.[9]
Shields currently works for NFL Legends as Community Central South Director. Shields is married to his wife Senia (a native ofDenmark);[10] they have one daughter, Sanayika, and two sons,Shavon and Solomon. The Shields family resides inStillwell, Kansas. Shavon played basketball for the University of Nebraska and currently plays professionally in Italy forOlimpia Milano, while Sanayika is a former basketball player forDrury University who is now an Emergency Medicine/Pediatrics Resident atIndiana University. Solomon is starting his film career writing and directing documentaries.