Super Bowl LIX Sit-Down with NFL Hall of Famer Will Shields

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00:00Super Bowl 59, New Orleans here, Donnie Wrightside,

00:03and we got a special guest today.

00:04It's Will Shields, and when I talk about

00:05great offensive linemen, we don't just talk Kansas City,

00:08we don't talk Nebraska, we talk worldwide.

00:10Love having you here, Will.

00:12Thanks, man, I appreciate it.

00:13Thanks for having me. Fantastic.

00:14Hey, we got a lot to get to here,

00:15and I wanna start and go way back.

00:17We know how good you were at Nebraska,

00:19but when you get to the NFL as a third-round draft pick,

00:21what was that transition like for you?

00:23You know, the transition was actually trying to figure out

00:26where do you fit in, how do you grow,

00:28but fortunately, I had some great guys around me.

00:30I had Joe Montana, Marcus Allen,

00:33which they took me under their wing and said,

00:35hey, Will, follow us, and we'll figure out

00:37how we can make you a little bit better here and there.

00:40So it was good having those great guys be mentors

00:42and sort of walk me through

00:44what it was like to be a pro in the game.

00:46Exactly, I mean, watching your career play out,

00:48and Marty Schottenheimer, your head coach,

00:50I know you had Dick Vermeule as well.

00:51Talk about some of the transitions in Kansas City

00:53from working with different head coaches

00:55and what their styles were.

00:56You know, it was really unique,

00:57because the simple fact of it is

00:58that we had so many different coaches,

01:00I should say about four or five different coaches,

01:03but Coach Vermeule was the only offensive-oriented guy

01:06that really believed, hey,

01:07you can win by having a great offense.

01:09The rest of it was more built on defense,

01:11so I had Herm Edwards and Marty Schottenheimer

01:14and Gunther Cunningham for a little while,

01:17and those were all defensive-oriented guys,

01:19so they were more or less saying,

01:20hey, if you score 21 points, we should win,

01:24where then you had Coach Vermeule that came in that goes,

01:26hey, every time you touch the field, you score,

01:28and so it was a different mentality

01:30as far as learning what those different styles was,

01:33and one guy was aired out, the other guys was like,

01:35hey, let's crowd, let's run the ball,

01:37run the ball, run the ball, and make it happen,

01:40but what was really cool was the simple fact

01:41of learning from the great men

01:43and understanding where they wanted you to go

01:45and how to get there.

01:45Now, you came from one of the greatest fan bases,

01:48if not the greatest, in the NFL in Kansas City,

01:50playing at Arrowhead.

01:51What was that like on a Sunday?

01:53Oh, it was awesome.

01:54It was actually almost like you were still in college.

01:57You'd smell the smoke, you'd have the people out there

02:00tailgating, you knew you were gonna get a great crowd,

02:03and once they started saying the home of the Chiefs,

02:05it was on, it was ready to go

02:07and get yourself ready for a great game,

02:10but the fans are amazing,

02:11and that's what makes it a lot of fun.

02:12Absolutely, and talking about the fans, the players alike,

02:15you're one in a million, as I say,

02:17because making the NFL Hall of Fame,

02:19you also made the College Football Hall of Fame.

02:21Like, how does that feel when you finally get,

02:23I know you were really good throughout your career,

02:24but you stand up on that podium,

02:26you got the bust right next to you,

02:27like, how did that feel?

02:28You know, it's very surreal.

02:31It's that understanding of that this is not only

02:35what you've put together,

02:37all the work is sort of cumulated into something

02:39beyond what you could ever imagine.

02:41It's not like I played the game

02:43to get into the Hall of Fame.

02:44It was reverse.

02:46You played the game to be around your guys

02:48and to make sure that you were accountable every week

02:50and that kind of stuff,

02:51and then just so happened that at the end,

02:54you were good enough to actually get that opportunity

02:56to have that bust created and get that opportunity

02:58to say that you're one of the best.

02:59Yeah, one of the best guards of all time,

03:01no doubt about it, was Will.

03:02Let me ask you a question about the Super Bowl here.

03:04There are some great defensive tackles on both sides.

03:07How did you handle the really good

03:08defensive tackles in your time?

03:09You know, sometimes, I just was telling a friend of mine,

03:12I was like, you gotta negotiate space.

03:14The simple fact of it is,

03:15you know there's gonna be some plays

03:17that they're gonna make here and there,

03:18but if you can negotiate enough space in there

03:21just to make it happen

03:22so your guys can get the plays

03:23that you need to make happen,

03:25that makes a big difference.

03:26Absolutely.

03:27You're not gonna just say,

03:27I'm gonna dominate somebody that,

03:29I mean, they get paid to.

03:30Yeah, absolutely.

03:31They're big guys, they're good, they're strong, they're fast,

03:33but the question is, how can I win a little bit more

03:35than what they need to win to make sure the game happens?

03:38Now, you're doing big things also on the field,

03:39as you have, and off the field.

03:41The NFLPA here, I know you're doing some big things

03:43with cancer screenings.

03:43Explain to us here what we can look forward to that.

03:46Well, what's really great about this

03:47is that this is Gear Up for Cancer,

03:49and basically what we're doing

03:50is talking about all the cancer awareness

03:52of what's going on.

03:54Most people don't realize is that

03:56when you have colonoscopy cancer,

03:58that it's really something that can be prevented

04:02if you get screening early.

04:03So we're trying to let everybody know that,

04:05hey, once you reach the age of 45,

04:08you need to get your screenings done on a consistent basis

04:11because it's something that could help your family

04:13and help yourself grow for the future.

04:15Absolutely.

04:16It's great stuff you're doing here.

04:17Now, we do have the Super Bowl this weekend at Sunday.

04:19I have to tell you, I'm a born and bred Eagles fan.

04:21Okay.

04:22So I would really like if you looked right in that camera

04:24and said, you know what, Donnie?

04:25I think the Eagles win this Super Bowl.

04:26Is that gonna happen right now?

04:28You know, I think it's gonna be a great game,

04:29and I always say you can't count out the Chiefs.

04:32That's for sure.

04:33And I just say, you know,

04:34I wanna see a great game back and forth.

04:37You know, we've had a couple of Super Bowls here lately,

04:39and we got to face you two years ago.

04:41So I think it'll still be a great game,

04:42and I look forward to whoever wins.

04:44Absolutely, fantastic stuff.

04:45One of the best guards of all time in NFL history,

04:48that's Will Shields.

04:49It's Donnie Reitzeit right here live from Radio Row.

04:51Thanks so much, Will.

04:52I appreciate it.

04:53Thanks for having me.

04:54Appreciate it.

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