Art Shell was born in North Charleston, SC. Shell was a multi-sport athlete at Bonds-Wilson High School making both All-State teams for basketball and football. He went on to play football for University of Maryland Eastern Shore and played both offense and defense. Shell was named All-Conference three years, All-American two years, and little All-America his senior season. The Oakland Raiders selected Art Shell in the third round of the 1968 NFL Draft.

Shell played an astounding 156 straight games for the Raiders before suffering an injury in the 1979 preseason-he would recover and proceed to post another 51 straight games before retiring. During his remarkable career Shell started in two super bowls, both of which the Oakland Raiders emerged victorious.

Shell was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1989. He is listed as #55 of the 100 greatest players of all time by “The Sporting News”. Shell went on to coach his former franchise from 1989-1994, as well as in 2006.  Art Shell later served as Senior Vice President for the NFL, in charge of football operations. He was inducted into the Black College Hall of Fame in 2012.