NEWBERRY — Donnie Shell, a Whitmire native and a former player for the Steelers where he played his entire career winning four Super Bowls, spoke to the Newberry County Touchdown Club about characteristics.
“Talking about characteristics, these characteristics helped me to become a husband, father and a grandfather now. They helped me to complete my undergraduate degree, helped me to get my master’s degree the year after that. They helped me to become one of 13 rookies to make the team in 1974, when I was a rookie. Also helped me to become the director of player development for the Carolina Panthers in 1994, stayed there for 15 years,” Shell said. “Now I am on the Board of Trustees at my Alma Mater, South Carolina State University.”
When Shell was going out for the Steelers, he said he had to find out who he was, and these characteristics helped him find out who he was.
The first characteristic Shell mentioned was to put God first in everything you do. He said you cannot do anything without Him, and do not be ashamed of it. God will help you.
“Hang in there, when you are losing, down, not winning, there is always a greater purpose the Lord has for you. That has been very important to me,” Shell said.
The next characteristic is respect. He said you have to respect yourself first, and then respect other people.
The next characteristic is conditioning.
“I made up my mind I was going to be the best conditioned athlete when I went to the Steelers Camp. I can control that, I can run those sprints and run harder. I can control my conditioning. That set me apart from other people,” Shell said.
Hustle was another characteristic Shell had. He said he made up his mind he was going to be the first player leading the pack, and every time the coach would turn off the film he was the first player down every time.
“Be a student of the game. I would watch more film than the coaches did,” Shell said. “When I got to Pittsburgh, I could not catch a cold, so what do you do when you lack an ability, do you complain about it? You make your liability an asset, work at it.”
Before Shell left the NFL, he set the record for interceptions — 51 — a record he still holds to this day.