Super '70s Steelers teammates hope Donnie Shell gets call to Hall of Fame

Despite the nickname he carried like a badge of honor and his reputation for nastiness on the football field, “Mean” Joe Greene never wished injury on an opponent during his 13-year career with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“I never was happy to see an opponent leave the game,” Greene said.

He made an exception in December 1978 thanks to Steelers safety Donnie Shell.

The Steelers were 11-2 and playing the 9-4 Houston Oilers at the Astrodome. A win would put the Steelers on the brink of clinching the division title, but they already had lost to the Oilers at Three Rivers Stadium a few weeks earlier and Houston was surging behind rookie running back and future Hall of Famer Earl Campbell.

That’s when Shell, the 5-foot-11, 190-pound strong safety, crashed into the 233-pound running back in the first quarter, sending Campbell to the sidelines with a broken rib. Campbell didn’t return, and the Steelers defeated the Oilers, 13-3, the win pushing them toward a third Super Bowl title in five seasons.

“That’s the one time I was happy to see Earl leave,” Greene said Tuesday from his home in Texas. “I wasn’t happy to see him get hurt, but I was happy to see him leave.”

The hit was a defining moment for Shell, who went from being an undrafted free agent to playing 14 years with the Steelers and earning four Super Bowl rings.

Another defining moment could come Wednesday morning when Shell, 67, will learn whether his long wait to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame is over. Shell is one of 20 finalists vying for 10 spots in the Seniors category of players whose last NFL game was played at least 25 years ago.

The 10 seniors will join three contributors and coaches Bill Cowher and Jimmy Johnson as part of the Centennial Slate of the Hall of Fame’s Class of 2020.

Greene would like nothing more than for Shell to join him and the other Steelers contemporaries from the 1970s in Canton, Ohio.

“Obviously, he’s overdue,” Greene said. “There are a lot of guys that get overlooked. That’s not a legitimate excuse, especially for Donnie.”

When Shell retired after the 1987 season, he held the NFL record for interceptions by a strong safety with 51. Even in these pass-happy times, when defensive backs are around the ball more than ever, Shell continues to hold the record.

Shell, though, made it to the round of 15 Hall of Fame finalists just once, in 2002. Teammates say Shell was a victim of anti-Steelers sentiment by Hall of Fame voters after Greene, Mel Blount, Jack Ham, Jack Lambert were elected as representative of the Super ’70s Steel Curtain and Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Mike Webster and eventually Lynn Swann and John Stallworth represented the offense from that era.

“There was a bias, no question about it,” Ham said Tuesday. “But time goes on, and things change. Hopefully, he gets in.”

Shell is one of three safeties among the 20 finalists. The others are Bobby Dillon, who played with the Green Bay Packers in the 1950s, and Cliff Harris, a member of the 1970s Dallas Cowboys. Harris could provide the biggest obstacle to Shell if the 38-member committee narrowed its choice to just one safety.

While Harris, a free safety, had 29 career interceptions, he was named to the Pro Bowl six times and was selected a first-team All-Pro three times. Shell was a five-time Pro Bowl selection and, like Harris, a three-time first-team All-Pro selection.

Shell, though, had to work his way into the Steelers lineup, beginning as a scrappy special teams player whose hits were so ferocious he was given the nickname “Torpedo.” It wasn’t until 1977 that Shell forced his way into the starting lineup, and he started 159 games over his final 11 seasons.

“He was a smaller guy over there,” former Steelers cornerback J.T. Thomas said. “But you can’t judge a book by his cover. He was like a pit bull back there.”

What also could help Shell’s cause is he was named a finalist at defensive back for the NFL 100 All-Time Team in December, joining cornerbacks Blount and Rod Woodson and safety Troy Polamalu. The Cowboys’ Harris did not make the cut.

“The reason people say Donnie’s not in is that too many of his Steelers buddies are in,” Greene said. “That’s a ridiculous notion that some of your teammates can keep you out. Donnie deserves to be in.”

Thomas agreed.

“I’m upset they didn’t put him in the Hall of Fame a long time ago,” he said.

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