Troy Polamalu 'nervous' about Hall of Fame induction; Donnie Shell ready to join contemporaries

One waited more than a quarter century before he was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The other made it in his first year of eligibility.

The two safeties who will represent the Pittsburgh Steelers next month in Canton, Ohio, followed different timelines to reach the sport’s ultimate honor, but they have one wait in common.

Donnie Shell and Troy Polamalu each had their induction ceremony delayed an additional 12 months because of the covid-19 pandemic. As members of the centennial class of 2020, they will be inducted in August on the same weekend as the 2021 group.

Selected nearly 18 months ago before the start of the pandemic, Polamalu and Shell finally will be honored in three weeks.

“Definitely nervous,” Polamalu said Wednesday during a conference call. “Definitely anxious but very excited. Those emotions are very closely tied together.”

While the induction ceremony is coming perhaps a little too quickly for the soft-spoken Polamalu’s tastes, Shell is ready to join nine of his teammates from the Super ’70s Steelers in Canton.

After all, Shell became eligible for induction in the early 1990s. He made the final cut of 15 just once, in 2002. So what was another year of waiting?

“I’ve learned a lot of patience,” Shell said. “It was a good wait. I learned a lot. I grew a lot. I was not discouraged. I knew I had the numbers. It was just a matter of time. You go through feelings and emotions. You have to keep faith in God. His timing was for me to be in the centennial class.”

Shell and Polamalu are among five members of the Steelers who will be inducted. They will be joined by Bill Cowher, Alan Faneca and the late Bill Nunn, the scout who encouraged Shell — an undrafted player — to sign with the Steelers in 1974.

Polamalu was drafted by Cowher and played with Faneca and running back Jerome Bettis, who was inducted in 2015. Polamalu’s defensive coordinator was another Hall of Famer, Dick LeBeau, who will give his introduction.

“I’ve been surrounded by a lot of Hall of Fame people in my life,” Polamalu said. “To me, it’s an indication of my career as well. I’m very grateful for that.”

Given the size of the centennial class — it encompasses 20 members — induction speeches will be less than 10 minutes in length. Shell said his already is written. Polamalu sounded like he is still trying to figure a way to thank everyone who influenced his life.

“Nervous for the speech,” he said. “Anxious because I want to make sure I thank the people that have been huge influences in my life. I do mean a lot of people because for somebody like me, no small thing, no glass of water that somebody offered me was insignificant.

“Coming from where I come from, that meant a lot. I don’t want to miss out on that. I’m nervous that I won’t give the proper thanks and people don’t feel the proper gratitude I want to give them. There are a lot of mixed emotions along with that. In a lot of respects, I don’t need to say anything as well. My career is a result of them. Had I not had those influences, had they not given me these meals, the bed to sleep in, the advice, the knowledge, the wisdom, I’d absolutely not been selected to have such a prestigious honor.”

Polamalu hasn’t attended a Steelers game since his retirement after the 2014 season, prompting speculation he was unhappy his career ended abruptly after 12 seasons. If there were ill feelings, they have long since dissipated.

Polamalu plans to attend several games at Heinz Field this season, including the one in which the franchise’s 2020 Hall of Honor class is feted.

When the Steelers introduced their inaugural Hall of Honor class in 2017, Shell was one of four men among the 27-member contingent who was not already enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. His inclusion to that first class was an indication of how highly the organization regarded Shell’s contributions to four Super Bowl championships in the 1970s.

In three weeks, Shell will take his place alongside former teammates Joe Greene, Jack Ham, Jack Lambert, Mel Blount, Terry Bradshaw, Mike Webster, Franco Harris, Lynn Swann and John Stallworth, plus coach Chuck Noll.

“It will be just like the camaraderie we had when we played and I still have with a lot of them now,” Shell said. “It will be more exciting when I get to Canton and put on the gold jacket. I’ll be reunited with them then. It was a long journey. Everyone has different paths to success, but I wouldn’t change it for anything.”