Enshrinement Video for Mick Tingelhoff
Enshrinement Video for Will Shields
Randy York’s N-Sider
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In the history of professional football, only seven men have been selected to more Pro Bowls than the 12 appearances Nebraska’s Will Shields earned in his 14-year career with the Kansas City Chiefs. Equally if not more interesting, only one of those seven selections was an offensive lineman who, like Shields, battled every play and every day in the trenches against the best defenders in professional football.
It Takes a Village to Succeed; No One Gets to the Top Alone
Four years ago, Shields tailored his College Football Hall of Fame acceptance speech to the collegiate level that set the stage for his professional career, crediting those near and dear to his heart. “It takes a village to succeed,” he said. “Nobody gets to the top by themselves.”
Shields said he's "forever grateful" for his family, friends, coaches and teachers who led and pushed him through tough times, enabling him to reach higher and develop the tenacity to start 231 consecutive NFL games. In his interview with Kansas City Star columnist Sam Mellinger, Shields shared how he played highly competitive chess games with his wife, Senia, who decided it would for best for their marriage not to play a game that always ends in checkmate . Check out Mellinger’s Sunday column for more details and our own N-Sider column on why Shields should write his own book.
Tingelhoff, Shields Celebrated Hall of Fame Honors in the Best Way Possible
Shields and Tingelhoff celebrated their preeminent awards in what turned out to be the best way for each. The Kansas City Chiefs hosted a private celebration party for Shields, and the Minnesota Vikings honored Tingelhoff with another private party. The separate events drew an estimated 200 people each. Milt Tenopir, Nebraska's longtime offensive line coach, attended Shields' party and enshrinement. In Saturday night's speech, Shields also mentioned the late Dan Young, a position coach who worked side-by-side with Tenopir to develop Shields into another Husker Outland Trophy winner. Nebraska has a nation-leading nine Outland Trophy winners, four more than Oklahoma, Shields' native state (Lawton).
Shields' son, Shavon, became the first first-team Academic All-American in Nebraska men's basketball history, making a multiple Hall-of-Famer ultra-humbled. Until Saturday night, Guy "The Champ" Chamberlin and Bob "Boomer" Brown were the only Huskers in history to be inducted into both the College Football and Pro Football Halls of Fame. Now, after a glorious and grateful weekend in Canton, Shields becomes the third member of that illustrious group.
Teammate, Fellow Hall-of-Famer Tarkenton Gives His Best Friend a Boost
If silence is golden, one of football’s all-time greats represented the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s legendary Gold Jackets Saturday Night in Canton, Ohio, like no one ever has. Nebraska’s Mick Tingelhoff, 75 and pictured above, is believed to be the first Pro Football Hall-of-Fame enshrinee ever to have his presenter speak for him during his induction acceptance. Because of health issues and memory loss in recent years, Fran Tarkenton, Tingelhoff’s best friend, Minnesota Viking teammate and fellow Pro Football Hall-of-Famer, delivered Tingelhoff’s short acceptance speech.
Tarkenton practiced what U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt preached: “Be sincere; be brief; and be seated”. After helping Tingelhoff unveil his bronze hall-of-fame bust, Tarkenton walked with Tingelhoff to the podium and said: “Mick’s a man of little words but a lot of action. He’s so proud to be in this class of 2015. He waited 37 years to get in the Hall of Fame.”
Tarkenton then choked up and started to cry. The crowd response was a 20-second standing ovation for Tingelhoff, who “wanted me to tell all of his teammates who are here and thank them for being here,” Tarkenton said. “Our coach and fellow Hall of Famer Bud Grant…(plus) all the Viking fans who came from all over the country, and all the rest of you fans, and even you Steeler fans who beat us in that Super Bowl...thank you.” Check out Mark Craig’s Sunday column in the Minneapolis Star Tribune for more details and our own N-Sider column on Tingelhoff's long and winding road before earning pro football’s highest honor.
High School, College Teammates Reunite in Canton, the Capstone of Football
Among those who celebrated Tingelhoff's pinnacle achievement was Monte Kiffin, a former Husker Blackshirt and defensive coordinator at Nebraska before going on to coach in the major college and professional ranks. Tingelhoff and Kiffin were high school teammates at Lexington, Neb., which produced an undefeated state championship football team that sent six players to NCAA Division 1 programs.
Kiffin and Tingelhoff were Husker teammates as well. Undrafted by the NFL, Tingelhoff said he most likely would have coached high school football and become a science teacher if he had not spent 17 seasons with the Vikings, where he started 240 consecutive games.
Together, Tingelhoff and Shields started 471 consecutive games in the NFL, making a true Iron Man tandem, even though three decades separated their respective careers. The celebrations in Ohio also reinforced an often-used phrase...Once a Husker, Always a Husker!
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Minneapolis Star Tribune on Mick Tingelhoff
Kansas City Star on Will Shields