Will Shields

Will Herthie Shields (born September 15, 1971) is a former American college and professional football player who was an offensive guard in the National Football League (NFL) for fourteen seasons. He played college football for the University of Nebraska and earned All-American honors. He played his entire professional career with the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs, and never missed a game in fourteen seasons.

Early years
Shields was born in Fort Riley, Kansas. He graduated from Lawton High School in Lawton, Oklahoma, where he played for the Lawton Wolverines high school football team.

College career
While attending the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Shields played for the Nebraska Cornhuskers football team from 1989 through 1992. Shields was a consensus first-team All-American and Outland Trophy winner during his final year at Nebraska. He is one of eight Cornhuskers players to win the Outland Trophy. In 1999 he was selected to the Nebraska All-Century Football Team via fan poll and to the All-Century Nebraska football team by Gannett News Service. In 2002 he was named to the Athlon Sports Nebraska All-Time Team. He is one of only sixteen Cornhuskers to have his jersey retired by the team. In 1999 Shields was selected as an offensive guard to the Walter Camp Football Foundation College Football All Century Team. The other offensive guards selected were John Hannah of Alabama, Aaron Taylor of Nebraska, Brad Budde of USC, Dean Steinkuhler of Nebraska and Jim Parker of Ohio State. Shields was one of six Nebraska Cornhuskers selected to this team; the others being Johnny Rodgers, Dave Rimington, Steinkuhler, Tommie Frazier and Taylor.

Professional career
Shields was the third-round (74th overall) pick of the Kansas City Chiefs in the 1993 NFL Draft, and he played for the Chiefs from 1993 to 2006. Beginning with a September 12, 1993 game against the Houston Oilers, he was in the Chiefs' starting lineup for every game, a team record and at the time, the second longest active consecutive starting streak in the NFL behind Brett Favre of the Minnesota Vikings. He started 231 straight games including playoff games. He went to the Pro Bowl every year since from 1995 to 2006, a total of 12, a Chiefs team record. He was an important part in the Kansas City Chiefs offensive line that consistently led the team to a top 5 finish in rushing offense.

Shields blocked for Marcus Allen, Priest Holmes and Larry Johnson during his career. He had blocked for 1,000 yard rushers for five seasons. He blocked for 4,000 yard passers for five seasons while Elvis Grbac did it in 2000 and Trent Green in 2003, 2004, and 2005. In fourteen seasons, Shields never missed a game, and he failed to start only one contest, his first regular-season outing, as a rookie in 1993. On April 15, 2007, following 14 seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, he announced his retirement from football.

Life after football
Shields currently owns and operates 68 Inside Sports, a gymnasium and sports facility, in Overland Park, Kansas. Shields is married with his wife Senia, they have one daughter, Sanayika (18), and two sons, Shavon (17) and Soloman (14). The Shields family resides in Overland Park, Kansas.

Honors

 * In 2003 Shields was the recipient of the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, for his work in The "Will to Succeed" Foundation, the charitable organization he started in 1993.
 * In 2011 he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
 * Shields was selected as a first-ballot finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2012.
 * On March 3, 2012 it was announced that Shields will be inducted into the Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame. The official induction ceremony will happen during the Chiefs alumni weekend during the Chiefs 2012 season.