Showing posts with label first black NFL head coach. Show all posts
Showing posts with label first black NFL head coach. Show all posts

Saturday, February 06, 2016

Did you know that Art Shell was the first black NFL head coach?

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NFL Hall of Famer, Art Shell was a third-round draft pick in 1968. He played on Oakland’s special teams for two seasons and then became the team’s starting offensive left tackle. During the 1970s, Shell was a key part of the Raiders’ notoriously intimidating offense. While Shell was a player, the Raiders played in 23 post-season games, including eight AFL/AFC championships, and won the Super Bowl twice. Shell himself played in eight Pro Bowl games and was a first- or second-team All-Pro every year from 1973 to 1978.

Shell retired from football after one season in L.A. In 1989, he returned to the Raiders as a coach. He was the first black man in modern football history to become the head coach of an NFL team. In five seasons, Shell’s Raiders went 56-41. They went to the playoffs four times and to the AFC championship game once. But in the 1994 season, the team could only manage a 9-7 record, and Shell lost