LEGENDARY HUSKER RECRUITS: WILL SHIELDS Oklahoma Native Still Clearing the Way By Randy York We know this weekend is a renewal of the Nebraska-Oklahoma football rivalry, but please, even if you bleed Husker red, stand up right now and give it up for Lawton High School in Lawton, Okla. That’s right … Lawton. Oklahoma. Yes, the state’s third largest city...the one that sent Will Shields to Lincoln to become an All-American, an Outland Trophy winner, an All-Pro, the NFL Man of the Year and one of the most motivated human beings this side of Mike Minter, another ex-Husker from Lawton. Lawton, you see, helped Shields learn about and understand the power of Hanta Yo, a Lakota Sioux Indian term that means “Clear the Way”. “That was the mantra I lived by playing high school football in Lawton, and the word I still try to live by today,” Shields said, explaining how his high school coaches preached it almost every day, so players would focus their energy on everything positive. Fortunately, Hanta Yo – an infinite source of creative potential – led Shields to Nebraska, where he honed that almost mystical power and pushed himself beyond almost every challenge imaginable. Will Shields Profile Wisdom, Trust, Inner Peace and Illumination Name: Will H. Shields III Even today, at 38, long after the accolades have faded, Will Shields, who has never Age: 38 enjoyed the spotlight anyway, is a living testimonial to the Native American medicine wheel Residence: Overland Park, Kansas that symbolizes wisdom, trust, inner peace and illumination. Family: Wife, Senia; Daughter, Sanayika, 17; Sons Shavon, 15, Why? Because he was wise enough to put academics and life skills on the same plateau and Solomon, 12. as athletics, and he was smart enough to put his trust in Nebraska. Plus, he continues to Why I chose Nebraska: There were five Division I seniors on my high school football seek inner peace and illumination through the Will to Succeed Foundation that he co-founded team. I wasn’t one of those blue-chip, star-studded guys. I was someone who needed with his wife, Senia. development and knew it. I went to Nebraska’s Summer Football Camp my junior year in Launched when he was an All-Pro for the Kansas City Chiefs, the foundation is organized high school and went to Oklahoma’s football camp two weeks later, so I had a good chance to guide, inspire and improve the lives of abused and neglected women and children. to compare programs. Oklahoma State, Arkansas and Tulsa also offered me scholarships, Who knows? Hanta Yo just may have been the power that allowed Shields to become the but I was a strong lean to Nebraska from the start. For me, Nebraska had three distinct second offensive lineman in modern-day Nebraska football history to play as a true freshman. advantages. First, they had a strong tradition of developing offensive linemen. Second, By his sophomore season, he was doing what only Dave Rimington had done before him – they had an academic support system that was way beyond anyone else’s, and third, OU earning first-team all-conference honors while “clearing the way” for the Huskers to lead the was getting ready to go on (NCAA) probation, so I wasn’t really interested in that kind of Big Eight in scoring, rushing and total offense. transition or environment. The biggest key for me was probably the strong emphasis on Shields started the last 36 games of his Nebraska career, and trivia buffs find it interesting academics. I knew I needed rigor and structure and knew that Nebraska had a system in that he carried the ball on the final Fumblerooski play in Husker history – a 16-yard gain place that would help me grow as a student, an athlete and a man. against Colorado in 1992. A three-time All-Big Eight player, he made the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame a year after he graduated. Why Nebraska was a good decision: It was everything I thought it would be and more. No wonder the Kansas City Chiefs latched on to Shields. The somewhat unheralded Nebraska just treats people the way you want to be treated. The minute you get here, you third-round draft choice became the cornerstone of their offensive line for 15 seasons. He feel that love that people have for you. You feel that atmosphere that champions have, played in a franchise-record 224 consecutive regular-season games at right guard and made and you embrace everything you know it will take for you to get there yourself. I always a franchise-record 12 consecutive Pro Bowls. felt I had to maximize every little bit of talent I had, athletically and academically. I really Considering all of that, perhaps it’s appropriate that for every Husker fan inclined to didn’t have enough time for anything else until later when I became an original mentor of stand up and give Shields a sincere Hanta Yo, every Chiefs’ fan should stand and offer at the TeamMates program. That opened my eyes. I still stay in touch with my mentee, who least two or three. has a full-time job and is doing well. Maybe now I can go back and rekindle some of those relationships I missed when I was too busy before. I met my wife at Nebraska. She was a Successful Businesses and an Important Foundation Rotary exchange student from Denmark and lived for a year in Curtis, Neb. Then she came back on a work visa and was a project manager for the Gallup organization. Choosing This weekend, Shields is joining a sizable group of former Nebraska and Oklahoma major Nebraska was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. football award winners for a special banquet and game-day ceremonies in Lincoln – a three- hour getaway from Kansas City, where he owns two successful businesses and directs an What I’m doing now: I own two businesses. One is called 68 Inside Sports Health and important foundation. Wellness, and the other is called 68 Inside Sports Indoor Training Facility. Together they Not surprisingly, Shields also still contributes to another worthy charitable cause called “I’ve are a gym/fitness center/health and wellness/sports and recreation training center. One Got Heart” – a program where students write letters to inspire and motivate hospital patients. building is 70,000 square feet. The other is 50,000 square feet. We even have our own Once Shields became a part of that program at Nebraska, he just couldn’t give it up, in-house, state certified chiropractor. We have batting cages, a big indoor football field even after retiring from football to run his businesses, serve the community and support a and a giant weight room. We have more than 2,000 members, and we’re a combination of wife and three children. a lot of different things I believe in. At Nebraska, I loved to train and to grow, and I enjoy “The important thing is not only to clear the way for what helping young kids learn how to train and grow. I enjoy watching them find their strengths you want to do, but to clear the way for others who need your and then develop them. I would love to add vocal music and the theatrical arts to what we help,” Shields said. have and maybe even an academic center, so we can teach kids how to study. Nebraska That principle is inherently built into the foundation of Hanta Yo. was my model for all-inclusive growth. They go way beyond sports, and that’s what I’d like “It’s not a philosophy. It’s a way of life – a way of working together to do here. I love it when kids open their eyes to different things they can do. I also spend and getting things done,” Shields said, acknowledging that he a lot of time on my Will to Succeed Foundation. was never comfortable being named the NFL Man of the Year. “The people around me were the NFL Men and Women of the Most memorable moment as a Husker: There are so many that I couldn’t possibly Year,” he said. “They wrote the programs for the foundation. single one out, but I’ll never forget Senior Day when Kenny Walker was introduced. The They did the fund-raising. They were the ones who made it all crowd gave him an ovation in sign language...the roar of silence. Kenny is an inspirational happen. I was just a catalyst. All I did was clear the way.” role model for so many, including me. It’s amazing what someone who was deaf from the True, of course, to the very root of who he is and age of two can accomplish – from becoming an All-American at Nebraska to playing for the all he stands for. Denver Broncos. Even though he can’t hear, he has special abilities. That was a rare day and a unique experience...something that we’ll probably never see again. 2009 NEBRASKA CORNHUSKER FOOTBALL l GAME DAY PROGRAM 160.