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00:00Super Bowl 59, New Orleans here, Donnie Wrightside,
00:03and we got a special guest today.
00:04It's Will Shields, and when I talk about
00:05great offensive linemen, we don't just talk Kansas City,
00:08we don't talk Nebraska, we talk worldwide.
00:10Love having you here, Will.
00:12Thanks, man, I appreciate it.
00:13Thanks for having me. Fantastic.
00:14Hey, we got a lot to get to here,
00:15and I wanna start and go way back.
00:17We know how good you were at Nebraska,
00:19but when you get to the NFL as a third-round draft pick,
00:21what was that transition like for you?
00:23You know, the transition was actually trying to figure out
00:26where do you fit in, how do you grow,
00:28but fortunately, I had some great guys around me.
00:30I had Joe Montana, Marcus Allen,
00:33which they took me under their wing and said,
00:35hey, Will, follow us, and we'll figure out
00:37how we can make you a little bit better here and there.
00:40So it was good having those great guys be mentors
00:42and sort of walk me through
00:44what it was like to be a pro in the game.
00:46Exactly, I mean, watching your career play out,
00:48and Marty Schottenheimer, your head coach,
00:50I know you had Dick Vermeule as well.
00:51Talk about some of the transitions in Kansas City
00:53from working with different head coaches
00:55and what their styles were.
00:56You know, it was really unique,
00:57because the simple fact of it is
00:58that we had so many different coaches,
01:00I should say about four or five different coaches,
01:03but Coach Vermeule was the only offensive-oriented guy
01:06that really believed, hey,
01:07you can win by having a great offense.
01:09The rest of it was more built on defense,
01:11so I had Herm Edwards and Marty Schottenheimer
01:14and Gunther Cunningham for a little while,
01:17and those were all defensive-oriented guys,
01:19so they were more or less saying,
01:20hey, if you score 21 points, we should win,
01:24where then you had Coach Vermeule that came in that goes,
01:26hey, every time you touch the field, you score,
01:28and so it was a different mentality
01:30as far as learning what those different styles was,
01:33and one guy was aired out, the other guys was like,
01:35hey, let's crowd, let's run the ball,
01:37run the ball, run the ball, and make it happen,
01:40but what was really cool was the simple fact
01:41of learning from the great men
01:43and understanding where they wanted you to go
01:45and how to get there.
01:45Now, you came from one of the greatest fan bases,
01:48if not the greatest, in the NFL in Kansas City,
01:50playing at Arrowhead.
01:51What was that like on a Sunday?
01:53Oh, it was awesome.
01:54It was actually almost like you were still in college.
01:57You'd smell the smoke, you'd have the people out there
02:00tailgating, you knew you were gonna get a great crowd,
02:03and once they started saying the home of the Chiefs,
02:05it was on, it was ready to go
02:07and get yourself ready for a great game,
02:10but the fans are amazing,
02:11and that's what makes it a lot of fun.
02:12Absolutely, and talking about the fans, the players alike,
02:15you're one in a million, as I say,
02:17because making the NFL Hall of Fame,
02:19you also made the College Football Hall of Fame.
02:21Like, how does that feel when you finally get,
02:23I know you were really good throughout your career,
02:24but you stand up on that podium,
02:26you got the bust right next to you,
02:27like, how did that feel?
02:28You know, it's very surreal.
02:31It's that understanding of that this is not only
02:35what you've put together,
02:37all the work is sort of cumulated into something
02:39beyond what you could ever imagine.
02:41It's not like I played the game
02:43to get into the Hall of Fame.
02:44It was reverse.
02:46You played the game to be around your guys
02:48and to make sure that you were accountable every week
02:50and that kind of stuff,
02:51and then just so happened that at the end,
02:54you were good enough to actually get that opportunity
02:56to have that bust created and get that opportunity
02:58to say that you're one of the best.
02:59Yeah, one of the best guards of all time,
03:01no doubt about it, was Will.
03:02Let me ask you a question about the Super Bowl here.
03:04There are some great defensive tackles on both sides.
03:07How did you handle the really good
03:08defensive tackles in your time?
03:09You know, sometimes, I just was telling a friend of mine,
03:12I was like, you gotta negotiate space.
03:14The simple fact of it is,
03:15you know there's gonna be some plays
03:17that they're gonna make here and there,
03:18but if you can negotiate enough space in there
03:21just to make it happen
03:22so your guys can get the plays
03:23that you need to make happen,
03:25that makes a big difference.
03:26Absolutely.
03:27You're not gonna just say,
03:27I'm gonna dominate somebody that,
03:29I mean, they get paid to.
03:30Yeah, absolutely.
03:31They're big guys, they're good, they're strong, they're fast,
03:33but the question is, how can I win a little bit more
03:35than what they need to win to make sure the game happens?
03:38Now, you're doing big things also on the field,
03:39as you have, and off the field.
03:41The NFLPA here, I know you're doing some big things
03:43with cancer screenings.
03:43Explain to us here what we can look forward to that.
03:46Well, what's really great about this
03:47is that this is Gear Up for Cancer,
03:49and basically what we're doing
03:50is talking about all the cancer awareness
03:52of what's going on.
03:54Most people don't realize is that
03:56when you have colonoscopy cancer,
03:58that it's really something that can be prevented
04:02if you get screening early.
04:03So we're trying to let everybody know that,
04:05hey, once you reach the age of 45,
04:08you need to get your screenings done on a consistent basis
04:11because it's something that could help your family
04:13and help yourself grow for the future.
04:15Absolutely.
04:16It's great stuff you're doing here.
04:17Now, we do have the Super Bowl this weekend at Sunday.
04:19I have to tell you, I'm a born and bred Eagles fan.
04:21Okay.
04:22So I would really like if you looked right in that camera
04:24and said, you know what, Donnie?
04:25I think the Eagles win this Super Bowl.
04:26Is that gonna happen right now?
04:28You know, I think it's gonna be a great game,
04:29and I always say you can't count out the Chiefs.
04:32That's for sure.
04:33And I just say, you know,
04:34I wanna see a great game back and forth.
04:37You know, we've had a couple of Super Bowls here lately,
04:39and we got to face you two years ago.
04:41So I think it'll still be a great game,
04:42and I look forward to whoever wins.
04:44Absolutely, fantastic stuff.
04:45One of the best guards of all time in NFL history,
04:48that's Will Shields.
04:49It's Donnie Reitzeit right here live from Radio Row.
04:51Thanks so much, Will.
04:52I appreciate it.
04:53Thanks for having me.
04:54Appreciate it.