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Shields remains on guard for KC
Chiefs’ Pro Bowler returns for another year, but he isn’t saying that much about it.
By ELIZABETH MERRILL
The Kansas City Star
Go find Joe. He’ll tell you what’s eating at Will Shields. The clock hand clicked past 3 on Saturday afternoon, Shields emerged from the training room, and in seven days, one of the longest streaks in the NFL could effectively end because of a bum ankle.
How do you feel, Will? Is it ready?
Shields let out one, “Can’t complain,” several, “I can’t tell yous,” then conceded after 13 years in the league, he’s grown a little grumpier.
The awkward pauses never really change. But at some point, you understand him.
Joe Linta tried to take Shields out to a fancy dinner once when he was at Nebraska, because that’s what prospective agents do, and Shields said no, he was going to the gym. Linta got his gear, played one-on-one and lifted weights with Shields, and 14 years later, they’re still together.
“I would assume he’ll be fine,” Linta said.
“He’s the old sage. He listens, and when he says something, it’s powerful stuff. When he yells at his kid, it’s like the Lion King. By his very nature, he commands respect, and you’ve got to be around him more to understand that.”
The king’s followers, at the moment, are getting restless. Pro Bowl tackle Willie Roaf retired, the Chiefs offense has struggled, and Shields has been out for two weeks because of a high ankle sprain. In times like these, Kansas City turns to its veteran, an 11-time Pro Bowl guard, an iron man who’s started in 207 straight games, for some sort of pulse.
And Shields is a difficult read. Ask him about his health, and he’ll say that for the first time in years, he isn’t starting the season tired and sore like he did after Dick Vermeil’s two-a-day grind. Ask him about anything else — the ankle, a season in which in the Chiefs are picked everywhere from AFC West champs to big-time busts — and Shields is vague.
“You go into every season thinking you’re going to be pretty good,” Shields says. “I don’t think in any season you ever face you say, ‘Oh, we’re going to suck this year.’
“There are a lot of little new things we’re learning about each other, especially having a new coach. There are going to be those growing pains, but I think we’ll be OK.”
•••
At 17, Shields left the wide-open spaces of Lawton, Okla., for the blank prairie in Lincoln, Neb. His daddy told him to go to Nebraska because it was a good place. His coaches say Shields went home just once in the next four years, loading up on homework in the summer so he could graduate in four years.
“When he got here, he had no fear,” said Milt Tenopir, his offensive line coach at Nebraska. “He was a very mature young man, but he didn’t have a boisterous bone in his body.”
Get-r-done and shut-it-up. That was always Shields. And you never knew when he was hurt. Most offensive linemen, Tenopir said, get injured when they flop around on the ground. In four years, Tenopir never saw Shields hit the ground. His balance was that good. But being a 13-year starter in the NFL carried a whole new set of demands. Shields developed arthritis in his knees, then his back.
The end looked imminent during training camp last year in River Falls, Wis., when Shields had to leave town because of his back. He’ll spend as much as 12 hours a day at Arrowhead getting treatment for his various ailments, and he was in the training room for roughly four hours Saturday to work on the ankle.
“I know he’s hurting,” Tenopir said. “Anybody who’s played that game as long as Will’s played it has got to have pain. But Will’s never complained to me personally about it. He just loves the game and will play as long as he can. I don’t know how long that is. Hopefully, he can stay healthy a while longer.”
With a long, painful future in mind, Shields and Linta had a long talk about the end in early 2005, during the Pro Bowl. At one point, Shields said he knew it was near, but he also knew he was in good enough shape to still compete.
The 2005 season started slow and was tough on Shields’ body, and many speculated that he’d announce his retirement after the season. Then came new coach Herm Edwards, who promised to limit Shields’ practice load. Shields said he felt better this summer than he had in years.
“You think about (the end) before the season even starts,” Shields said. “When your back is out, you try to find different ways to get it back. You think, ‘Man, I hope I can keep my body together to get through this one.’ That’s the nature of anyone.
“But there’s always that competition factor. Those young guys can come in and take your job, and other guys want to prove they can beat you. As long as I have that … it works pretty well for you.”
•••
After the final preseason game Thursday night, Chiefs president/general manager Carl Peterson stood in the locker room, talking about the final cuts. But the conversation eventually drifted to the status of Roaf, which, for more than a month, hasn’t changed.
Nobody asked about Shields.
They’ve been friends for a while, and word has it that Roaf was the one who talked Shields into playing again in 2006. Shields won’t confirm or deny that. Roaf went weeks without talking to his teammates, but Shields said he didn’t hold it against him.
“I just sort of stay out of it,” Shields said. “I don’t worry about it. I don’t worry about Willie. Willie’s gone doing his own thing, and I’m here to play football.”
That’s the main reason Shields is back, people close to him say. He loves to play football. There is the championship that eluded him at Nebraska, and the two national titles that came shortly after he graduated. There was the 2003 season in Kansas City, the one that ended with a 13-3 record but no Super Bowl.
Roaf’s absence means Shields, who’ll turn 35 later this month, is the elder statesman on the line. The title, in some ways, was already there. Shields has always been the quiet banker, the grownup in a little-boys dream.
He said he doesn’t feel alone as the last old sage.
“I’ve got Trent Green,” he said. “I’ve got Eddie Kennison, Eric Hicks on the other side … a bunch of guys who have been here a long time, been in the league a long time. You have to do some things to get some guys prepared. But you’re never really alone on a team. I think a whole bunch of guys are doing that.”
•••
The first couple of years of the Linta-Shields relationship were sort of a your-wish-is-my-command banter.
Linta was happy to have the Outland Trophy winner as a client. And Shields? Rumor is, he was happy sometimes, too. Shields said his mystery demeanor is the nature of an offensive lineman. They’re paid to work in the trenches, be the grunts, blast the holes.
Linta doesn’t understand it. He turns on the NFL Network, watches the Terrell Owens hype, and wonders when the love will come for Shields. Do they see how active he is in the community? Do they watch him around his three kids?
“There’s been times we’re out socially and I’m the kid and he’s the father,” Linta said. “You cannot find a person within the 816 or 913 area code who does not respect him. Why is that? Because he doesn’t make himself known. Because he does what he says.
“He doesn’t deviate from that. The guy doesn’t get drunk, has never done drugs, doesn’t run traffic lights, doesn’t beat his kids. He does everything the way the American dream should be lived. This guy should be on the tip of your tongue.”
Only Shields’ tongue, like always, is slightly bitten. He’s not saying whether he’ll be ready for the Bengals, though Edwards expects him in uniform. He won’t tell you if this is finally the season the Chiefs do something in the postseason.
Just before he was getting ready to watch the second half of the Nebraska-Louisiana Tech game late Saturday afternoon, the lion was asked for a Sunday prediction.
“Nah,” Shields said. “I don’t have anything to say.”
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansa...rce=rss&channel=kansascity_kansas_city_chiefs
Chiefs’ Pro Bowler returns for another year, but he isn’t saying that much about it.
By ELIZABETH MERRILL
The Kansas City Star
Go find Joe. He’ll tell you what’s eating at Will Shields. The clock hand clicked past 3 on Saturday afternoon, Shields emerged from the training room, and in seven days, one of the longest streaks in the NFL could effectively end because of a bum ankle.
How do you feel, Will? Is it ready?
Shields let out one, “Can’t complain,” several, “I can’t tell yous,” then conceded after 13 years in the league, he’s grown a little grumpier.
The awkward pauses never really change. But at some point, you understand him.
Joe Linta tried to take Shields out to a fancy dinner once when he was at Nebraska, because that’s what prospective agents do, and Shields said no, he was going to the gym. Linta got his gear, played one-on-one and lifted weights with Shields, and 14 years later, they’re still together.
“I would assume he’ll be fine,” Linta said.
“He’s the old sage. He listens, and when he says something, it’s powerful stuff. When he yells at his kid, it’s like the Lion King. By his very nature, he commands respect, and you’ve got to be around him more to understand that.”
The king’s followers, at the moment, are getting restless. Pro Bowl tackle Willie Roaf retired, the Chiefs offense has struggled, and Shields has been out for two weeks because of a high ankle sprain. In times like these, Kansas City turns to its veteran, an 11-time Pro Bowl guard, an iron man who’s started in 207 straight games, for some sort of pulse.
And Shields is a difficult read. Ask him about his health, and he’ll say that for the first time in years, he isn’t starting the season tired and sore like he did after Dick Vermeil’s two-a-day grind. Ask him about anything else — the ankle, a season in which in the Chiefs are picked everywhere from AFC West champs to big-time busts — and Shields is vague.
“You go into every season thinking you’re going to be pretty good,” Shields says. “I don’t think in any season you ever face you say, ‘Oh, we’re going to suck this year.’
“There are a lot of little new things we’re learning about each other, especially having a new coach. There are going to be those growing pains, but I think we’ll be OK.”
•••
At 17, Shields left the wide-open spaces of Lawton, Okla., for the blank prairie in Lincoln, Neb. His daddy told him to go to Nebraska because it was a good place. His coaches say Shields went home just once in the next four years, loading up on homework in the summer so he could graduate in four years.
“When he got here, he had no fear,” said Milt Tenopir, his offensive line coach at Nebraska. “He was a very mature young man, but he didn’t have a boisterous bone in his body.”
Get-r-done and shut-it-up. That was always Shields. And you never knew when he was hurt. Most offensive linemen, Tenopir said, get injured when they flop around on the ground. In four years, Tenopir never saw Shields hit the ground. His balance was that good. But being a 13-year starter in the NFL carried a whole new set of demands. Shields developed arthritis in his knees, then his back.
The end looked imminent during training camp last year in River Falls, Wis., when Shields had to leave town because of his back. He’ll spend as much as 12 hours a day at Arrowhead getting treatment for his various ailments, and he was in the training room for roughly four hours Saturday to work on the ankle.
“I know he’s hurting,” Tenopir said. “Anybody who’s played that game as long as Will’s played it has got to have pain. But Will’s never complained to me personally about it. He just loves the game and will play as long as he can. I don’t know how long that is. Hopefully, he can stay healthy a while longer.”
With a long, painful future in mind, Shields and Linta had a long talk about the end in early 2005, during the Pro Bowl. At one point, Shields said he knew it was near, but he also knew he was in good enough shape to still compete.
The 2005 season started slow and was tough on Shields’ body, and many speculated that he’d announce his retirement after the season. Then came new coach Herm Edwards, who promised to limit Shields’ practice load. Shields said he felt better this summer than he had in years.
“You think about (the end) before the season even starts,” Shields said. “When your back is out, you try to find different ways to get it back. You think, ‘Man, I hope I can keep my body together to get through this one.’ That’s the nature of anyone.
“But there’s always that competition factor. Those young guys can come in and take your job, and other guys want to prove they can beat you. As long as I have that … it works pretty well for you.”
•••
After the final preseason game Thursday night, Chiefs president/general manager Carl Peterson stood in the locker room, talking about the final cuts. But the conversation eventually drifted to the status of Roaf, which, for more than a month, hasn’t changed.
Nobody asked about Shields.
They’ve been friends for a while, and word has it that Roaf was the one who talked Shields into playing again in 2006. Shields won’t confirm or deny that. Roaf went weeks without talking to his teammates, but Shields said he didn’t hold it against him.
“I just sort of stay out of it,” Shields said. “I don’t worry about it. I don’t worry about Willie. Willie’s gone doing his own thing, and I’m here to play football.”
That’s the main reason Shields is back, people close to him say. He loves to play football. There is the championship that eluded him at Nebraska, and the two national titles that came shortly after he graduated. There was the 2003 season in Kansas City, the one that ended with a 13-3 record but no Super Bowl.
Roaf’s absence means Shields, who’ll turn 35 later this month, is the elder statesman on the line. The title, in some ways, was already there. Shields has always been the quiet banker, the grownup in a little-boys dream.
He said he doesn’t feel alone as the last old sage.
“I’ve got Trent Green,” he said. “I’ve got Eddie Kennison, Eric Hicks on the other side … a bunch of guys who have been here a long time, been in the league a long time. You have to do some things to get some guys prepared. But you’re never really alone on a team. I think a whole bunch of guys are doing that.”
•••
The first couple of years of the Linta-Shields relationship were sort of a your-wish-is-my-command banter.
Linta was happy to have the Outland Trophy winner as a client. And Shields? Rumor is, he was happy sometimes, too. Shields said his mystery demeanor is the nature of an offensive lineman. They’re paid to work in the trenches, be the grunts, blast the holes.
Linta doesn’t understand it. He turns on the NFL Network, watches the Terrell Owens hype, and wonders when the love will come for Shields. Do they see how active he is in the community? Do they watch him around his three kids?
“There’s been times we’re out socially and I’m the kid and he’s the father,” Linta said. “You cannot find a person within the 816 or 913 area code who does not respect him. Why is that? Because he doesn’t make himself known. Because he does what he says.
“He doesn’t deviate from that. The guy doesn’t get drunk, has never done drugs, doesn’t run traffic lights, doesn’t beat his kids. He does everything the way the American dream should be lived. This guy should be on the tip of your tongue.”
Only Shields’ tongue, like always, is slightly bitten. He’s not saying whether he’ll be ready for the Bengals, though Edwards expects him in uniform. He won’t tell you if this is finally the season the Chiefs do something in the postseason.
Just before he was getting ready to watch the second half of the Nebraska-Louisiana Tech game late Saturday afternoon, the lion was asked for a Sunday prediction.
“Nah,” Shields said. “I don’t have anything to say.”
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansa...rce=rss&channel=kansascity_kansas_city_chiefs