The Pro Football Hall of Fame once again will offer its highly popular Heart of a Hall of Famer series, powered by Extreme Networks, on Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020 at noon (ET) with Gold Jacket Will Shields.
The program provides students the opportunity to learn first-hand what it took beyond athletic ability to achieve success on and off the field.
Shields, a 6’3”, 320-pound guard out of Nebraska, was drafted in the third round of the 1993 NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs. He was placed into the lineup in his first NFL game after the team’s starting and he started every game from that point through his retirement after the 2006 season. As a rookie he helped the Chiefs to an 11-5-0 mark and the AFC Western Division crown. It marked the first division title for Kansas City since 1971. In all, the Chiefs won four division titles and made six playoff appearances during Shields’ career.
He earned his first Pro Bowl berth following the 1995 season and embarked on a string of 12 straight AFC-NFC Pro Bowl berths that ran through the end of his career. He was named first-team All-Pro in 1999, 2002, and 2003 and picked as a second-team All-Pro choice four other times. Shields was named All-AFC seven times including in each of his final six seasons. He is a member of the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 2000s. He joined Hall of Fame linebacker Derrick Thomas in 1999 as the only active players to be named to the Chiefs’ 40th Anniversary Team.
Any school can connect to the Heart of a Hall of Famer program via a PC/MAC/IOS/Android device or a traditional video conferencing system. There are limited interactive and video conferencing system spots are available, and the first 7 schools to register will receive those spots. If you register and are not one of the first 7 schools, you can still be part of the program — as a “view only” school. You still will be able to access the chat function to ask Mr. Shields a question.
A session is available to grades 4-12 free of charge, thanks to our sponsors at Extreme Networks! For more information or to register, please contact our Education Department at Education@ProFootballHOF.com or register at https://www.profootballhof.com/youth-education/remote-heart-of-a-hall-of-famer-registration/
Due to the differences in how schools are operating this year, we ask that you only register for this program if your students will be in the classroom. If your students are not in the classroom during this time, please contact us at the information below.
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out! You can contact me at 330-588-3558 or by email at Jacob.Ray@ProFootballHOF.com
Thank You!
Jacob Ray