Art Shell Among 4 Named to Hall of Fame : Packers’ Wood, Steelers’ Bradshaw, Blount Join Raider Tackle

Art Shell of Oakland, Willie Wood of Green Bay and Pittsburgh teammates Terry Bradshaw and Mel Blount, key players for three of the game’s most successful teams of the 1960s and ‘70s, were named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Tuesday. They’ll be inducted Aug. 5 at Canton, Ohio.

Bradshaw, who was the quarterback in four Steeler Super Bowl victories, said: “It speaks well for what athletes are taught. Athletes are told to win and they are judged on how many games they win. It’s not personal accomplishments or statistics that matter most. America loves winners.”

Wood, who starred at USC, was not drafted, but he signed as a free agent and spent 12 seasons as a defensive back with the Packers, who in that time won five National Football League titles and the first two Super Bowls, in 1967 and 1968.

“I was selected as a finalist a couple of years ago, but I wasn’t chosen then,” Wood said.

Shell played offensive tackle for the Raiders from 1968-1982 and participated in eight American Football League or AFC title games and two Super Bowls.

He remembered that he had walked through the Hall of Fame a decade ago before a Raider exhibition game at Canton.

“I had no idea I’d ever be in there,” he said. “You never think in terms like that. I was in awe walking through that building and reading about the people enshrined. It is hallowed ground. To walk through it was enough, but to be included in it is almost too much to believe.”

Shell, who has been an assistant coach with the Raiders since he retired as a player, said he had a lucky career.

“I was fortunate in the sense of never having a serious injury. I never had an operation. You have to be lucky, but you have to play hard.”

Blount, a cornerback, spent 14 seasons with the Steelers, as did Bradshaw, helping the club win an unprecedented four Super Bowl championships. He is now director of player relations for the NFL.

Not selected from among the seven finalists were Bob Griese, quarterback with the Miami Dolphins; Ted Hendricks, a linebacker who played for the Baltimore Colts, Packers and Raiders, and the late Henry Jordan, defensive tackle of the Packers.