NOTES

How good was Howie Long, the rookie defensive end from Villanova?

The kid was raising eyebrows all over the training camp of the Oakland Raiders in 1981. And creating a buzz around the NFL.

But he had yet to enter The Pit. He had yet to meet Art Shell.

Shell, an offensive lineman who would ultimately land in the Hall of Fame, was then 34 and in the final years of his career. But the Raiders figured Shell could still serve as a reliable gauge of Long’s level of play as he entered the league. So the two were matched up in a one-on-one drill in the first few days of training camp in an area for line drills known ominously as The Pit.

“They kind of slid him over to me,” said Shell, now the offensive line coach of the Falcons.

The confrontation was furious but brief. An instant after he made his charge, Long found himself on his back, his head rattled, a bruise under one eye.

“We never saw guys like that at Villanova,” said Long, shaking his head at Shell.

Long didn’t see too many guys like that in the NFL. That’s why he was able to last 13 years in the league and that’s why the Fox TV broadcaster is one of the finalists in Saturday’s voting for the Hall of Fame.

Shell, who was Long’s head coach for the final 4 1/2 seasons of his career, is one of the former defensive end’s biggest campaigners for Saturday’s election.

“He deserves the honor. He is the consummate pro,” Shell said. “Part of the reason he became great was because he was insecure. He was always worried about being in the lineup.

“When other teams played the Raiders, the first thing they always did was to find out where Howie Long was and then they double- and triple-teamed him, but he was still dominant. That shows what kind of a guy he was.”