Steelers President Art Rooney II has been a long proponent for Shell to be a Hall of Famer and issued a statement.

"I want to congratulate Donnie Shell for his election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame," said Rooney. "He was a dynamic defender for our historic Steel Curtain defense in the 1970s.

"As an undrafted rookie Donnie immediately earned the nickname 'The Torpedo' for his physical special teams play. Donnie became a starter and a force from the strong safety position both as a tackler stopping the run and a ball hawk having 51 interceptions – a record for the strong safety position. Donnie is now the fifth member of our 1974 rookie class to be inducted.

"We are excited he will be honored with our sport's highest individual honor this summer in Canton."

Shell didn't earn the nickname 'The Torpedo' for nothing. Not even close. He could hit. And when he made contact, opponents would feel it as he would come at an unsuspecting running back or receiver like a torpedo, flying at them with no fear at all.

Just ask Earl Campbell, who was the victim of one of Shell's notorious hits. Campbell, a 233-pound running back for the Houston Oilers, was having a career season in 1978 with 1,450 yards and 13 touchdowns. But against the Steelers on Dec. 3, with the AFC Central title at stake, Shell imposed his will. In the first quarter, Campbell was escaping a tackle for extra yards when Shell came flying up to the line of scrimmage and delivered a huge hit. Campbell left the game with a broken rib, and the Steelers beat the Oilers, 13-3, in a season that ended with the third Super Bowl championship in team history.

"There was a game in Houston and Donnie came up and hit Earl Campbell before he had a chance to turn up the field, caught Earl in the ribs. I don't want to say I was glad he got hurt, but I was glad he left the game," said Joe Greene. "We had some knock down drag outs with the Oilers. Donnie was the hitman. He gave muscle to our football team. That is what we were known for on our defense, contact. And we had some contact people back there and Donnie didn't take a backseat to anyone.

"Donnie was an all-around player. He gave us flexibility versus the offense. We didn't have to change our personnel group when the offense went from standard to three wide or four wide receivers. Donnie would line up in the slot and cover the slot, which is what teams try to do all of the time. Offenses want to get out in a mismatch in coverage, and because we had Donnie, they couldn't do that to us. We could play all of our coverages and defenses because of Donnie Shell.

"He was a linebacker in college. We called him Torpedo. Donnie got started on special teams. He wasn't supposed to be the fastest guy, but he was always the first guy down. He made collisions. When he got into the starting lineup, he made an impact in the running game. He would always talk about guards who were pulling and getting up field on him. They were 250 pounds he was 215. He asked how do I deal with them? Chuck (Noll) said when they are running parallel with the line, you hit them. Hit them before they see you. He got that down well. He had a lot of collisions on the line with those guys and he won."

Shell was part of the Steelers 1974 rookie class, the one that produced four Hall of Famers in the draft. But he wasn't even drafted. He signed with the team as an undrafted rookie, coming in as a linebacker but making the successful switch to strong safety.