William Dean Shields (born August 23, 1954) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was an

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in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL), primarily for the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

. He played

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for the

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets is the name used for all of the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The teams have also been nicknamed the ...

and was selected by the Chargers in the sixth round of the

1975 NFL draft The 1975 NFL draft was held January 28–29, 1975, at the New York Hilton at Rockefeller Center in New York City, New York. With the first overall pick of the draft, the Atlanta Falcons selected quarterback Steve Bartkowski. Player selectio ...

. Shields also played in the NFL for the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

and

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

College career

Shields played

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

from 1972 to 1974. He was inducted into the Georgia Tech Hall of Fame in 1985.

Professional career

San Diego Chargers

Shields was selected by the

in the sixth round of the

with the 136th overall pick. He became a starter for the team in 1976, and started 119 games for the team. A contract dispute between Shields and the Chargers resulted in his holding out during

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, and this led to the team trading him to the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

in August 1984. The Vikings, however, returned Shields to the Chargers after failing to come to contract terms with him and exercised a contingency clause for draft picks instead. Shields was waived by the Chargers a few weeks into the 1984 season.

San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers signed Shields off waivers in September 1984 to bolster the team's

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which had been hit by injuries to several players. Shields stated that he had been in discussions with four teams before choosing the 49ers, and that his decision was mainly based on personal relationships he had with already established with some of the team's coaches and players. Shields was mainly a reserveplaying in twelve games and starting onceon the

Super Bowl XIX Super Bowl XIX was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Miami Dolphins and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

winners. He was traded to the

for a 6th round

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in August 1985.

New York Jets

Shields suffered a knee injury in the Jets' second game of the 1985 pre season, a 2420 loss to the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

. Shields was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

by the team in September 1985, was reactivated in November 1985 but was cut by the team in December 1985.

Kansas City Chiefs

The

claimed Shields off waivers from the Jets on December 7, 1985.

Personal life and post playing career

Shields co-operated a development company in the San Diego area with former Chargers' teammate Don Macek in 1990. Shields was a plaintiff in a 2012 lawsuit filed by former NFL player Brent Boyd against the NFL over concussion related injuries sustained while playing.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shields, Billy 1954 births Living people Players of American football from Vicksburg, Mississippi American football offensive tackles Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football players San Diego Chargers players San Francisco 49ers players Kansas City Chiefs players New York Jets players