Brandon Shell, living in shadow of his uncle, trying to make his own name
When Brandon Shell walked into his first NFL Combine event this week, he walked into a very large shadow. When your uncle is Art Shell, it’s hard to get far at any professional football event without talking about it or at least hearing about it.
“They ask if he’s really my uncle, and they tell me stories about how they know him or how they met him,” Brandon Shell said Wednesday as he took his turn in the media room at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Art Shell is an NFL legend – eight-time Pro Bowler and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame for his work at offensive tackle and twice a head coach in the league.
Brandon Shell is an NFL applicant – a former South Carolina offensive lineman here to pitch his resume to the 32 teams looking for talent in this year’s draft.
“My expectation is just to get what I can get out of (this week),” Shell said. “Just go out here and do my best and put my best foot forward and enjoy the experience. I don’t have an idea (where I’ll be picked). I really don’t have a goal. I’m out here just enjoying the experience and whoever picks me up, I will be thankful and blessed.”
Shell, 6-foot-6 and 325 pounds, is rated the 20th-best tackle in this year’s draft and projected to be a seventh-round pick by CBSSports.com. No one is expecting him to be the player his uncle was, and that includes him.
“He was a monster, a beast,” Brandon Shell said. “I don’t try to fill his shoes or do the things he does. I’m just focusing on Brandon Shell, and I have to do what I can do.”
Art Shell has tutored his nephew on some of what to expect out of the process, Brandon Shell said.
Shell started 47 games at South Carolina, playing right tackle and left tackle. He knows that having that much film available of him makes it easier for scouts to find weaknesses in his game, but he welcomes the feedback, he said.
“I need to work on a lot of things,” he said. “I need to work on finishing. I need to work on pass blocking. Just need to work on everything. You can never not work on anything because everything needs improving.”
Shell has moved on from the team’s disappointing 3-9 finish in his senior season, he said.
“The season didn’t go as we planned, but we feel like we held everything together,” he said. “A lot of people expected us to fall apart and probably get blown out by every team, but I think we played every team close and gave every team a run for their money. It was difficult because you have players like, ‘The coach is not here we’re going to do whatever we want,’ but we tried to get everybody back together.”
He has heard good reviews on new head coach Will Muschamp from his former teammates, he said.
“I talked to some guys and they said the workouts are going real good,” he said. “Coach Muschamp is putting his foot down and getting things rolling, so I think it’s going to be good for them.”
This story was originally published February 24, 2016 at 7:45 PM.