Scott Shields thought the call would come eventually. But nobody expected it to come as quickly as it did.
Shields got an early start to his "fiesta" in his San Diego home when the Pittsburgh Steelers pulled a trade with the Minnesota Vikings to move up and select the Weber State all-American with the 59th overall pick in the NFL Draft."I've lost my voice already," Shields said amid the chaos surrounding him. "I think Pittsburgh just wanted me enough that they made the move to get me before anybody else did."
The Steelers gave up a trio of draft picks in order to grab Shields and send the 30-plus people in the Shields' home into a frenzy. "They were showing some interest, but not as much as some other teams," Shields said. "Cleveland talked a lot to me, but when they didn't take me I pretty much knew Pittsburgh was going to grab me."
Shields may get an opportunity to make an immediate impact on the Steeler defense. Pittsburgh lost a handful of key defensive players in the offseason, and the 6-foot-4, 224-pound safety said he expects to challenge for a starting job right away.
"I'm ready to step in right away and play a big role," Shields said. "Next weekend at mini-camp, I'll get a real good feeling for how they'll use me."
Shields made a big impression at the NFL scouting combines and college all-star games. "I showed at both all-star games that I can play with the big boys," he said. "They saw me at the combines and I was just a big, tall white guy. Then I ran better than most of the guys and I think that made all the difference."
With an impressive 40 time of 4.54 and a 35-inch vertical leap, Shields scored well enough to be the first safety selected in the draft. He had a stellar career at Weber State where his all-around play earned him multiple all-conference and all-American awards as a safety, kicker and punter.
"I'm very happy for him," said Jerry Graybeal, his coach at Weber State during his senior season. "I knew he had a good chance of being drafted pretty high, but this is just great for him. I'm very proud of him."
Shields was the Big Sky defensive player of the year with 97 tackles and six interceptions. Scouting reports had him as a rising commodity as the draft approached. "He is another player who has come out of nowhere to be a legitimate, fairly high draft player," said CNNSI.com. "His size, speed and willingness make him an intriguing guy and some NFL team may pull the trigger on him a lot earlier than you might think." Obviously Pittsburgh's trigger finger was the itchiest.
Shields said his first hope was to play for his hometown Chargers. "But if I didn't go there," he said. "I'm happy it's Pittsburgh with coach Cowher."