Named as a tribute to legendary Oakland/ Los Angeles Raider offensive tackle, Art Shell Jnr, who played with the Silver and Black 1968 - 82. His extraordinary career speaks for itself: 8 × Pro Bowl (1972–1978, 1980), 2 × AP First-Team All-Pro (1974, 1977), 2 × AP Second-Team All-Pro (1975, 1978), 6 × UPI First-Team All-AFC (1973–1978), UPI Second-Team All-AFC (1972), 2 × Super Bowl champion (XI, XV), and NFL 1970's All-Decade Team. Shell participated in 24 playoff contests, and was inevitably elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1989. In 1999, he was ranked number 55 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players.

Shell subsequently forged a career as a coach. As coach of the Raiders (at the time located in Los Angeles), Shell compiled a record of 54 wins, 38 losses, and was named AFC Coach of the Year in 1990, when the Raiders won the AFC West division with a 12-4 record, and advanced to the AFC championship game in the playoffs, becoming the first African-American coach to lead the team to the Conference Championship game. Al Davis, owner of the Raiders, fired Shell after a 9-7 season in 1994, a move Davis later called "a mistake". Shell was officially re-hired by the Raiders as head coach on February 11, 2006. After leading the team to its worst record (2 wins, 14 losses) since 1963, Shell was fired for the second time as head coach of the Raiders on January 4, 2007.