5 longest playing careers in Pittsburgh Steelers history

4. Donnie Shell: 201 games played with Steelers

It's rare enough for a team to have one defensive back play at least 200 games all with the same team, but the Pittsburgh Steelers actually had two who did so at the same time. Donnie Shell was an All-Pro safety in the late '70s and early '80s and his Steelers career stretched just beyond Blount's at 201 total games played.

While it took Shell much longer to enter the Hall of Fame, he eventually earned a gold jacket of his own. Shell had a remarkable six-season stretch from 1979 to 1984 in which he recorded between 5-7 interceptions each year.

Shell arrived in the legendary 1974 season. Despite 17 rounds of draft picks back then, Shell climbed the ladder as an undrafted free agent. He joined Lynn Swann, Jack Lambert, John Stallworth, and Mike Webster as the fifth Hall of Famer who entered the league on the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1974.

Unlike Mel Blount, Shell wasn't a starter from the gate, as he recorded just 3 starts in his first three seasons before earning the trust of Chuck Noll and the coaching staff. He went on to start 162 games, but his 201 games played put him fourth all-time among Pittsburgh Steelers' longest playing careers.