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Shields' gifts make it a special Christmas for children Shields' gifts make it a special Christmas for children

By RANDY COVITZ - The Kansas City Star
Date: 12/14/98 21:00

Senia Shields pushed three carts down the aisle of Wal-Mart, filling the baskets with Hot Wheels, roller blades, watches, radios, dolls, sweatshirts and athletic shoes.

Fellow customers did double takes at this hectic, holiday shopping spree.

"How many children have you got?" someone asked Senia, wife of Chiefs guard Will Shields.

"Well, between 60 and 65," Senia said matter-of-factly. "It's just a regular Christmas."

Santa Claus himself would be hard-pressed to match the Christmas spirit of Will and Senia Shields.

Senia rang up about $1,000 at the cash register in filling the wish lists of 64 residents of the Marillac Center, a facility for emotionally disturbed children aged 5-17.

On Monday night, the residents received the gifts from Will, Senia and their three children during Marillac's Christmas party, one of the myriad charitable activities underwritten by Shields' Will to Succeed Foundation.

Shields' dedication to the community is matched by his performance on the field. He's likely to be selected to his fourth consecutive Pro Bowl on Wednesday.

But that was not on Shields' mind on Monday night.

"Christmas is a special time of the year," Shields said. "I get the satisfaction of helping others. You go down there and talk to a kid, and a couple of months later, you see him, and he remembers you, and he remembers the things you talked about. He remembers down to the point of what you're wearing.

"My family is involved in all of it. They help pass out the presents. They learn the gift of giving, what it feels like to see someone else's face light up when they receive the presents instead of being the ones always receiving them."

Indeed, Shields' daughter, Sanaykia (6), and sons Shavon (5) and Soloman (18 months) learned the giving side of Christmas before they could walk or talk.

"They're not, by any means, perfect children because they have their days," Senia said, "but they've been doing this since their first Christmas, handing out the gifts, and they never ask for a single thing.

"They hand them to their dad, who hands them out, and it's never a question of `Why am I not getting them?' They understand there are children less fortunate than them."

Shields' gifts to the community don't end at Christmas. He established the Will to Succeed Foundation in his rookie year, 1993, and its projects that benefit abused and neglected women and children and other disadvantaged citizens are ongoing.

Christmas party

Two weeks ago, Will and Senia served as co-hosts for a Christmas party for about 150 pre-school and kindergarten-age children from the St. Vincent's Family Center's Operation Breakthrough program. Each child received a book from Shields, who is initiating a program to put books in the hands of as many children as possible.

In addition, Will and Senia, through their Adopt-A-Family for Christmas, are seeking contributions to provide holiday food and gifts to needy families. Shields' Will to Succeed Foundation recently contributed $10,000 to the campaign, which provides diaper service, laundry equipment and even toothpaste and toothbrushes.

Shields' foundation also serves as an example and inspiration to more than 20 Chiefs teammates who have established charitable foundations of their own. Banners draping from the railings at Arrowhead Stadium on game days proclaim the players' commitment to the community.

"Will has his programs in place for the purposes that he's trying to achieve, help kids out and contribute to the community, and I do the same thing," said defensive lineman Pellom McDaniels, who began his Arts for Smarts program in 1993.

"Our programs work together. We ask each other about things, collaborate on different things and make suggestions on how to improve them. Right now our focus is making the lives of children better. A lot of kids are getting a lot of needed attention."

Shields' programs range from providing free eye examinations and eyeglasses to children, furnishing backpacks of supplies at the beginning of each school year, granting scholarships to students in the Kansas City, Mo., school district and sponsoring a "day of beauty," on which battered women are treated to hair-styling, makeovers and manicures.

"We both feel it comes naturally," Senia Shields said. "It just has to be. In order for children to prosper and become better citizens for the future, it's essential we all put work in, and the only way you can do that is by trying to help those who are less fortunate.

"It doesn't only mean your money or a gift, but it also means you show your time and your commitment is there. With us, it's habit. The joy of giving to others is always there."

Shields attributes his spirit of altruism to Tom Osborne, his coach at the University of Nebraska, whose Big Brothers program tutored at-risk boys and provided scholarships.

"Coach Osborne did quite a bit in the community, and you learn from the great guys who do things before you," Shields said. "I wanted a foundation that could branch out and help inner-city youth, as well as youth all over, as well as battered and abused women and children."

Shields' first project was the Christmas party at Marillac. He and Senia became so involved with the center that she now sits on the board, and they are in the midst of raising $20,000 to renovate the children's living quarters.

"They come out on a regular basis, bringing new clothes, not for anybody special, they just buy things so we can give them to the kids," Marillac CEO Michael Bowen said.

"Will comes out on Saturdays and plays football with the kids and personally visits with them. He's interested mostly in hands-on things directly with the kids, to get with them and play with them. He's much more interested in that than he is sitting around with the adults."

Easing a bad season's pain

Working with the disadvantaged puts a disappointing 6-8 football season in proper perspective.

"When we go to Marillac, we know a certain percent of those children have had all their rights terminated from their parents and their families, so they will have nowhere to go, and chances are, unless they get adopted, they will stay there until they are 18," Senia Shields said..

"What is your problem compared to that? How much is a 6-8 season compared to kids who don't have anything?"

About the only bright spot that can assuage the first losing season of Shields' college or professional career would be a Pro Bowl appearance. The sentiment in the locker room is Shields will be selected.

"I'm amazed with anybody who has that much ability," said Glenn Parker, who played right tackle alongside Shields last season and shifted to left guard for most of this season. "He's a student of the game more than most people on this team. I'm amazed he finds time to study and work at football as much as he does and be involved with all of those other activities.

"The way he approaches the game of football is more intellectual than many people do, and that's what makes him so good. He's strong, quick, athletic, has a big ol' butt, and he'll crush you if you give him half the chance."

Shields, who's 6 feet 3 and weighs 305, is seldom satisfied with his play.

"I always want to be the best of the best and try to do the best I can do," he said, "but just looking at film, I always think, `I could have done this better. I could have done that better. I can't believe I did this....'

"I never critique myself at what level I'm playing. All I know is for me, I have to do things to get better."

Perhaps Shields' greatest on-field accomplishment this season was helping in the development of rookie right tackle Victor Riley, who took over that spot in the second week of the season when Parker moved to left guard.

Shields could relate to Riley's situation because he, too, was thrust into a starting role in the second game of his career. Since then, he has made 93 consecutive starts for the Chiefs.

"Early on in the season, he was helping me, having to know what I was doing as well as what he was doing," Riley said. "He would tell me what I had to do and then still have to block his own man. I thought that was great."

But it shouldn't have surprised Riley. Shields was doing what comes naturally. Helping others.

To reach Randy Covitz, Chiefs reporter for The Star, call 234-4796

All content © 1999 The Kansas City Star