Great story I’m sure most of you have already seen. Rushel Shell is not preparing for his freshman year in a typical way.
Every day, Rushel Shell looks at his twin daughters, Arionna and Amiyah, in awe. Already three months old, the girls are getting bigger and stronger by the day. He’s even beginning to see a little of himself in them.
Children have a way of changing things. Shell said he’s changed — for the better — because of his girls.
“It made me mature a lot,” said Shell. “It took me out of my kid state, and now I feel like I’m more of an adult than a kid. Whenever I’m out and thinking of doing something or wanting to do something, it makes me think about my daughters before I do anything.
“Most of the time, it’s just making me a better person.”
Shell has had to grow up in a hurry. He’s working a construction job to make money to provide for his kids. In a couple weeks, he’ll be starting summer classes at Pitt — he said he might like to study some type of engineering — and learning how to balance the rigors of academics with the demands of football.
We’ve all known that one of the major reasons Shell was sticking with Pitt after FraudGraham was that he was going to be a father before he graduated high school. That happens in life. It’s how you act. It’s what kind of responsibility you assume that shows what kind of person you are.
Yes great things are hoped for (expected?) on the field from Shell. More importantly, Shell is showing himself to be one who makes us proud that he will be at Pitt.
The vast amjority of boys I see in this situation shrink from the responsibility. I think what the Reverend is saying is that he’s owning up to his responsibility now. One foolish mistake as a teenager doesn’t mean you can’t start making better decisions.
Hurriquake — Just because it’s common doesn’t mean it’s right.
I just wanted to agree with the original post. This does make me proud to have Shell in the mix.
I hope he succeeds. My son is adopted. He was not wanted by those who brought him here, but he was loved from the moment my wife and I saw him. We are grateful he was born. He is not a mistake. He is our son.
I know many “adults” who have no more regard for their children than they do for their cars. Mr. Shell puts them to
shame.
We actually do know what happened to get him to the point.
I agree with some other posters; I’m tired of seeing teenage fathers held up as models of taking responsibility. Ridiculous.
How you react, learn and grow from these mistakes is the true indicator of character.
I didn’t realize there were so many high-horses around here……..
I’m not trying to make him out to be some kind of saint or hero, here. It’s simply that the typical college student today is extremely immature, and if you think the number of unplanned pregnancies in high school is alarming, it’s insignificant compared to the number that happen in college. So, in spite of this one mistake, Shell is probably already leaps and bounds ahead of most college students in terms of maturity, and that will show both on the field and in the classroom. Most students currently in college simply don’t belong there. IMO, Shell’s attitude and actions so far show that he does.
It should also be mentioned again that he is thinking beyond football, and plans to major in engineering to insure that he can provide for his family and make something of himself. He’s not just counting on an NFL-pipe dream or majoring in something easy so he can party for four years like most kids. To me, that says more about him than anything else. IMO, he will be a credit to Pitt because of his maturity and attitude, even if he never sees the field on Saturday.
So, go for it Rushel, and whatever happens with football, make sure you get that engineering degree! That’s the guaranteed ticket in life for you and your family, not football. (Of course, if you can squeeze a few 1000 yard seasons in there as well, I wouldn’t complain!)
The reason that people are giving Rushel praise on his actions after the fact is due to the sad sad fact that in America that always doesn’t happen. There are fully grown and professionaly succesfull “men” that refuse to take the responsibility that Rushel has clearly embraced. I am sure we all know that when you look at a younger subset of individuals, Rushel’s actions are unfortunately even more rare.
WOW..I suppose all the “high-horses”, as it was put by pghFred, on this board never touched a member of the opposite sex until they were 30 years old and married. I am sure you are all perfect in every aspect of their lives and never did anything wrong or that they regret.
Good of you Rushel. Keep your head on straight and you will succeed.
And I do agree with your post.
The only reason this need concern us as Pitt fans is that Rushel will be all that more driven to the NFL when he is eligible, but he will not be the first OR the last collegiate athlete to pursue a professional career to better provide for his family.
As far as “improper benefits” are concerned – I think that is on the coach and staff to ensure that they keep a clean program and teach and train ALL of the kids on the team about the pitfalls and potential major consequences for accepting “rewards”. I am sure most of the kids at and around Pitt are fully aware of Terrelle Pryor and his situation(some probably know him on a personal level) – decent learning lesson close enough to home for these kids where it may leave more of an impression on them than if it happened to “John Doe” at USC.
Improper benefits may be tempting, but Pitt has not had issues in this area (at least to my knowledge). Hopefully that will continue.
Children without a father present in the family is epidemic now and he’s actually bucking the trend. But Shell and his girlfriend were together for four years before the pregnancy and while the babies were unplanned his reaction to the news couldn’t have been handled better:
“When it came back positive, she immediately called Rushel. He was shocked. She was terrified. He asked what she wanted to do. “He could tell how upset I was, so he got real calm in a hurry,” says Marissa. “He told me that no matter what, we would get through it.”
“… so he got calm in a hurry…” That is maturity Jamiz and maturity is a guy Shell’s age is sadly lacking in most cases.
There is no “red flag” here, none at all, quite the opposite in fact. There is proof that this young man has shouldered an unexpected responsibility in just the right way, has maintained his academics well enough to be admitted into PITT and to play on the football team – all the while racking up records galore during his HS playing days – and he is financially supporting his women and his children the best he can.
Both Shell and Ms Pursley have parents in the area so that temptation of illicit finances you predict isn’t threatening or necessary.
While having unplanned children isn’t an ideal situation it seems to me that Rushel Shell’s reaction to it has been ideal and really, that’s about all one can ask for once it happens, isn’t it?
