As a child, Mike Shoals enjoyed enviable access to NFL locker rooms and facilities because of his father, Roger R. Shoals, who lined up as an offensive tackle for nine seasons with three professional franchises. Three of his closest friends were the children of Alex Karras, a Hall of Fame defensive tackle and actor famous for his roles in the films “Blazing Saddles” and “Victor/Victoria” and the television sitcom “Webster.”
Mike Shoals appreciated the life provided by his father.
“He might not have made the Pro Bowl in his career, but as a father, he’s in the Hall of Fame,” he said from his home in Loveland, Ohio. “I mean, he’s the best.”
Mr. Shoals, who played football at the University of Maryland, died of pneumonia on June 30 at Lankenau Medical Center in Penn Wynne, Pennsylvania. He was 86.
Mr. Shoals’ influence wasn’t limited to his family. Alex Stamateris had known Mr. Shoals for the past 35 years and described him as one of the most important people in his life.
“I got a lot from my father, but what my father didn’t teach me, I got from Roger Shoals,” Stamateris said. “I couldn’t have had two better mentors in my life than my own father and Roger. Meeting Roger Shoals was a wonderful experience.”
Mr. Shoals was the first of four children born to and raised by Ruth, a homemaker, and Roger Shoals, a salesman for an adhesive manufacturer. Mr. Shoals was born in Baltimore, but the family moved to Norwalk, Connecticut.
Mr. Shoals played football at Norwalk High School, and his prowess caught the attention of the family’s dentist, who was a Maryland graduate.
“He had a great love for the University of Maryland, and he did whatever he could to help them,” Mike Shoals said. “I know that he was involved in recruiting various players from that area in Connecticut to go to the University of Maryland, and I think my dad was very thankful to him. He was a strong recruiter, and he really influenced my dad to go there.”
At 6 feet 4 and 240 pounds, Mr. Shoals developed into a powerful offensive lineman for the Terps and contributed to three winning seasons, including victories in 1961 over Syracuse (ranked No. 7 nationally at the time) and Penn State. He also wrestled, earning an Atlantic Coast Conference title in the heavyweight division in 1961.
Mr. Shoals was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the 16th round of the 1961 NFL draft, but remained in College Park and was rewarded by being named a member of the All-ACC second team later that season. The following year, he was chosen by the Dallas Texans in the 34th round of the AFL draft, but played for Cleveland.
Mr. Shoals played in 104 games with 70 starts primarily at offensive tackle for the Browns (1963-1964), Detroit Lions (1965-1970) and Denver Broncos (1971). He opened running lanes for Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown, returned a fumble for his only touchdown against the Philadelphia Eagles in 1964, and helped Cleveland capture the NFL championship later that year.
At a time when NFL contracts were not as lucrative as they are today, Mr. Shoals worked full time as a paper salesman. The company he worked for made arrangements with the Lions for Mr. Shoals to skip flights from road games to Detroit in favor of flights to New York City so that he could spend Mondays at the office before returning that night to make it to Lions practice the next day.
Mike Shoals said his father also used his NFL ties to advance his career in sales.
“If they were going to play the Eagles, he would purchase the tickets from the players who didn’t want those tickets and send them all to the [paper company’s] Philadelphia office and say, ‘Here’s 30 tickets for the game. Get the best customers there,’” he said. “And then he would identify who the best customers were and say, ‘Let’s get them into the locker room, and get them a T-shirt or something.’ You couldn’t go to the store and buy a Detroit Lions T-shirt because they weren’t available. So something as simple as a T-shirt was valued because no one else had it.”
Torn ligaments in his knee cut short Mr. Shoals’ season in 1967 after just four games. The aches and pains continued to pile up until he retired after his one season with the Broncos.
“He felt he could have played more, but he basically always said, ‘Listen, I can’t block anybody from a wheelchair. I’m too old to be doing this,’” Mike Shoals said. “He basically retired to concentrate on the paper, which he did for the rest of his career after that.”
Mr. Shoals sold paper for 30 more years after his retirement from football and purchased an ownership stake in a car dealership in Kutztown, Pennsylvania. In his free time, he enjoyed playing golf, going to the beach, fishing, and taking his boat called “Junk Mail” out on the water.
Stamateris, who met Mr. Shoals while boating, said his friend never bragged about his NFL career or his role in a 1968 movie called “Paper Lion” with Alan Alda, Lauren Hutton and Karras. He cited an example of Mr. Shoals keeping in his office the football that he scored against the Eagles.
“You had to ask him about it to get the story,” he said. “He didn’t sit there and go, ‘See that football?’ He wasn’t that kind of person.”
Stamateris said Mr. Shoals was the type of person to invite friends over for dinner and then ask his wife, Jean, if there were more steaks to grill. He said Mr. Shoals enjoyed betting with friends when fishing and golfing, often asking his vanquished opponents to sign $1 bills and then fork them over.
“At one time, Roger had just under 200 of these $1 bills,” he said. “He would take them out and read the names of the people he took them off of. He had four or five of mine.”
In addition to his wife, Jean, of 65 years of Gladwyne, Pennsylvania, and son, Mr. Shoals is survived by his daughter, Hollie Casper, of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania; his siblings, Doug Shoals, of Manchester, New Hampshire, Susan Shoals of Wilton, Connecticut, and Steve Shoals of Wilton, Connecticut; and four grandchildren.
Visitation followed by a funeral Mass was held on July 10 at St. John Vianney Church in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania.
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