Bobby Bell
Encyclopedia
Bobby Lee Bell, Sr is a former professional
Professional sports
Professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, are sports in which athletes receive payment for their performance. Professional athleticism has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larger audiences, so that sports organizations...

 American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 linebacker
Linebacker
A linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...

/defensive end
Defensive end
Defensive end is the name of a defensive position in the sport of American and Canadian football.This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations have substantially changed how the position is played over the years...

. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...

, the College Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...

, and was a member of the Chiefs' team that won Super Bowl IV
Super Bowl IV
Super Bowl IV was the fourth AFL-NFL World Championship Game in professional American football, and the second one to officially bear the name "Super Bowl"...

 against the Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...

.

High school career

He excelled in several sports at a then-segregated
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...

 Cleveland High School in Shelby, North Carolina
Shelby, North Carolina
Shelby is a city in Cleveland County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 19,477 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Cleveland County.-Geography:Shelby is located at ....

, where his first two years he played six-man football
Six-man football
Six-man football is a variant of American football that is played with six players per team, instead of 11.-History:6-man football was developed in 1934 by Chester High School coach Stephen Epler as an alternative means for small high schools to field a football team during the Great Depression...

 at halfback
Halfback (American football)
A halfback, sometimes referred to as a tailback, is an offensive position in American football, which lines up in the backfield and generally is responsible for carrying the ball on run plays. Historically, from the 1870s through the 1950s, the halfback position was both an offensive and defensive...

. During his junior year, his school converted to playing an eleven-man team where Bell served as quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...

. He won All-State honors.

College career

At the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...

, Bell was switched to the defensive line and was a two time All-American (1961 & 1962), winner of the 1962 Outland Trophy
Outland Trophy
The Outland Trophy is awarded to the best United States college football interior lineman by the Football Writers Association of America. It is named after John H. Outland. One of only a few players ever to be named All-America at two positions, Outland garnered consensus All-America honors in...

 as the nation's outstanding interior lineman, and finished third in the Heisman Trophy
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...

 voting. The Gophers
Minnesota Golden Gophers football
The University of Minnesota Golden Gophers are one of the oldest programs in college football history. They compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and the Big Ten Conference. The Golden Gophers have claimed six national championships and have an all time record of 646–481–44 as...

 with Bell were the 1960 National Champions, played in the 1961 Rose Bowl
1961 Rose Bowl
The 1961 Rose Bowl game, played on Monday, January 2, 1961, was the 47th Rose Bowl game. The #6 Washington Huskies defeated the top-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers, 17–7. Washington quarterback Bob Schloredt was named the Player Of The Game...

, and won the 1962 Rose Bowl
1962 Rose Bowl
The 1962 Rose Bowl, played on January 1, 1962, was the 48th Rose Bowl Game. The Minnesota Golden Gophers defeated the UCLA Bruins, 21–3.Big Ten Conference champion Ohio State declined the invitation to play in the Rose Bowl...

 Championship. Bell was later inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

He joined Alpha Phi Alpha
Alpha Phi Alpha
Alpha Phi Alpha is the first Inter-Collegiate Black Greek Letter fraternity. It was founded on December 4, 1906 at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Its founders are known as the "Seven Jewels". Alpha Phi Alpha developed a model that was used by the many Black Greek Letter Organizations ...

 fraternity, via the Mu Chapter while at the University of Minnesota.

Professional football career

He played for the Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...

, first in the American Football League
American Football League
The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...

 from 1963
1963 American Football League season
The 1963 American Football League season was the fourth regular season of the American Football League.The season ended when the San Diego Chargers defeated the Boston Patriots in the AFL Championship game.-Division Races:...

 through 1969
1969 American Football League season
The 1969 American Football League season was the tenth regular season of the American Football League, and the last one before the AFL-NFL Merger...

, and then in the NFL from 1970
1970 NFL season
The 1970 NFL season was the 51st regular season of the National Football League, and the first one after the AFL-NFL Merger.The merger forced a realignment between the combined league's clubs. Because there were 16 NFL teams and 10 AFL teams, three teams needed to transfer to balance the two new...

 through 1974
1974 NFL season
The 1974 NFL season was the 55th regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl IX when the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Minnesota Vikings...

. Bell was an AFL All-Star
American Football League All-Star games
-All-League Teams:The Sporting News published American Football League All-League Teams for each season played by the American Football League, 1960 through 1969...

 for six consecutive years, 1964 through 1969, and then an NFL Pro Bowl
Pro Bowl
In professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...

er for three straight years (1970
1970 NFL season
The 1970 NFL season was the 51st regular season of the National Football League, and the first one after the AFL-NFL Merger.The merger forced a realignment between the combined league's clubs. Because there were 16 NFL teams and 10 AFL teams, three teams needed to transfer to balance the two new...

-1972
1972 NFL season
The 1972 NFL season was the 53rd regular season of the National Football League. The Miami Dolphins became the first NFL team to finish a championship season undefeated and untied when they beat the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII.-Major rule changes:...

).

He was on two AFL Championship teams and a World Championship team. He was named to the All-Time All-AFL Team
American Football League All-Time Team
The American Football League All- Time Team was selected on January 14, 1970. The first and second teams would be determined by a panel of members of the AFL's Hall of Fame Board of Selectors: Since the First team included two halfbacks, rather than a halfback and a fullback, Cookie Gilchrist, a...

 in 1970. He was inducted into the Chiefs Hall of Fame in 1980, and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983. The Chiefs retired his uniform number 78. In 1999, he was ranked number 66 on The Sporting News
The Sporting News
Sporting News is an American-based sports magazine. It was established in 1886, and it became the dominant American publication covering baseball — so much so that it acquired the nickname "The Bible of Baseball"...

 list of the 100 Greatest Football Players.

One of Bell's finest moments came in the 1969 AFL divisional playoff
AFL playoffs, 1969
-Playoffs:-Divisional playoffs:Kansas City Chiefs 13, New York Jets 6|referee= Jack ReaderScoring*NY - Field goal Turner 27*KC - Field goal Stenerud 23*KC - Field goal Stenerud 25*NY - Field goal Turner 7...

 game against the New York Jets
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

. In a critical goal line stand, his key coverage on Jets running back
Running back
A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...

 Matt Snell
Matt Snell
Matt Snell was the American Football League's New York Jets owner Sonny Werblin's first coup, prior to his 1965 acquisition of Joe Namath...

 stopped the drive and forced New York to kick a field goal
Field goal (football)
A field goal in American football and Canadian football is a goal that may be scored during general play . Field goals may be scored by a placekick or the now practically extinct drop kick.The drop kick fell out of favor in 1934 when the shape of the ball was changed...

. The 13-6 victory over the Jets propelled Kansas City
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...

 to its only Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...

 triumph.

Bell was noted for his one-of-a-kind athleticism at 6' 4" and 230 pounds and was reported to have run a 4.5 40-yard dash. Bell was possibly the most physically gifted linebacker in professional football history, for his speed at such a size made him ideal at outside linebacker. He was noted as one of the finest open-field tacklers in Professional Football
Professional football
In the United States and Canada, the term professional football includes the professional forms of American and Canadian gridiron football. In common usage, it refers to former and existing major football leagues in either country...

 history, and if he missed, he had the speed to make up for it.

He was also a great blitzer
Blitz (American football)
In American football or Canadian football, a blitz or red dog is when players on or behind the line of scrimmage during a play, are sent across the scrimmage line to the offensive side to try to tackle the quarterback or disrupt his pass attempt...

 from the linebacker position. Chiefs records show Bell had 40 career quarterback sack
Quarterback sack
In American football and Canadian football, a sack occurs when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage before he can throw a forward pass, or when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage in the "pocket" and the intent of what he was going to do is unclear...

s and he might have had more if he had played right linebacker, not the left linebacker. In that era, more often than not the right-side linebacker got the call to "dog" or blitz since more often than not the tight end
Tight end
The tight end is a position in American football on the offense. The tight end is often seen as a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like offensive linemen, they are usually lined up on the offensive line and are large enough to be...

 would be lined up on the right side (the defense's left). Since Bell was on the left, he usually covered more than he blitzed. He scored 9 touchdown
Touchdown
A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...

s in his career: 6 off interceptions
Interception (football)
An interception, intercept or pick is a move in many forms of football, including Canadian and American football, as well as rugby league, rugby union, Australian rules football and Gaelic football, which involves a pass, either by foot or hand, being caught by an opposition player, who usually...

 (26 in his career), 2 more touchdowns off fumble
Fumble
A fumble in American and Canadian football occurs when a player, who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed or scoring. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking or successful handing that results in loss of player possession...

 recoveries, and one off an onside kick
Onside kick
In American and Canadian football, an onside kick is a type of kick used at a kickoff or other free kick, or scrimmage kick or other kick during play, in which the ball is kicked favorably for the kicking team to avoid giving away the ball...

off return. Coach Hank Stram
Hank Stram
Henry Louis "Hank" Stram was an American football coach. He is best known for his 15-year tenure with the American Football League's Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs and the Chiefs of the NFL. Stram won three AFL Championships and Super Bowl IV with the Chiefs...

 said that, "He could play all 22 positions on the field, and play them well."

After football

After his retirement, he opened Bobby Bell's Bar-b-que in Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...

.

External links

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