The University of Minnesota will retire the jersey of College Football
Hall of Famer Bobby Bell during Minnesota's homecoming contest with
Northwestern on Oct. 2.
Bell's name and familiar number 78 will be immortalized, along with
the names and jersey numbers of Bronko Nagurski (72), Bruce Smith (54),
Paul Giel (10) and Sandy Stephens (15) on the façade of the upper deck
in TCF Bank Stadium.
"I think it's a great thing for me," Bell said. "I'll be joining
four other guys who are up there and are great football players. It's
just an honor. For me, to come from North Carolina playing six-man
football and come to Minnesota and become ... I just can't explain it to
you. That's history. Once you go up there ... that's something they
can't take away from you. It's always going to be there."
Bell came to Minnesota from tiny Shelby, N.C. He couldn't play
major-college football in the south, because the universities and
colleges were still segregated. But Minnesota head coach Murray Warmath
learned of Bell and eventually offered him a scholarship and an
opportunity play for the Gophers.
Bell wound up becoming a two-time All-America performer at tackle
and was awarded the coveted Outland Trophy, given annually to the
nation's top interior lineman following the 1962 season. He won the Big
Ten Most Valuable Player award and finished third in the Heisman voting
in 1961. Bell led the Gophers to a 22-6-1 record during his tenure at
Minnesota, which included a national championship in 1960 and victory in
the 1962 Rose Bowl.
Following his time with the Gophers, Bell went on to play for the
Kansas City Chiefs, first in the American Football League from 1963
through 1969, and then in the NFL from 1970 through 1974. Bell was an
AFL All-Star for six consecutive years, 1964 through 1969, and then an
NFL Pro Bowler for three straight years (1970-1972).
He was on two AFL Championship teams and a World Championship team.
He was named to the All-Time All-AFL Team in 1970. He was inducted into
the Chiefs Hall of Fame in 1980, and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in
1983. Bell was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1991.
He is also a member of the M-Club Hall of Fame.
The Chiefs retired his uniform number 78. In 1999, he was ranked
number 66 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football
Players.
