The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1404875
SEPTEMBER 2021 THE WOLVERINE 31 A lingering ache replaced it. While Bell's college life seemed etched in stone, whispers of doubt crept in. A conversation with a relative, and one blunt question, brought his irreso- lution into clear focus. "I was actually with my auntie, just talking about life," Bell recalled. "I got to express my real feelings about what I had going on. She just straight-up asked me: 'Do you really want to go to college to play basketball?' "It was a very close conversation, and I told her the truth: No. If it was all up to me, I would 100 percent go and play football. That's what I wanted to do." Nothing appeared like it was up to him. Only one school had even mentioned a future in football for him. Northwest Missouri State came through, with a partial scholarship of- fer. "I was like, I can't go to college and have my parents paying for school when I can go play basketball under scholarship," Bell said. "I didn't want to take that one." He didn't take it, but he also didn't give up on football, regardless of cir- cumstantial encouragement to do so. Instead, Bell talked to his dad. That conversation further moved him to- ward pursuing the seemingly improb- able. "He told me, straight-up: 'Take out all the money, in the whole aspect of the questions. What do YOU want to do?'" Bell recalled. That urging proved a game-changer, even though Bell's father, a standout athlete himself, didn't avoid the obvi- ous tough observations. "That was the biggest thing my dad was expressing," Bell recalled. "He said, 'You do understand that, if you back out of the scholarship, whether it be a big school or not, you have to go and play football.' "I was all for it. Once I finally got it off my chest that I wanted to play foot- ball, I was 10 toes with it. I wasn't go- ing to change my mind for anything." Bell used those 10 toes to give MSU the boot, decommitting and gaining a release from his NLI. All of that came about in the middle of the week, and on Friday, the break became finalized. That still didn't answer the ques- tion of him coming up with a place to pursue his dream. One day later, like a dream, the phone rang. "On Saturday, Coach [Jim] Har- baugh called me," Bell said. "He of- fered me a scholarship on the phone. I was driving down the street, right by my school. For me, it was a no-brainer. I was unbelievably excited, especially after that conversation with Coach." His toughest job in the hours that followed involved convincing his dad the conversation actually did occur. "That didn't even seem real, when it all happened," Bell said. "I remember I called my dad immediately. He's like, 'There's no way.' I said, 'Dad, I'm seri- ous. I promise you, I was just on the phone with Coach Harbaugh!' "At the time, I described it as a dream come true, and it really was. I was dreaming, and it was the best possible outcome it could have been." Harbaugh doesn't offer scholar- ships for feel-good stories. That just happens to be the collateral cheeriness surrounding a receiver that has deliv- ered 82 catches, 1,304 yards and four Bell has posted 82 catches, 1,304 receiving yards and four touchdowns over the course of three seasons. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL