Gordon Bell (American football)

See also: Gordon Bell (disambiguation)

Gordon Bell
refer to caption
Bell from 1976 Michiganensian
No. 5, 25, 20
Position:Tailback/KR/PR
Personal information
Born: (1953-12-25) December 25, 1953 (age 70)
Troy, Ohio, U.S.
Height:5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Weight:180 lb (82 kg)
Career information
High school:Troy (OH)
College:Michigan (1973-1975)
NFL draft:1976 / Round: 4 / Pick: 104
Career history
Career highlights and awards

Michigan single-season records

All-purpose yards (1975-87)
Carries (1975-87)
100-yard rushing games (1975-87)
Career NFL statistics
Rushing yards:319
Receiving yards:259
KR yards/PR yards:764/102
Player stats at PFR

Gordon Granville Bell (born December 25, 1953) is an American former professional football player who was a running back, kickoff returner and punt returner who played for the Michigan Wolverines from 1973 to 1975, and professionally for the New York Giants (1976-1977) and St. Louis Cardinals (1978) of the National Football League (NFL).

Bell was a two-time All-Ohio running back in high school and led Ohio's Troy High School to undefeated seasons in 1970 and 1971. As a 16-year-old junior, he rushed for 324 yards in a single game; for the year he had 1,593 yards rushing and scored 146 points. As a senior in 1971, he lost the Ohio AAA high school back of the year award to Archie Griffin.

Bell played tailback for Michigan teams that had a combined record of 28-3-3 from 1973 to 1975. As a junior in 1974, Bell was a part-time player who started only three of Michigan's eleven games, but he still managed to become only the third player in school history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. In 1975, he set several single-season school records, including most all-purpose yards (1,714 yards), most 100-yard rushing games (eight), and most rushing attempts (273). At the time of his graduation from Michigan, Bell also ranked second in school history in career rushing yards and third in all-purpose yards. Though Bell's records have been surpassed in more recent years, he remains one of the all-time rushing leaders in Michigan history. Despite his accomplishments, Bell played in the shadow of Big Ten Conference rival, Archie Griffin, who won back-to-back Heisman Trophies. In some respects, Bell exceeded even Griffin's accomplishments, as Bell won the 1975 Big Ten rushing championship.

Bell played three years of professional football, but never made it into the starting lineup for an NFL team. In three NFL seasons, he had 1,444 all-purpose yards. His best NFL season was 1976, when he had 784 all-purpose yards.