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University of Minnesota Athletics
Bell Recalls His Personal Triumph Over Prejudice
10/2/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Shortly before Bobby Bell was honored by having his jersey retired during Saturday's game against Northwestern, he took some time to reflect on the journey that brought him to the University of Minnesota.
Bell was born in 1940 and grew up in Shelby, N.C. in a time when segregation was a normal part of life in that area. The color of his skin combined with local prejudices prevented Bell from having many sports opportunities.
However, Bell never let the situation keep him from chasing his goals. He continued to work hard and become a standout athlete in any sport that gave him a chance to show off what he could do.
Bell's talents eventually caught the attention of University of Minnesota head coach Murray Warmath. Warmath recognized the potential of Bell, who accepted the scholarship to play for Gophers, in part because there he still had very limited choices in colleges that were willing to field black athletes.
"Back in North Carolina my dad used to tell me that if I wanted to go play in a big school, I could go play," Bell said. "I played six-man football. Everything was segregated and I never played against whites. For my dad, who could hardly read or write, to see me play at the University of Minnesota in the Big Ten was unbelievable."
Despite also having an offer to go play professional baseball for Chicago White Sox, Bell chose to follow his dream of playing football at the University of Minnesota.
Bell's choice to join the Gophers allowed both he and the University of Minnesota to be leaders in giving more minority athletes an opportunity to take part in sporting events at public universities.
"We were pioneers back then," Bell said. "Minnesota became like a stepping stone for the big schools all over the country."
Bell was also a large part of Minnesota being able to set a precedent of success while using minority players. Bell joined a Gophers football team that went from a 1-8 record in 1958 to winning a national title in 1960.
"We had one direction, we wanted to win the big one," Bell said. "That's how we got things turned around, going from last place to first place to national champions."
After a long and storied football career that featured numerous personal achievements and resulted in being inducted into both the Professional and College Football Hall of Fames, Bell returned home to Shelby as they honored one of their most distinguished citizens.
Bell relished the opportunity to return to a place that once forced him to go through back doors just to see a movie and simply be accepted as one of their own.
"The people in Shelby gave me the key to the city, I could have anything. They were having a parade for me and the first thing I said was that I just wanted to go in the front door of the ice cream parlor and get a cone. I told them that I just wanted be treated like everyone else."
-Athletic Communications Assistant Keith Beise
