Marcus Udall Bell (born July 19, 1977) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who played

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for three seasons for the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). Bell was selected by the Seahawks in the fourth round of the

2000 NFL draft The 2000 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur U.S. college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 15– 16, 2000, at the Theat ...

. Bell also played one year for the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

Playing size

Bell stood at 6 feet 2 inches (188 cm) and weighed 245 pounds (111 kg) during his playing career. He recorded a 40-yard dash time of 4.6 seconds, with split times of 2.75 seconds in the 20-yard dash and 1.67 seconds in the 10-yard dash. He did 21 reps of the 225-pound bench press, a vertical jump of 31.5 inches (80 cm), and a broad jump of 10 feet 3 inches (3.12 m). He also did a 4.33-second 20-yard shuttle and a 7.17-second 3-cone drill.

Coaches' comments

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

head coach

Dick Tomey Richard Hastings Tomey (June 20, 1938 – May 10, 2019) was an American college football coach and player. Tomey served as the head football coach at the University of Hawaii at Manoa (1977–1986), University of Arizona (1987–2000), and San J ...

called Bell "the best inside linebacker I have ever coached," while defensive coordinator

Rich Ellerson Richard Emmet Ellerson (born January 1, 1953) is a former American football coach. He was the head football coach at Southern Utah University in 1996, at California Polytechnic State University from 2001 to 2008, and the United States Military A ...

highlighted his strong work ethic. His high school coach, Mike Morgan, noted his dedication to studying film and improving his performance.

Awards and notes

* 1998 All-Pac-10 Defensive team * Anchored the 1998 team that went 12-1 and was ranked 4th in the nation. * Bell led the Pac-10 his senior year in tackles per game (TPG) with 10.3. * Bell posted a Pac-10 leading 124 total tackles his senior year in 1999. * His 139 tackles in 1998 led the nation and he was UA's leader his final two seasons. * He finished with 405 career tackles, No. 5 on UA's all-time chart. * Bell was a member of the UofA Dick Tomey's fearsome 1998 defense that recorded a school record 46 sacks in 1998. * Bell was 3-1 vs. ASU * One of 11 semi-finalists for the Butkus Award. The award is presented annually to the best linebacker in college football. This list of 11 semi-finalists was determined by balloting done by the 28-member Butkus Award Selection Committee, who made their selections from the initial Butkus Award Watch List of 66 college linebackers. * In high school Bell never lost a game. His team, the St. Johns Redskins, went 44-0 and were undefeated for 3 years, winning 3 state championships. * Bell won a state wrestling title his senior year.

Great games

* Bell anchored the U of A defense and held the mighty Nebraska running attack to under 100 yards rushing in the 1998 Holiday Bowl, UofA won 23-20. * Bell recorded nation high 21 tackles in one game at Washington as a junior. * Bell and the UA defense held USC to minus-20 yards rushing in its 31-24 win over the Trojans in 1999, Bell had a team-high nine tackles and an interception in the game. * Against ASU in 1999, Wildcat linebacker Marcus Bell recovered a fumble giving possession to Arizona, they scored, and won the game.

References

External links

*
NFL.com bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Marcus 1977 births Living people People from St. Johns, Arizona Players of American football from Arizona American football linebackers Arizona Wildcats football players Seattle Seahawks players Houston Texans players 21st-century American sportsmen