Ronnie Bell (American football)

Ronnie Bell (born January 28, 2000) is an American football wide receiver for the Michigan Wolverines. He was Michigan's offensive rookie of the year in 2018 and led the 2019 team with 48 receptions for 758 yards.

Ronnie Bell
Bell playing with the Michigan Wolverines against Michigan State Spartans in 2019
Michigan Wolverines No. 8
PositionWide receiver
ClassSenior
Career history
College
Bowl games
High schoolPark Hill (Kansas City, MO)
Personal information
Born: (2000-01-28) January 28, 2000
Kansas City, Missouri
Height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight184 lb (83 kg)
Career highlights and awards

Early years

Bell was a multi-sport athlete at Park Hill High School in Kansas City, Missouri. As a senior, he caught 89 passes for 1,605 yard and 21 touchdowns, but he was not ranked in the top 1,000 high school football recruits. He originally committed as a basketball player to Missouri State. After initially receiving no Division I FBS scholarship offers to play football, he was recruited late by Jim Harbaugh and in December 2017 committed to play football for the University of Michigan.[1][2]

University of Michigan

Bell enrolled at Michigan in 2018. As a freshman, he had eight receptions for 145 yards and two touchdowns, including a 56-yard touchdown reception against Nebraska.[3] At the end of the 2018 season, he received the offensive rookie of the year award.[4]

As a sophomore in 2019, Bell led the team with 81 receiving yards against Army, 81 yards against Wisconsin, 83 yards against Rutgers, 98 yards against Illinois, and 82 yards against Penn State.[4] After dropping a game-tying pass in the end zone in the closing minutes against Penn State, Bell received national attention for the angry reaction by a Michigan fan and the subsequent rally of fan support behind him.[5][6][7]

Against Michigan State on November 16, 2019, Bell had a career-high 150 receiving yards (117 in the first half) on nine catches.[8][9] For the 2019 season, he was the Wolverines' leading receiver with 48 receptions for 758 yards.[10] Following the 2019 season, Bell was named an honorable mention all-conference selection by the media.[11]

College statistics

Season Team Conf G Receiving Rushing Returns
Rec Yds Avg TD Att Yds Avg TD Ret Yds Avg TD
2018 Michigan Big Ten 8 8 145 18.1 2 5 -2 -0.4 0 4 60 15.0 0
2019 Michigan Big Ten 12 48 758 15.79 1 1 9 9.0 0 8 67 8.4 0
Career 20 55 892 16.2 3 6 7 1.2 0 12 127 10.6 0
All values from Sports Reference[12]

References

  1. Orion Sang (October 11, 2018). "Bell reaps the rewards after switching sports". Detroit Free Press. p. 9C via Newspapers.com.
  2. Wyatt D. Wheeler (December 15, 2017). "Bears basketball recruit Bell decommits from MSU, opts to play football". Springfield News-Leader. p. D1 via Newspapers.com.
  3. "U-M wide receiver Bell primed for big year". Livingston County Daily Press & Argus. August 29, 2019. p. B2 via Newspapers.com.
  4. "Ronnie Bell". University of Michigan. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
  5. Barrett Sallee (October 21, 2019). "Michigan fan apologizes to WR Ronnie Bell for hateful email following loss to Penn State: Bell dropped what would have been the game-tying touchdown in the fourth quarter". CBS Sports.
  6. Susan Selasky (October 23, 2019). "Students write notes to cheer Michigan football's Ronnie Bell: 'Don't listen to the haters'". Detroit Free Press.
  7. Angelique S. Chengelis (October 21, 2019). "Harbaugh, Wolverines have Ronnie Bell's back: He's 'tough as nails'". The Detroit News.
  8. Brandon Knapp (November 16, 2019). "Ronnie Bell's 2019 season showing he's the true number one WR". USA Today.
  9. Angelique S. Chengelis (November 16, 2019). "Ronnie Bell rings up 'tough plays' in career game for Wolverines". The Detroit News.
  10. "2019 Football Cumulative Statistics". University of Michigan. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
  11. "Thirteen Michigan Players Honored by Big Ten on Offense". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. December 4, 2019. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  12. "Ronnie Bell College Stats". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved 2020-01-03.
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