Greg Bell (running back, born 1998)

Last updated

Greg Bell
No. 5 – Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Position: Running back
Personal information
Born: (1998-06-16) June 16, 1998 (age 26)
San Diego, California, U.S.
Height:6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight:200 lb (91 kg)
Career information
High school: Bonita Vista (Chula Vista, California)
College: Arizona Western (2016–2017)
Nebraska (2018)
San Diego State (2019–2021)
Undrafted: 2022
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
CFL status:American
Career highlights and awards
Stats at Pro Football Reference
Stats at CFL.ca

Greg Alonzo Bell III (born June 16, 1998) [1] [2] is an American professional football running back for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football at Arizona Western, Nebraska and San Diego State.

Contents

After getting waived from the Detroit Lions and Pittsburgh Steelers' practice squads, Bell earned a starting role with the Tiger-Cats during the 2024 season.

Early life

Bell was born on June 16, 1998, to Gregory Bell and Erica Williams in San Diego, California. [1] Bell went to high school at Bonita Vista High School in nearby Chula Vista, California. As a senior, he put up 2,632 yards and 34 touchdowns. [3] Bell received a scholarship from San Diego State University, but he did not have sufficient grades to qualify. [4]

College career

Arizona Western

Bell would go to Arizona Western for his first two collegiate seasons. He scored his first touchdown with the team on September 30, 2016, during a 56–0 blowout win. [5] He would finish the season with 1,187 yards and 7 touchdowns. His 948 conference yards would lead the Western States Football League (WSFL).

In 2017, Bell put up 1,217 yards and 11 touchdowns. He had a 4-touchdown game against Eastern Arizona and a 211-yard game against Glendale. [6]

Nebraska

Bell transferred to Nebraska in 2018. This was the first year under the new redshirt rule stating players can redshirt after four games. Over the first two games of the season, Bell mounted 168 yards on 27 attempts. However, over the next two games, he had 5 yards on 8 attempts. He lost the starting job to veteran Devine Ozigbo. [7]

Bell left the Nebraska program on October 5, 2018, shortly after losing the starting job. [8] He stated he had "earned the starting job and feel I have continued to work the same way but feel I am not being used to my fullest potential." [9] He was released from his scholarship shortly after. [10] After this, Bell posted on Twitter schools he was not allowed to transfer to. One of these schools was Oregon State. This led to Nebraska head coach Scott Frost to publicly accuse Oregon State of tampering with past transfers. [11]

San Diego State

Bell announced his intentions to go to San Diego State University (SDSU) on March 14, 2019. He was to join the team by walking on; SDSU had no scholarships left and therefore was unable to give Bell a scholarship. [12] Before the start of the 2019 season, Bell suffered an injury during weight training that required surgery and sidelined him for the entirety of the season. [13] [14]

In 2020, Bell became the first Aztec to record three straight 100-yard rushing games in a players first three games with the program. He also became the first Aztec since Rashaad Penny in 2017 to record four straight 100-yard rushing games. [1] Bell finished the season with 637 rushing yards on 113 attempts and six touchdowns. [1]

In 2021, Bell became the 18th 1,000 yard rusher in Aztec history. [1] He finished the season 1,091 rushing yards on 245 attempts and 9 touchdowns. [1] He finished with a total of 1,728 rushing yards, which is the 19th most in SDSU program history.

Statistics

YearTeamRushingReceiving
GPAttYdsAvgLngTDRecYdsAvgLngTD
2016 AZ Western 111811,1876.589711313.0130
2017 AZ Western 102011,2176.067111520113.4360
2018 Nebraska 4351734.94504143.560
2019 San Diego State DNP
2020 San Diego State 71136375.66261111416.3291
2021 San Diego State 142451,0914.5559450.470
Career467754,3055.58933353479.9361

Professional career

Pre-draft measurables
HeightWeightArm lengthHand span 40-yard dash 10-yard split20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump Bench press
5 ft 10+1⁄2 in
(1.79 m)		201 lb
(91 kg)		30+7⁄8 in
(0.78 m)		9+3⁄8 in
(0.24 m)		4.63 s1.59 s2.67 s4.32 s7.17 s31.0 in
(0.79 m)		10 ft 0 in
(3.05 m)		17 reps
Sources: [15] [16]

Detroit Lions

Bell went undrafted in the 2022 NFL draft. He was picked up by the Lions on May 1, 2022. [17] He was signed to a 3-year, $2.575 million deal, with $100,000 guaranteed. [18] On July 28, during the Lions' second training day, Bell went down with a hamstring injury. [19] Bell was not claimed through waivers and was put on the Lions' injured reserve. Players put on injured reserve before the 53-man preseason deadline aren't able to return from injured reserve, effectively ending Bell's season. [20]

On July 22, 2023, Bell was waived by the Detroit Lions. [21]

Pittsburgh Steelers

On August 1, 2023, Bell signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers. [22] He was waived on August 29, 2023 and re-signed to the practice squad. [23] [24] He was released from the practice squad on October 3, 2023. [25]

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

On March 28, 2024, it was announced that Bell had signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. [26] Having started the season on the practice roster, Bell came into the Week 4 matchup against the Ottawa Redblacks after James Butler was injured in the previous week. He totaled up 20 touches for 96 scrimmage yards in the 22–24 loss. [27] Bell's next start would come in Week 11 versus the Edmonton Elks where he would record 173 scrimmages yards on 20 touches and two touchdowns in the 22–47 loss. [28] Bell would post two more rushing touchdowns the following week against Winnipeg but only racked up 45 scrimmage yards. [29] Following his 118-yard performance in an upset win against Toronto, Bell was given the starting role at running back. [30] Bell went over 100 yards again against the Redblacks, including the game-sealing touchdown to put him at 111 total yards for the day. [31] In Week 20, Bell would have his best game of the season, rushing for 139 yards on 15 attempts and catching 3 passes for 23 yards in the 42–24 victory over the Calgary Stampeders. [32] Bell finished the season with 625 rushing yards and 230 receiving yards for 855 total scrimmage yards and seven scrimmage touchdowns. [33]

CFL statistics

Regular season

YearTeamGamesRushingReceiving
GPAttYdsY/ALngTDRecYdsAvgLngTD
2024 HAM 8946256.6526292307.9631
Career8946256.6526292307.9631

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Greg Bell - Football - SDSU Athletics". goaztecs.com. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  2. ↑ "Greg Bell News". espn.com. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  3. ↑ "Greg Bell's Stats". maxpreps.com. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  4. ↑ "Winding path leads former Bonita Vista RB to Nebraska". sandiegouniontribune.com. December 20, 2017. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  5. ↑ "Greg Bell III #22 RB". accac.org. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Greg Bell #22 RB". accac.org. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  7. ↑ Bromberg, Nick (October 5, 2018). "Report: Nebraska RB Greg Bell to transfer". sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  8. ↑ "Reports: Husker running back Greg Bell leaving Nebraska". ketv.com. October 5, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  9. ↑ "Nebraska RB Greg Bell will transfer after securing release". October 5, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  10. ↑ "JUCO running back Greg Bell leaves the team". nebraska.rivals.com. October 5, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  11. ↑ "Scott Frost Accuses Oregon State of Tampering, Blocks RB Greg Bell from School". Bleacher Report . October 11, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  12. ↑ "Former Bonita Vista RB Greg Bell transferring to San Diego State". March 14, 2019. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  13. ↑ Taylor, John (July 31, 2019). "Injury may sideline Nebraska transfer RB Greg Bell for all of 2019 at San Diego State". collegefootball.nbcsports.com. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  14. ↑ Kenney, Kirk (November 4, 2020). "Aztecs running back Greg Bell has open field in front of him after years of twists and turns". sandiegouniontribune.com. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  15. ↑ "Greg Bell Draft and Combine Prospect Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
  16. ↑ "2022 NFL Draft Scout Greg Bell College Football Profile". DraftScout.com. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
  17. ↑ "Detroit Lions UDFA running back named someone to watch". sidelionreport.com. May 5, 2022. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  18. ↑ "Greg Bell Contract Breakdowns". spotrac.com. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  19. ↑ "Lions' Greg Bell: Shifts back to IR". cbssports.com. August 4, 2022. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  20. ↑ "Detroit Lions RB Greg Bell clears waivers, reverts to IR list; C.J. Moore off NFI list". August 4, 2022. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  21. ↑ "Lions sign Justin Jackson, waive Greg Bell". NBCSports.com. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
  22. ↑ "Steelers sign two, place Trice on IR". Steelers.com. August 1, 2023.
  23. ↑ Varley, Teresa (August 29, 2023). "Steelers trade Green, reduce roster to 53". Steelers.com.
  24. ↑ Varley, Teresa (August 30, 2023). "Steelers add nine to the practice squad". Steelers.com.
  25. ↑ "Steelers make practice squad moves". Steelers.com. October 3, 2023.
  26. ↑ "Tiger-Cats add running back Bell". Hamilton Tiger-Cats. March 28, 2024.
  27. ↑ "White Rebounds, Defence Gets Takeaways but Cats Fall to 0-4". July 1, 2024. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
  28. ↑ "Tiger-Cats Fall to Elks as Injuries Mount". August 17, 2024. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
  29. ↑ "Ticats Fall Just Short in Winnipeg Heartbreaker". August 24, 2024. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
  30. ↑ "Bell Earning His Shot at Running Back". September 11, 2024. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
  31. ↑ "Ticats roll over Redblacks to earn fourth '24 win". September 14, 2024. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
  32. ↑ "Milestone Night Ends in Victory for Ticats". October 19, 2024. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
  33. ↑ "Greg Bell - Hamilton Tiger-Cats". ticats.ca. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
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