Nice MN Daily article on Bobby Bell: Gophers legend helped change football

[BleedGopher]

per the Daily:

Bell was a two-time All-American at Minnesota, and over time, other North Carolina natives took notice and joined him in Minneapolis.

“We started getting a lot of blacks up there. It opened the door,” Bell said. “There was all kind of talent in North Carolina.”

Sanders and defensive tackle McKinley Boston were part of a 15-man recruiting class that helped the Gophers capture the 1967 Big Ten title — their most recent to date.

“Bobby Bell was the pioneer,” Sanders said. “It was probably about 15 black athletes [in my class], the most ever.”

Boston, who also played in the NFL and is now athletics director at New Mexico State, said playing alongside other North Carolina natives made his transition to Minnesota easier.

“It was real, and obviously it was part of the backbone of the 1967 Big Ten championship,” he said of the North Carolina presence on the roster.

http://www.mndaily.com/sports/features/2013/11/13/gophers-legend-helped-change-football

Go Gophers!!

 

[FreakyDeke]

per the Daily:

Bell was a two-time All-American at Minnesota, and over time, other North Carolina natives took notice and joined him in Minneapolis.

“We started getting a lot of blacks up there. It opened the door,” Bell said. “There was all kind of talent in North Carolina.”

Sanders and defensive tackle McKinley Boston were part of a 15-man recruiting class that helped the Gophers capture the 1967 Big Ten title — their most recent to date.

“Bobby Bell was the pioneer,” Sanders said. “It was probably about 15 black athletes [in my class], the most ever.”

Boston, who also played in the NFL and is now athletics director at New Mexico State, said playing alongside other North Carolina natives made his transition to Minnesota easier.

“It was real, and obviously it was part of the backbone of the 1967 Big Ten championship,” he said of the North Carolina presence on the roster.

http://www.mndaily.com/sports/features/2013/11/13/gophers-legend-helped-change-football

Go Gophers!!

I'm curious, what is your take on this, AO54?

 

[station19]

Good history.

Good read.

 

[Iceland12]

Bobby Bell Honored in North Carolina

Shelby High School Principal and Shelby, N.C., native David Allen recalls hearing the “Legend of Bobby Bell.”

The story goes that the North Carolina football coach was recruiting in Shelby and saw Bell play, Allen said. The coach called Minnesota and said if Bell didn’t end up being a player, he’d pay for his scholarship.

Allen doesn’t know how much truth there is to the story. But if it’s true, the North Carolina coach had nothing to worry about.

Bell wasn’t just a player at Minnesota. He was an All-American.

In the NFL, he was an All-Pro player for the Kansas City Chiefs. Thirty years ago, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The 73-year-old Bell returned to Shelby earlier this month and was honored by his community as part of the Hometown Hall of Famers program.

“I was playing for [myself]. I was playing for my mom and dad, my brothers and sisters. I was playing for people in Shelby,” Bell said of his time with Minnesota. “That’s the way I looked at it.”

Until 1965, segregation barred Bell from playing at Southern schools, including the University of North Carolina. At Minnesota, he helped form a pipeline of Southern talent that helped change the landscape of college football.

He played in a pair of Rose Bowl games with the Gophers and was instrumental in the recruitment of several standout players from North Carolina, including Pro Football Hall of Famers Charlie Sanders and Carl Eller and Gophers basketball legend Lou Hudson.

In the mid-1960s, colleges in the South integrated in an effort to remain competitive for athletic talent.

“All of a sudden, the Southern schools said they have to start recruiting these black athletes,” Sanders said. “The opportunity [in the North] started to deplete because the opportunity down South was there. It wasn’t there before.”..

http://www.mndaily.com/sports/features/2013/11/13/gophers-legend-helped-change-football