The late Todd Bell (official thread)

[nicknc33]

Rest in peace

[osugrad21]

Link

OSU naming center after football star Todd Bell

Business First of Columbus - March 16, 2006


Ohio State University will honor former Buckeyes football player Todd Bell by naming an on-campus resource center in his memory.
The Todd Anthony Bell National Resource Center on the African American Male will be dedicated March 22, the university said in a press release. Located in Brown Hall, the center has a mission of understanding and promoting academic achievement, professional leadership and personal development through specialized programs for African-American male undergraduates.

The center's goals, said OSU Vice Provost Mac Stewart, include helping students graduate and developing them for leadership and productive citizenry. It also conducts research that addresses the disparity among African-American males who graduate from high and those who attend and graduate from college.
An Ohio State graduate, Bell served as community affairs coordinator for OSU's Office on Minority Affairs. He was named director of the resource center just prior to his death in March 2005.
The Middletown, Ohio, native was a four-year letter winner from 1977 to 1980 and an All-America defensive back for the Buckeyes. He went on to play in the National Football League, earning Pro Bowl honors while a member of the Chicago Bears.
The building dedication will be followed by a luncheon fundraiser for the resource center March 23. OSU Athletics Director Gene Smith will be the featured speaker at that event, which will begin at 11:30 a.m. in the Hyatt Regency ballroom. The luncheon will kick off a lecture series, "Ethics in American Sports," in Bell's honor. Tickets, at $35 each, can be bought by calling 614-292-4355.

[JCOSU86]

Todd was a senior when I was a freshman. Very sad to hear indeed. Thoughts to his family.

[sandgk]

From the Middletown Journal --
LINK

COLUMBUS: Bell's legacy lives on at center


COLUMBUS — One year ago, Todd Bell’s sudden death left family and friends shocked and saddened.


Those close to Bell not only lost a loved one, but a role model, too. Yet even after his death, Bell’s legacy continues to have an impact.
More than 500 people packed the Hyatt Regency Ballroom for a luncheon Thursday at the inaugural Todd A. Bell Lecture Series “Ethics in American Sports,” delivered by Ohio State University athletic director Gene Smith.
“You never forget how people made you feel,” Smith said. “Todd Bell made people feel great.”
The lecture series came one day after The Ohio State University dedicated the Todd Anthony Bell National Resource Center on the African American Male — a unit within Ohio State’s Office of Minority Affairs, where Bell worked until his death.
Proceeds from the lecture series went toward creating a permanent endowment to underwrite the Bell Center, which was created to help black students with mentoring opportunities, personal development and academic assistance.
“Todd had a beautiful life,” said Bell’s mother, Monaray. “He was a wonderful person.”
Bell generally is considered to be one of the greatest athletes to come from Middletown.
He starred at Middletown High School in football and track. Though he would go on to play college and professional football, his most notable high school accomplishment came in track when he broke Jesse Owens’ 43-year-old Ohio long-jump record at the Mansfield Mehock Relays in 1976.
After garnering high school All-American honors in football, Bell attended Ohio State in 1977 and was a two-time all-Big Ten defensive back.
The Chicago Bears drafted him in 1981, and he made the Pro Bowl in 1984. But because of a contract dispute, Bell sat out the 1985 season, in which the Bears won the Super Bowl. He retired in 1990.
In 1997, Bell returned to work at his alma mater. But last year, he suffered a fatal heart attack March 16 while driving in Reynoldsburg. He was 47.
“It’s still unreal to have a modern-day role model pass away the way he did,” said Cris Carter — the master of ceremony — who also played football at Middletown, OSU and in the NFL.
Bell’s wife Daphne took time at the luncheon to talk about her recent fight to combat heart disease. She has teamed with the Richard M. Ross Heart Hospital to help people detect heart problems before they become fatal. Many at the luncheon wore flickering heart pins in honor of Bell.
“I’m here for one reason — to sound the alarm,” Daphne Bell said.
Several members of the Middletown City Council and Middletown High School attended the luncheon.
“He showed us a lot of things, so we wanted to give back,” said Middletown junior Tyler Amos, whom Bell had worked with in the long jump when Amos was in eighth grade.
“People respected Todd,” said Sonny Gordon — a Middletown High and OSU football alum — who grew up admiring the elder Bell. “He was the light.”