David Kyreem Bell (born December 14, 2000) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

wide receiver for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

Early years

Bell grew up in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

and attended Warren Central High School. As a junior, Bell recorded 52 catches for 1,075 yards and 11 touchdowns. He was also a member of Warren Central's undefeated Class 4A State Championship Basketball team. As a senior, Bell caught 85 passes for 1,542 yards and 22 touchdowns and was named the Marion County Athlete of the Year and Male Athlete of the Year by ''

The Indianapolis Star ''The Indianapolis Star'' (also known as ''IndyStar'') is a morning daily newspaper that began publishing on June 6, 1903, in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It has been the only major daily paper in the city since 1999, when the ''Indianap ...

'' as well as the Indiana Gatorade Player of the Year as the Warriors went on to win the 6A State Title. Rated the best recruit in Indiana by several outlets, Bell committed to play college football at

over offers from

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

and

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

during the All-American Bowl.

College career

Bell became a starter at wide receiver as a true freshman. Bell was named the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

Freshman of the Week four times, including after catching nine passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns on October 12, 2019 against

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. He finished the season with 86 receptions for 1,035 yards and seven touchdowns and was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Bell was named the Big Ten co-Offensive Player of the Week for the first week of his sophomore season after catching 13 passes for 121 yards and three touchdowns in a 24-20 win over Iowa. He was named first-team All-Big Ten after catching 53 passes for 625 yards and eight touchdowns over six games in the team's COVID-19-shortened 2020 season. As a junior, Bell repeated as a first-team All-Big Ten selection and the Richter–Howard Receiver of the Year.

College statistics

Professional career

Bell was selected by the

with the 99th overall pick in the third round of the

2022 NFL Draft The 2022 NFL Draft was the 87th edition of the National Football League's annual draft and was held from April 28–30, 2022, at the Caesars Forum on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The first round was held on Thursday, April 28, and w ...

References

External links

Cleveland Browns bioPurdue Boilermakers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, David 2000 births Living people American football wide receivers Purdue Boilermakers football players Players of American football from Indianapolis All-American college football players Cleveland Browns players