Mike J. Bell (born August 30, 1957) is a former American college and professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who was a

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

in 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 ...

for twelve seasons during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Bell 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 ...

for

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

, where he earned All-American honors. He was the second overall pick in the

1979 NFL Draft The 1979 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held May 3–4, 1979, at the Waldorf Astoria ...

, and played for the NFL's

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

for his entire professional career. Bell was born in

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had ...

, where he played multiple sports at

Bishop Carroll Catholic High School Bishop Carroll Catholic High School is a private high school located in Wichita, Kansas, United States.Colorado State Rams football The Colorado State Rams football program (established 1893) represents Colorado State University and is a member of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and the Mountain West Conference. Since joining the Mountain West, the Rams have be ...

from 1975 to 1978. He was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American as a senior in 1978. His

twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...

brother Mark Bell also played for Colorado State. Bell was inducted to th
Colorado State University Athletics Hall of Fame
in 2001. The Kansas City Chiefs chose Bell in the first round (second overall pick) in the 1979 NFL Draft, and he played for the Chiefs from to , playing for four head coaches. During his twelve NFL seasons, he played in 135 games and started 100 of them, compiling 40 quarterback sacks and 10 recovered fumbles.

External links

NFL.com player page

Colorado State Athletics Hall of Fame Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Mike 1957 births Living people All-American college football players American football defensive ends Colorado State Rams football players Kansas City Chiefs players Players of American football from Wichita, Kansas American twins Twin sportspeople