Upton P. Bell (born 1937) is an American former
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) executive, talk show host, and sports commentator. He is the son of former NFL commissioner
Bert Bell
De Benneville "Bert" Bell (February 25, 1895 – October 11, 1959) was the National Football League (NFL) commissioner from 1946 until his death in 1959. As commissioner, he introduced competitive parity into the NFL to improve the league's comme ...
and
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...
actress
Frances Upton
Frances Upton (April 15, 1904 – November 27, 1975) was an American Broadway theatre actress and comedian.
Early life
Upton attended a business college after she finished high school.
Her father, Francis, was a decorated New York City d ...
.
Football executive
Baltimore Colts
Bell started his football career by working at the
Baltimore Colts
The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from its founding in 1953 to 1984. The team now plays in Indianapolis, as the Indianapolis Colts. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breed ...
' training camp, moved to the ticket office, and in 1964 transitioned to the Colts' scouting department where he became personnel director in May 1966.
[ His responsibilities included scouting and negotiating contracts with and signing of all ]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 ...
recruits. He worked with Weeb Ewbank
Wilbur Charles "Weeb" Ewbank (May 6, 1907 – November 17, 1998) was an American professional football coach. He led the Baltimore Colts to consecutive NFL championships in 1958 and 1959 and the New York Jets to victory in Super Bowl III in Janu ...
and Don Shula
Donald Francis Shula (January 4, 1930 – May 4, 2020) was an American football defensive back and coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) from 1963 to 1995. The head coach of the Miami Dolphins for most of his ca ...
. During Upton's tenure, the Colts were in two NFL Championship game
Throughout its history, the National Football League (NFL) and other rival American football leagues have used several different formats to determine their league champions, including a period of inter-league matchups to determine a true national c ...
s (1964
Events January
* January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved.
* January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...
and 1968
The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide.
Events January–February
* January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.
* Januar ...
) and two Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...
games, losing Super Bowl III
Super Bowl III was an American football game played on January 12, 1969 at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. It was the third AFL–NFL Championship Game in professional American football, and the first to officially bear the trademark name "Su ...
in 1969 then winning Super Bowl V
Super Bowl V was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Baltimore Colts and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys to determine the National Football League (NFL) champio ...
in 1971 under new head coach Don McCafferty
Donald William McCafferty (March 12, 1921 – July 28, 1974) was an American football player and coach who, in his first year as head coach of the Baltimore Colts, led the team to a victory in Super Bowl V, and became the first rookie head coach ...
. Seventeen of the 40-man roster on that winning team were players drafted during Upton's tenure as personnel director. Bell held the personnel director's job until he was hired to become the general manager
A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...
of the then Boston Patriots
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most ...
.
New England Patriots
Bell joined the Patriots in February 1971, and at age 33, was the NFL's youngest general manager.[ One of Bell's first moves was recommending to the Patriots' board of directors that they change the team name from the proposed Bay State Patriots to ]New England Patriots
The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...
, as the team relocated from Boston to Foxborough, Massachusetts
Foxborough is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, about southwest of Boston, northeast of Providence, Rhode Island and about northwest of Cape Cod. Foxborough is part of the Greater Boston area. The population was 18,618 at ...
.
Bell later hired Bucko Kilroy
Francis Joseph "Bucko" Kilroy (May 30, 1921 – July 10, 2007) was an American football player and executive. Kilroy was born in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia, where he attended St. Anne's grade school before attending Northeast Cat ...
and put together the Patriots' first scouting department. For the scouting department Bell hired Tom Boisture
Thomas C. Boisture (March 23, 1931 – March 11, 2011) was an American football high school and college coach, a National Football League (NFL) scout, and the head of player personnel for the New York Giants.
Before joining the Giants, Boisture ...
, Dick Steinberg
Dick Steinberg (August 9, 1935 – September 25, 1995) was an American football executive who served as the general manager of the New York Jets from 1990 to 1994.
Career
Early career
Steinberg began his career as a coach at Roman Catholic Hi ...
, Mike Hickey and Bob Terpening, all of whom went on to head scouting positions in the NFL. Bell also hired as assistant general manager Peter Hadhazy
Peter Hadhazy ( hu, Hadházy Péter; February 9, 1944 – April 3, 2006), was an American football executive, who served as the General Manager of the Cleveland Browns from 1976 to 1981 and also as an executive for the National Football League (NF ...
, who later became general manager of 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 ( ...
.
Under Bell's leadership, the Patriots improved from their 1970 record of 2–12 to 6–8 in 1971. Despite the improvement, Bell wanted to fire head coach John Mazur
John Edward Mazur (June 17, 1930 – November 1, 2013) was an American gridiron football player and coach. He was played college football as a quarterback at the University of Notre Dame. Mazur served as head coach for the New England Patriots o ...
and hire a coach of his own choosing. The team's board of directors agreed that if the Patriots lost to the Baltimore Colts in the final week of the regular season, Mazur would be fired. The Patriots won, 21–17, helped by an 88-yard touchdown pass from Jim Plunkett
James William Plunkett (born December 5, 1947) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for sixteen seasons. He achieved his greatest professional success during his final eight seasons with the ...
to Randy Vataha
Randel Edward Vataha, (born December 4, 1948) is a former American football player, a wide receiver for seven seasons in the National Football League (NFL), the first six with the New England Patriots.
Early years
Born in Santa Monica, California ...
in the fourth quarter. The Patriots fell to 3–11 the following season, and Bell was fired on December 5, 1972.
Charlotte Hornets
Bell returned to professional football in 1974 with the purchase of the New York Stars New York Stars could refer to:
*New York Stars (WBL), a team that played two seasons in the Women's Professional Basketball League before disbanding in 1980
*New York Stars (WFL), a team in the World Football League that relocated in 1974 and becam ...
in the World Football League
The World Football League (WFL) was an American football league that played one full season in 1974 and most of its second in 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a worldwide stage, the farthest t ...
(WFL). Bell, who also served as team president and general manager, relocated the team to Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
, where the team was renamed the Charlotte Hornets
The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division, and pla ...
. This venture was short-lived due to the folding of the WFL in 1975. One of Bell's co-owners was Arnold Palmer
Arnold Daniel Palmer (September 10, 1929 – September 25, 2016) was an American professional golfer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most charismatic players in the sport's history. Dating back to 1955, he won numerous ev ...
. After the closure of the WFL, many of Bell's players along with all his coaches were signed into the NFL. They included Lindy Infante
Gelindo "Lindy" Infante (March 27, 1940 – October 8, 2015) was an American football player and coach, who became an offensive coordinator and head coach in both the National Football League (NFL) and the United States Football League (USFL). ...
, who became the Packers' head coach; Tom Moore of the Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...
; and Bob Gibson
Robert Gibson (born Pack Robert Gibson; November 9, 1935October 2, 2020) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals (1959–1975). Nicknamed "Gibby" and "Hoot" ( ...
of the New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
. Bell also recommended Charlotte to the NFL as a franchise city.
Sports announcer
Starting in 1976, Bell began a long media career by making guest appearances on programs such as John Sterling’s show on WMCA WMCA may refer to:
*WMCA (AM), a radio station operating in New York City
* West Midlands Combined Authority, the combined authority of the West Midlands metropolitan county in the United Kingdom
*Wikimedia Canada
The Wikimedia Foundation, ...
in New York. In 1977, Bell was the host of the ''Pats Post Game Show'' on WBZ. In 1978, he became co-host of WBZ’s ''Calling All Sports'' with newcomer Bob Lobel
Robert "Bob" Lobel (born December 24, 1943) is a former sportscaster for WBZ-TV in Boston, Massachusetts. He anchored the sports segments on the evening newscasts between Sunday and Thursday, and hosted the weekly programs ''Sports Final'' and ' ...
. Other shows hosted by Bell included ''Sports Nightly'' (1979–1980), ''Sports Line'' on WEEI (1980–1984), ''Sports Beat'' on WSBK-TV
WSBK-TV (channel 38) is an independent television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside CBS owned-and-operated station WBZ-TV (channel 4). Both stations share studios on So ...
(1989–1996) with Joe Fitzgerald, Bob Ryan
Robert P. Ryan (born February 21, 1946) is an American sportswriter, formerly with ''The Boston Globe'', and author. He has been described as "the quintessential American sportswriter" and a basketball guru, and is well known for his coverage of ...
and Bob Lobel, and ''Upton Commentary'' with columnist Will McDonough
William McDonough (July 6, 1935 – January 9, 2003) was an American sportswriter for ''The Boston Globe'' who also worked as an on-air football reporter for CBS and NBC.
Biography
Newspaper career
The youngest of nine children of Irish immigran ...
of ''The Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'' on WNEV Channel 7 (1984–1988) and ''New England Sports Final'' (1989–2007). He was also a guest commentator on NECN
New England Cable News (NECN) is a regional 24-hour cable news television network owned and operated by NBCUniversal (as part of the NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations division, both ultimately owned by Comcast) serving the New England regi ...
and ''Sports Final'' on WBZ-TV
WBZ-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, airing programming from the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside independent station WSBK-TV (channe ...
. During the 1989 and 1990 NFL seasons, Bell served as an interviewer for WBZ-TV during their Patriots pre-game show and newscasts.
Bell’s first color commentary experience came at WSMW
WSMW (98.7 FM) is an adult hits station licensed to Greensboro, North Carolina and serving the Piedmont Triad region, including High Point and Winston-Salem. The Audacy, Inc. outlet uses the slogan "We Play Everything!"
WSMW broadcasts with a ...
where he called college football with Bob Fouracre
Robert E. Fouracre (November 22, 1937 – April 17, 2021) was an American sportscaster who called football and basketball for the College of the Holy Cross. He was a 1956 graduate of Northboro High School, a 1958 graduate of the Cushing Academy ...
from 1978 to 1982. In 1983, Bell served as the color commentator for the Boston Breakers
The Boston Breakers were an American professional soccer club based in the Boston neighborhood of Allston. The team competed in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). They replaced the original Breakers, who competed in the defunct Women's ...
professional football team on WNEV and ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
and was the studio host for Sports Channel New England. He was the color commentator for the Boston College Eagles football
The Boston College Eagles football team represents Boston College in the sport of American football. The Eagles compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a member of ...
radio broadcasts with play-by-play announcers Dan Davis in 1985 and Bob Lobel in 1986. Bell was also a fill in-color commentator for Sports Channel New England’s Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...
games as well as host of their nightly talk show.
Nationally, Bell worked on Ivy League
The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schools ...
football games on PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
alongside play-by-play announcer Dick Galiette and sideline reporter Sean McDonough
Sean McDonough (born May 13, 1962) is an American sportscaster, currently employed by ESPN and WEEI Red Sox Radio Network.
Early life
The son of ''Boston Globe'' sportswriter Will McDonough, McDonough graduated from the S. I. Newhouse School ...
in 1984. Bell also was co-host of the first national television show on the NFL Draft
The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...
on PBS in 1977.
Talk radio
Bell transitioned from sports talk on radio to general talk in 1988. He succeeded Dave Maynard
David H. Maynard was a Boston television host and radio personality.
Maynard was born in Larchmont, New York, in 1929. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree from Emerson College and his Master of Communication from Boston University, where he ...
on WBZ radio in 1990. After 1988, Bell hosted shows on WHDH (1988–1989), WTAG
WTAG (580 AM) is a radio station in Worcester, Massachusetts. It is owned by iHeartMedia and airs a news/talk format. WTAG's studios are in Paxton and it broadcasts from a transmitter in Holden, Massachusetts. The transmitter operates at 5 ...
(1992–1998), WRPT/ WMEX (1998–2003). For three consecutive years, the ''Upton Bell Show'' was recognized by the Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
as Outstanding Talk Show in New England.
Notable people that Bell interviewed include George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
, Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
, Tip O'Neill
Thomas Phillip "Tip" O'Neill Jr. (December 9, 1912 – January 5, 1994) was an American politician who served as the 47th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1987, representing northern Boston, Massachusetts, as ...
, Stephen Hawking, Henry Kissinger
Henry Alfred Kissinger (; ; born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the presid ...
, Ted Kennedy
Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...
, Geraldine Ferraro
Geraldine Anne Ferraro (August 26, 1935 March 26, 2011) was an American politician, diplomat, and attorney. She served in the United States House of Representatives from 1979 to 1985, and was the Democratic Party's vice presidential nominee ...
, Norman Mailer
Nachem Malech Mailer (January 31, 1923 – November 10, 2007), known by his pen name Norman Kingsley Mailer, was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, playwright, activist, filmmaker and actor. In a career spanning over six decades, Mailer ...
, Regis Philbin
Regis Francis Xavier Philbin (; August 25, 1931 – July 25, 2020)Archived aGhostarchiveand thWayback Machine was an American television presenter, talk show host, game show host, comedian, actor, and singer. Once called "the hardest working ma ...
, Frank McCourt
Francis McCourt (August 19, 1930July 19, 2009) was an Irish-American teacher and writer. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his book ''Angela's Ashes'', a tragicomic memoir of the misery and squalor of his childhood.
Early life and education
Frank McC ...
, Jay Leno
James Douglas Muir Leno (; born April 28, 1950) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and actor. After doing stand-up comedy for years, he became the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show'' from 1992 to 2009. Beginning in September 2009 ...
, Dr. Joyce Brothers
Joyce Diane Brothers (October 20, 1927 – May 13, 2013) was an American psychologist, television personality, advice columnist, and writer.
She first became famous in 1955 for winning the top prize on the American game show '' The $64,000 Ques ...
, Jackie Mason
Jackie Mason (born Yacov Moshe Maza; yi, יעקב משה מזא; June 9, 1928 – July 24, 2021) was an American stand-up comedian and actor.
His 1986 one-man show ''The World According to Me!'' won a Special Tony Award, an Outer Critics Cir ...
, Sam Donaldson
Samuel Andrew Donaldson Jr. (born March 11, 1934) is an American former reporter and news anchor, serving with ABC News from 1967 to 2009. He is best known as the network's White House Correspondent (1977–1989 and 1998–99) and as a panelist ...
, Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...
, Johnnie Cochran
Johnnie Lee Cochran Jr.Adam Bernstei ''The Washington Post'', March 30, 2005; retrieved April 17, 2006. (; October 2, 1937 – March 29, 2005) was an American lawyer best known for his leadership role in the defense and criminal acquittal ...
and Alan Dershowitz
Alan Morton Dershowitz ( ; born September 1, 1938) is an American lawyer and former law professor known for his work in U.S. constitutional law and American criminal law. From 1964 to 2013, he taught at Harvard Law School, where he was appoin ...
.
In November 2010, Bell and Bob Lobel reunited briefly with a Sunday morning program on WXKS 1200 Radio in suburban Boston.
Works
*
References
External links
Upton Bell channel
on YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
* hosted by Upton Bell with Lou Gorman
James Gerald "Lou" Gorman (February 18, 1929 – April 1, 2011) was an American baseball executive, and the former general manager of the Seattle Mariners and Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball. He spent more than three decades in baseball op ...
, Bob Lobel
Robert "Bob" Lobel (born December 24, 1943) is a former sportscaster for WBZ-TV in Boston, Massachusetts. He anchored the sports segments on the evening newscasts between Sunday and Thursday, and hosted the weekly programs ''Sports Final'' and ' ...
, Bob Ryan
Robert P. Ryan (born February 21, 1946) is an American sportswriter, formerly with ''The Boston Globe'', and author. He has been described as "the quintessential American sportswriter" and a basketball guru, and is well known for his coverage of ...
, and Joe Fitzgerald
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Upton
1937 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Philadelphia
National Football League general managers
New England Patriots executives
World Football League executives
Boston sportscasters
Television anchors from Boston
Boston College Eagles football announcers
National Football League announcers
National Basketball Association broadcasters
American sports radio personalities
Players of American football from Philadelphia