Joique Dewayne Bell Jr. (born August 4, 1986) is a former

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 wi ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Th ...

. 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 in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

at Wayne State. Bell was signed by the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who i ...

in 2010. He has also been a member of the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

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 ...

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at For ...

, and

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine ...

College career

As a senior at Wayne State, Bell was the winner of the

Harlon Hill Trophy The Harlon Hill Trophy is an award in American college football given to the individual selected as the most valuable player in NCAA Division II. The award is named for former University of North Alabama and National Football League player Ha ...

, awarded to the Division II player of the year, after he rushed for 2,084 yards and 29

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

in the 2009 season.

Professional career

Buffalo Bills

After going undrafted in the

2010 NFL Draft The 2010 NFL Draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The 2010 draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, with the fir ...

, Bell signed with the

on April 29, 2010. On September 4, 2010, he was released by the Bills during final team cuts. Bell was signed to the Bills'

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

on the following day.

Philadelphia Eagles

On September 21, 2010, the

signed Bell off the Bills' practice squad. He was released by the Eagles on November 10, 2010.

Indianapolis Colts

Bell was claimed off waivers by the

on November 11, 2010. On December 15, 2010, Bell was released by the team.

Philadelphia Eagles (second stint)

One day after his release from the Colts, on December 16, 2010, Bell was signed to the Eagles' practice squad.

New Orleans Saints

Bell was signed off the Eagles' practice squad by the

on January 5, 2011 before the playoffs began. He was released by the team on September 20, 2011, and re-signed to the Saints' practice squad the following day.

Detroit Lions

On December 26, 2011, Bell was signed by the

. He played his first game with the Lions on September 9, 2012, and appeared in all 16 games of the 2012 season, compiling 414 rushing yards on 82 carries (5.0 average) with three rushing touchdowns. He also hauled in 52 receptions for 485 yards; 28 of his receptions were for first downs. He was re-signed by the Lions in April 2013. He again played all 16 games for Detroit, finishing with 650 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns. Bell also caught 53 passes for 547 yards, as he and teammate

Reggie Bush Reginald Alfred Bush Jr. (born March 2, 1985) is an American former football running back who now serves as an on-air college football analyst for Fox Sports. He played college football at USC, where he earned consensus All-American honors twi ...

, who had 54 receptions for 506 yards, became the first running back duo in NFL history to both top 500 rushing yards and 500 receiving yards in a season. On March 11, 2014, he signed a two-year, $7 million contract extension with $4.3 million in guaranteed money. Combined with the second round tender he signed worth $2.187 million, he was under contract for three years and $9.3 million overall. On February 16, 2016, Bell was released by the Detroit Lions.

Chicago Bears

On September 27, 2016, Bell was signed by the

. On October 24, he was released by the Bears.

Detroit Lions (second stint)

The Detroit Lions re-signed Bell on December 6, 2016, after starting running back

Ameer Abdullah Ameer Abdullah (born June 13, 1993) is an American football running back for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft. He played college football ...

suffered a fractured foot.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Postseason

Personal life

Bell was born in

Benton Harbor, Michigan Benton Harbor is a city in Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is 46 miles southwest of Kalamazoo and 71 miles southwest of Grand Rapids. According to the 2020 census, its population was 9,103. It is the smaller, by population, ...

and majored in

criminal justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...

at Wayne State.Simons, Marshal
Detroit Lions' and former WSU RB Joique Bell sits down with The South End

The South End ''The South End'' is the official student newspaper of Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, published in print and online. It was founded in 1967, and its publication is funded partly from university funds and partly from advertising rev ...

. November 7, 2014. Retrieved January 3, 2015. While a student at Wayne State, Bell worked as a security guard at the Detroit Lions' training camp.Litman, Laken
Detroit Lions running back goes from team security guard to active roster
usatoday.com. December 18, 2013. Retrieved January 3, 2015. Bell graduated with his masters degree in Sports Administration on Dec. 10, 2016.

References

External links

Detroit Lions bio

Buffalo Bills bio

Wayne State Warriors football bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Joique 1986 births Living people People from Benton Harbor, Michigan Players of American football from Michigan American football running backs Wayne State Warriors football players Buffalo Bills players Philadelphia Eagles players Indianapolis Colts players New Orleans Saints players Detroit Lions players Chicago Bears players Ed Block Courage Award recipients