Joique Bell "I'm A Michigan Man"
By: Jeff Riger
After a Lions game people always talk, and this is what they're talking about ...
-They will be talking about Matt Stafford throwing 3 interceptions, then almost a 4th, only to come back and execute the game-winning drive by hooking up with Kevin Smith with 15 seconds left in the game.
-They will talk about a Lions secondary that continues to be banged up, and could now be in worse shape considering the uncertainty of Bill Bentley, a rookie member of the secondary.
-They will also talk about next week as the Lions get prepared to head to San Fran to take on the Niners and Jim Schwartz and Jim Harbaugh will once again try to get a hand shake right.
Fans will be talking about all of the above this week and beyond; but will they even mention Joique Bell? Probably not, but they should.
Bell scored the Lions first touchdown of the season and his first of his career on Sunday against the Rams with 9:29 remaining in the 2nd quarter. It might have been just a one yard run, but it was a much awaited yard for Bell.
Sure, you probably know the story but it's worth telling again...
Bell played his college football at Wayne State University which is about 4 miles away from Ford Field. Bell is one of the few football players that found the NFL from division 2; ever fewer have found the end zone once in the league. To make the story even more bizarre, Bell was also a security guard for the Lions before becoming one of their running backs. This is stuff that dreams and movies are made of.
After the game, Bell met with the media and of course the obvious question was; how special was the touchdown?
"I grew up in Michigan, I'm a Michigan man" Bell Said. He went on "born and raised here, went to school right here in Detroit, Wayne State University, love you guys. From my home town in Benton Harbor, Michigan love, you guys and thanks for the support. I came back in after the game and had about a hundred missed calls and about 5,000 text messages. It is great to know that I have support back home."
Bell has the ball that he scored his first TD with saying "it's coming home with me once it comes back with all the writing on it." Bell joked that the game ball will be going in the center of his home, claiming that now he has just the ball and a chair for his decor.
Bell has one carry and one touchdown with the Lions so far meaning that he is a perfect 1.000,"That's great when you put it like that" he said.
Bell is the first Wayne State alum to play for the Lions since Tom Beer did on December, 23rd 1996 and the first to score a touchdown since Richard 'Dick' Byas did it with the Atlanta Falcons back in 1979.
Watch the video of Bell below about his first game with the Lions and his first TD.
