The NFL Draft starts tonight, one of the biggest non-sporting sporting events on the American sports calendar. It’s when franchises reload their rosters with what they hope are a bunch of future stars.
The 1963 AFL Draft was one of the best ever for the Kansas City Chiefs. They selected four players who would end up in the team’s Ring of Honor, including Buck Buchanon and Ed Budde in the first round and Jerrel Wilson in the 11th round. But maybe their best pick came in the seventh round, when they selected Bobby Bell from Minnesota.
I believe Bell is the best athlete to ever put on the uniform of the Kansas City Chiefs. He would argue that was not his greatest accomplishment.
That happened more than 50 years after he left college to join the Chiefs for a lengthy career that put him in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In May 2015, Bell fulfilled a promise to his father when he walked across the stage at the University of Minnesota to receive his degree in recreation, park and leisure studies.
“My dad always said, ‘You’re going to finish up there and get your diploma,’” he said at the time. “I kept saying, ‘Yeah, I’m going to do it.’ But I just kept putting it off. Last year, I said, ‘I’ve got to do it. I’m not going to put if off another minute.’ I wish I had done it a long time ago.”
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