Wayne State University issued the following announcement on May 05.
Former Wayne State University running back and 2016 WSU Athletics Hall of Fame inductee Joique Bell was selected to the Detroit Lions All-Decade Team as announced by the Detroit News.
According to Justin Rogers of the Detroit News:
"This selection is a damning indictment of Detroit's ground game the past decade. Bell gave the Lions a couple of nice seasons. Plus, he was a heck of a story as a local kid who used to work security for the team while attending college at Wayne State. But no one should feel good about the fact Bell had 932 more rushing yards than any other Lions back the past 10 years. He also added another 1,638 yards in the passing game, scoring 23 total touchdowns in 63 games for the franchise.
After graduating from Benton Harbor High School in 2005 and redshirting that fall at WSU, Bell put together a HOF resume in his next four years with the Warriors.
Joique Bell was a four-year football letterwinner (2006-09) who won the 2009 Harlon Hill Trophy as the best player in Division II.
A four-time First Team All-GLIAC selection, Bell had 6,728 career rushing yards (sixth in D-II and eighth in NCAA history), while his 152.91 rushing yards per game was 11th in D-II and 25th in NCAA history.
Bell's 576 points ranked fifth in NCAA history (all three divisions combined), while his 13.1 points per game average was fourth in D-II history. He accumulated 8,055 all-purpose yards which was fourth in D-II and ninth in NCAA history.
Bell, a two-time GLIAC Offensive Back of the Year award winner, was responsible for 100 touchdowns (88 rushing, 8 receiving and 4 passing) in 44 games. He finished with 918 receiving yards and set WSU records for rushing attempts, total offense (7,008) and total plays (1,198).
A two-year team captain, Bell became the fourth player in D-II history with two 2,000-yard rushing seasons. His 1,181 career rushing attempts ranked sixth in NCAA history (all divisions) and second in Division II history.
He is the only two-time AFCA All-American in school history earning that recognition in both 2006 and 2009. Bell concluded his Warrior career with 34 100-yard rushing efforts of which nine were at least 200 yards and two were 300-yard games.
In the 2006 win over Mercyhurst, he rushed for 318 yards and four touchdowns, and amassed a school record 386 all-purpose yards. During the 2009 campaign, Bell rushed for 314 yards (sixth best total in GLIAC history) against Northwood and three touchdowns and in the process became the GLIAC career leader in all-purpose yards.
A three-time Harlon Hill semifinalist (top 24 nationally), Bell not only finished the 2009 regular season leading the GLIAC in rushing (2,084 yards), scoring (192 points) and all-purpose yards per game (217.5) but the entire NCAA (including I-A/FBS, I-AA/FCS, II and III) in all three categories.
He was selected to the D2Football.Com All-Decade (2000-09) Second Team, after being a three-time D2Football.com All-American (Second Team in 2006, Honorable Mention in 2007 and First Team in 2009).
Bell owns five of WSU's top eight single-game rushing totals and is the only person in school history to score six touchdowns in a game, twice (Oct. 3, 2009, in a 47-40 win over Ashland where he scored the game-winning touchdown on a 45-yard reception with 30 seconds remaining; and Oct. 17, 2009, in a 45-7 victory over Ferris State in which Bell carried the ball 34 times for 263 yards and was never tackled behind the line of scrimmage).
In a 2009 contest at the University of Indianapolis, Bell rushed for 182 yards and two touchdowns, but will be remembered most for a saving tackle on a defensive two-point conversion racing nearly 100 yards to tackle the Greyhound defensive back at the two-yard line.
He signed a free agent contract with Buffalo in 2010, but ended up playing regular-season games for the Indianapolis Colts (5 games) and Philadelphia Eagles (3 games). After spending the 2011 season on the New Orleans Saints practice squad before signing with the Lions, Bell then played in 60 of Detroit's 64 games between 2012 and 2015. He rushed for 2,235 yards with the Lions and 22 touchdowns, while catching 162 passes in his Detroit career.
Original source can be found here.
Alerts Sign-up