Blake “The Belldozer” Bell played four seasons of Oklahoma football, mostly at the quarterback position. Today, he is one of almost 40 former Sooners on NFL rosters, but only because he was game enough to change positions to give him his best shot of playing at the next level.
Bell was a four-star quarterback prospect out of Wichita, Kan., and a top recruit in the Oklahoma class of 2010. Early in his college career, he was considered the heir apparent to QB Landry Jones.
He played in 31 games at quarterback for Oklahoma, but did not get his first start at the position until his junior season in 2013. His redshirt freshman and sophomore seasons he was used only in a back-up role. But the Sooner coaches found a different way to take advantage of Bell’s size and strength as an offensive weapon.
Third or fourth down and short yardage, the 6-foot, 6-inch, 259-pound Bell was the one who would get the call to come in and direct the offense. And their wasn’t much trickery or mystery to what was coming. It was the “Belldozer,” with a slight hesitation step, straight up the gut…almost always resulting in a first down – and often touchdown – Sooners!
Bell threw 150 passes in three seasons as the Sooner quarterback. He actually ran with the football 29 more times (179) than he threw it in his first three years of Oklahoma football. But it was the 12 games and 16 receptions he made as a tight end his redshirt senior year that got him where he is today: playing professional football as a member of the San Francisco 49ers.
Having been beaten out by sophomore Trevor Knight for the starting quarterback job to begin the 2014 season, and recognizing through counseling with head coach Bob Stoops and the Sooner coaching staff that his best chance for an NFL career would be on the receiving and not the throwing end of the football.
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Prior to the start of his final season of college football, in 2014, the former high school All-American quarterback made the difficult decision to switch positions and utilize his size, strength, deceptive speed and sure hands to haul in passes rather than heave them. Bell caught 16 passes in the 2014 season, averaging 13.4 yards per catch.
The San Francisco 49ers were impressed enough with Bell’s college career and his potential as an NFL tight end that they selected the former Sooner quarterback in the fourth round of the 2015 NFL Draft with the 117th overall pick.
Bell played in 14 games for the 49ers his rookie year in 2015, starting in five. He caught 15 passes for 186 yards. He was used less often in the 2016 season, with just four receptions in 13 games.
This will be Bell’s third season in the NFL. And because he was bold and brave enough to take the fork in the road in his career path in college, he made the successful transition to professional football and is continuing the legacy of his father, Mark, and his uncle. Mike, who also played in the National Football League.