NYT times article on Bobby Bell

Graduating at 74 to honor this father

Great read

This is a powerful story. Wow. Thank you for posting the link. He's a national hero.

Great story!

That is a great story. Glad to hear that Bobby finished what he started. What a pioneer and ambassador for the game.

Thanks for posting. Just sent to my dad and he asked me to let him know when graduation is so he can go clap for Bobby.

Wonderful article on my favorite living Gopher football alum.

Two additional notes on North Carolina coach Jim Tatum informing Murray Warmath about Bell:

1. Tatum saw Bell at a high school all-star game and could tell he had a lot of talent, but knew he could not play in the ACC due to his race. However, Tatum saw a Notre Dame scout at this same game and was worried that ND might get him - ND was recruiting African-Americans at that time and North Carolina had a home-and-home scheduled with ND in the upcoming seasons. The story goes that Tatum called Warmath to try and prevent Bell from becoming a member of the Fighting' Irish.

2. Tatum came down with some sort of infection the following year (1959) and died rather suddenly. He was only 46 years old - and never got to coach those home-and-home games against ND.

I don't think Minnesota has ever gotten the recognition it deserves for its role in integrating intercollegiate sports, thanks largely to Carl Rowan. Rowan was an African-American journalist who got a masters in journalism from the University and began his professional career on the staff of the Minneapolis Tribune (which was latter merged with the Minneapolis Star to become the Star-Tribune). At a time when most major football programs would not play African-American players, Rowan helped Murray Warmath recruit African-American players, including Bobby Lee Bell, Carl Eller, Sandy Stephens and Bill Munsey. Thanks in large part to these players, Minnesota went to the Rose Bowl in 1961 and 1962, and won a national championship in 1960.

Bell did, however, walk on in basketball and became the university’s first black basketball player.

Wasn't aware of that.