I Remember Theo Bell

I want to pay homage to Theo Bell, who died yesterday from kidney disease. He was only 52 years old. I remember Bell from when I was a kid following the Pittsburgh Steelers. I even remember having one of his playing cards in my collection.

Bell played at Arizona in college and was drafted by the Steelers in 1976 in the fourth round of the NFL Draft. He played for the Steelers for five years from 1976-1980 and then for five more seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1981-1985 after signing as a free agent.

He was mainly a special teams player with the Steelers (punt returner) as well as serving as their fourth receiver. While he played these roles, he was a part of their Super Bowl XIII and XIV championships in 1978 and 1979.

During his 10 seasons in the NFL, Bell caught 136 passes for 2,375 yards along with eight touchdowns. He also returned 189 punts and averaged 8.0 yards per return.

Bell was diagnosed in 2000 with polycystic kidney disease (a condition in which cysts attack the kidneys). More recently he also suffered from scleroderma, which had damaged his lungs. Scleroderma is a disease which causes a hardening of the skin and damage to internal organs. Unfortunately, Bell was still on waiting lists for kidney and lung transplants at the time of his death.

Bell deserves recognition for his charitable pursuits after his NFL career ended. He was involved with many charitable endeavors in Tampa, the most prominent being the GEARUP program, which originated at the University of South Florida, in which a mentor counsels a group of children from middle school and follows their progress through high school. He was particularly involved with Blake High School in Tampa.

Theo Bell RIP