- Jun 11, 2014
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To countless people, the clip isn’t necessarily associated with the name Kerwin Bell.
Instead, it’s “that guy who spiked a football into his own groin, then gets pushed by an opponent,” a GIF so hilarious that we recently named it the GOAT sports GIF.
But that poor guy is Kerwin Bell. He’s now the head coach at Division II Valdosta State in Georgia, and he absolutely doesn’t mind talking about the play that’s followed him around for nearly two decades.
In October of 2000, as a quarterback for the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts, Bell faced his former team, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, with a shot at a playoff spot. In the first half, he saw nine yards of daylight and an end zone in front of him, and the not-so-fleet-of-foot QB found paydirt, a rare rushing touchdown.
Bell got up and saw his ex-teammate, cornerback Juran Bolden, so he decided to celebrate the score by jumping in front of Bolden and spiking the ball between his legs.
“My competitiveness and the way I played the game got the best of me at that moment,” Bell remembered in an interview with For The Win this week. “I was just sort of playing around and talking trash. But it didn’t turn out quite the way I expected it.”
Instead, Bell nailed himself in the groin and Bolden gave him a push, with the QB landing on another opponent. Bell’s only thought at that moment?
“I was upset that I got a flag,” he said. “I actually got hit with the ball and by Juran. They got me for taunting or whatever it was for.”
Back then, there was no YouTube or Twitter to make the clip instantaneously go viral. But there was TSN, which Bell said ran the highlight “night and day for a week.”
“I realized that it was something that was going to last the rest of my life,” he said.
As the years went by, he would get phone calls while in his native Florida when ESPN ran its list of the worst celebrations of all time.
But that certainly hasn’t fazed Bell, especially after the career he’s had.
Bell grew up on a 200-acre tobacco farm in Mayo, a “one red-light town” in Florida. When he left Mayo-Lafayette High School without a football scholarship, he walked-on to the University of Florida’s team and reported he was the eighth-string quarterback in 1983. A year later, thanks to teammates’ injuries and other factors, he was the starter, and in 1987, he finished his collegiate career with 7,585 yards passing and 56 touchdowns with some rumbles about Heisman candidacy along the way. At the time, he was the all-time leading passer in Gators history.
When the Dolphins took him 180th overall in the 7th round of the 1988 NFL Draft, he thought he’d be “the next Dan Marino.” It was quite the opposite — Bell became a journeyman, joining other NFL teams before he was cut. Eventually, he’d play in the World League and the CFL before he’d join the Indianapolis Colts in 1996. It was then that he’d get to live out his NFL dream for one game before heading back to the CFL for the eventual Groin Shot Seen ‘Round the World.
His chance in the NFL came when starter Jim Harbaugh went down with an injury in a December contest against the Philadelphia Eagles. Bell stepped in for his only NFL game and went 5-for-5 with a touchdown pass, the football equivalent of “Moonlight” Graham. That means he had a perfect quarterback ranking of 158.3, putting him at the top of the record books (if you’re discounting that he’s only thrown five passes in total).
“I always tell people you can always make your life look good,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of failures, but if you say it the right way, it seems pretty good. I was a four-year starter in college, in Hall of Fame there. I was the all-time leading passer there. I’m the all-time leader in quarterback rating and I’m in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.”
Ah, yes. How could we forget? While touring the Hall in 1996 when the Colts visited, Bell’s teammates spotted his helmet and photo on a wall as part of an exhibit on “inventions of the game.” Because Bell was the first person to wear a helmet cam during a World League game, he landed in Canton.
His coaching career had a more conventional path: While rehabbing a knee injury in 1990, he was a graduate assistant for Steve Spurrier during the Ol’ Ball Coach’s first year at Florida, eventually working his way up to coach at Jacksonville University before joining the Blazers in 2016.
That clip of his failed celebration, however, isn’t something he hides from as a coach.
“When I’m recruiting guys, sometimes I’ll bring that up,” he said. “I’ll say, ‘Hey check me out.’ They don’t know who you are, they don’t know you played ball and sometimes it makes a connection for those guys. You can show them the lighter side of you and show some of your faults as a person and as a player. They’ll text me and let me know they enjoyed it. I use it to break the ice.”
He’s not totally against excessive touchdown celebrations, either. On the 15th day of spring practice, he tells the referees to stuff their yellow hankies away and informs his players that he wants to see their best celebrations of a score. And, yes, of course he brings up his viral moment that’s still being mentioned today.
“I think in life, you make mistakes,” he said. “All those things in life are a part of you. You own up to it. It wasn’t a very intelligent play.”
“I always tell kids: It’s not always the smartest guy or the best looking guy,” he added later. “It’s about the guy who’s willing to fail and not be afraid to fail.”
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/08/bes...osta-state-coach-colts-dolphins-florida-video
Instead, it’s “that guy who spiked a football into his own groin, then gets pushed by an opponent,” a GIF so hilarious that we recently named it the GOAT sports GIF.
But that poor guy is Kerwin Bell. He’s now the head coach at Division II Valdosta State in Georgia, and he absolutely doesn’t mind talking about the play that’s followed him around for nearly two decades.
In October of 2000, as a quarterback for the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts, Bell faced his former team, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, with a shot at a playoff spot. In the first half, he saw nine yards of daylight and an end zone in front of him, and the not-so-fleet-of-foot QB found paydirt, a rare rushing touchdown.
Bell got up and saw his ex-teammate, cornerback Juran Bolden, so he decided to celebrate the score by jumping in front of Bolden and spiking the ball between his legs.
“My competitiveness and the way I played the game got the best of me at that moment,” Bell remembered in an interview with For The Win this week. “I was just sort of playing around and talking trash. But it didn’t turn out quite the way I expected it.”
Instead, Bell nailed himself in the groin and Bolden gave him a push, with the QB landing on another opponent. Bell’s only thought at that moment?
“I was upset that I got a flag,” he said. “I actually got hit with the ball and by Juran. They got me for taunting or whatever it was for.”
Back then, there was no YouTube or Twitter to make the clip instantaneously go viral. But there was TSN, which Bell said ran the highlight “night and day for a week.”
“I realized that it was something that was going to last the rest of my life,” he said.
As the years went by, he would get phone calls while in his native Florida when ESPN ran its list of the worst celebrations of all time.
But that certainly hasn’t fazed Bell, especially after the career he’s had.
Bell grew up on a 200-acre tobacco farm in Mayo, a “one red-light town” in Florida. When he left Mayo-Lafayette High School without a football scholarship, he walked-on to the University of Florida’s team and reported he was the eighth-string quarterback in 1983. A year later, thanks to teammates’ injuries and other factors, he was the starter, and in 1987, he finished his collegiate career with 7,585 yards passing and 56 touchdowns with some rumbles about Heisman candidacy along the way. At the time, he was the all-time leading passer in Gators history.
When the Dolphins took him 180th overall in the 7th round of the 1988 NFL Draft, he thought he’d be “the next Dan Marino.” It was quite the opposite — Bell became a journeyman, joining other NFL teams before he was cut. Eventually, he’d play in the World League and the CFL before he’d join the Indianapolis Colts in 1996. It was then that he’d get to live out his NFL dream for one game before heading back to the CFL for the eventual Groin Shot Seen ‘Round the World.
His chance in the NFL came when starter Jim Harbaugh went down with an injury in a December contest against the Philadelphia Eagles. Bell stepped in for his only NFL game and went 5-for-5 with a touchdown pass, the football equivalent of “Moonlight” Graham. That means he had a perfect quarterback ranking of 158.3, putting him at the top of the record books (if you’re discounting that he’s only thrown five passes in total).
“I always tell people you can always make your life look good,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of failures, but if you say it the right way, it seems pretty good. I was a four-year starter in college, in Hall of Fame there. I was the all-time leading passer there. I’m the all-time leader in quarterback rating and I’m in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.”
Ah, yes. How could we forget? While touring the Hall in 1996 when the Colts visited, Bell’s teammates spotted his helmet and photo on a wall as part of an exhibit on “inventions of the game.” Because Bell was the first person to wear a helmet cam during a World League game, he landed in Canton.
His coaching career had a more conventional path: While rehabbing a knee injury in 1990, he was a graduate assistant for Steve Spurrier during the Ol’ Ball Coach’s first year at Florida, eventually working his way up to coach at Jacksonville University before joining the Blazers in 2016.
That clip of his failed celebration, however, isn’t something he hides from as a coach.
“When I’m recruiting guys, sometimes I’ll bring that up,” he said. “I’ll say, ‘Hey check me out.’ They don’t know who you are, they don’t know you played ball and sometimes it makes a connection for those guys. You can show them the lighter side of you and show some of your faults as a person and as a player. They’ll text me and let me know they enjoyed it. I use it to break the ice.”
He’s not totally against excessive touchdown celebrations, either. On the 15th day of spring practice, he tells the referees to stuff their yellow hankies away and informs his players that he wants to see their best celebrations of a score. And, yes, of course he brings up his viral moment that’s still being mentioned today.
“I think in life, you make mistakes,” he said. “All those things in life are a part of you. You own up to it. It wasn’t a very intelligent play.”
“I always tell kids: It’s not always the smartest guy or the best looking guy,” he added later. “It’s about the guy who’s willing to fail and not be afraid to fail.”
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/08/bes...osta-state-coach-colts-dolphins-florida-video
