# Greg Bell (running back, born 1998)

Greg Alonzo Bell III (born June 16, 1998) is an American professional football running back for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football at Arizona Western, Nebraska and San Diego State.
After getting waived from the Detroit Lions and Pittsburgh Steelers' practice squads, Bell earned a starting role with the Tiger-Cats during the 2024 season.

## Early life

Bell was born on June 16, 1998, to Gregory Bell and Erica Williams in San Diego, California. Bell went to high school at Bonita Vista High School in nearby Chula Vista, California. As a senior, he put up 2,632 yards and 34 touchdowns. Bell received a scholarship from San Diego State University, but he did not have sufficient grades to qualify.

## College career
### Arizona Western

Bell would go to Arizona Western for his first two collegiate seasons. He scored his first touchdown with the team on September 30, 2016, during a 56–0 blowout win. He would finish the season with 1,187 yards and 7 touchdowns. His 948 conference yards would lead the Western States Football League (WSFL).
In 2017, Bell put up 1,217 yards and 11 touchdowns. He had a 4-touchdown game against Eastern Arizona and a 211-yard game against Glendale.

### Nebraska

Bell transferred to Nebraska in 2018. This was the first year under the new redshirt rule stating players can redshirt after four games. Over the first two games of the season, Bell mounted 168 yards on 27 attempts. However, over the next two games, he had 5 yards on 8 attempts. He lost the starting job to veteran Devine Ozigbo.
Bell left the Nebraska program on October 5, 2018, shortly after losing the starting job. He stated he had "earned the starting job and feel I have continued to work the same way but feel I am not being used to my fullest potential." He was released from his scholarship shortly after. After this, Bell posted on Twitter schools he was not allowed to transfer to. One of these schools was Oregon State. This led to Nebraska head coach Scott Frost to publicly accuse Oregon State of tampering with past transfers.

### San Diego State

Bell announced his intentions to go to San Diego State University (SDSU) on March 14, 2019. He was to join the team by walking on; SDSU had no scholarships left and therefore was unable to give Bell a scholarship. Before the start of the 2019 season, Bell suffered an injury during weight training that required surgery and sidelined him for the entirety of the season.
In 2020, Bell became the first Aztec to record three straight 100-yard rushing games in a players first three games with the program. He also became the first Aztec since Rashaad Penny in 2017 to record four straight 100-yard rushing games. Bell finished the season with 637 rushing yards on 113 attempts and six touchdowns.
In 2021, Bell became the 18th 1,000 yard rusher in Aztec history. He finished the season 1,091 rushing yards on 245 attempts and 9 touchdowns. He finished with a total of 1,728 rushing yards, which is the 19th most in SDSU program history.

### Statistics

| Year | Team | Rushing | Rushing | Rushing | Rushing | Rushing | Rushing | Receiving | Receiving | Receiving | Receiving | Receiving |
| Year | Team | GP | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD |
| 2016 | AZ Western | 11 | 181 | 1,187 | 6.5 | 89 | 7 | 1 | 13 | 13.0 | 13 | 0 |
| 2017 | AZ Western | 10 | 201 | 1,217 | 6.0 | 67 | 11 | 15 | 201 | 13.4 | 36 | 0 |
| 2018 | Nebraska | 4 | 35 | 173 | 4.9 | 45 | 0 | 4 | 14 | 3.5 | 6 | 0 |
| 2019 | San Diego State | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| 2020 | San Diego State | 7 | 113 | 637 | 5.6 | 62 | 6 | 11 | 114 | 16.3 | 29 | 1 |
| 2021 | San Diego State | 14 | 245 | 1,091 | 4.5 | 55 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 0.4 | 7 | 0 |
| Career | Career | 46 | 775 | 4,305 | 5.5 | 89 | 33 | 35 | 347 | 9.9 | 36 | 1 |

## Professional career

Pre-draft measurables :
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press |
| 5 ft 10+1⁄2 in (1.79 m) | 201 lb (91 kg) | 30+7⁄8 in (0.78 m) | 9+3⁄8 in (0.24 m) | 4.63 s | 1.59 s | 2.67 s | 4.32 s | 7.17 s | 31.0 in (0.79 m) | 10 ft 0 in (3.05 m) | 17 reps |
| Sources: ||||||||||||

### Detroit Lions

Bell went undrafted in the 2022 NFL draft. He was picked up by the Lions on May 1, 2022. He was signed to a 3-year, $2.575 million deal, with $100,000 guaranteed. On July 28, during the Lions' second training day, Bell went down with a hamstring injury. Bell was not claimed through waivers and was put on the Lions' injured reserve. Players put on injured reserve before the 53-man preseason deadline aren't able to return from injured reserve, effectively ending Bell's season.
On July 22, 2023, Bell was waived by the Detroit Lions.

### Pittsburgh Steelers

On August 1, 2023, Bell signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was waived on August 29, 2023 and re-signed to the practice squad. He was released from the practice squad on October 3, 2023.

### Hamilton Tiger-Cats

On March 28, 2024, it was announced that Bell had signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Having started the season on the practice roster, Bell came into the Week 4 matchup against the Ottawa Redblacks after James Butler was injured in the previous week. He totaled up 20 touches for 96 scrimmage yards in the 22–24 loss. Bell's next start would come in Week 11 versus the Edmonton Elks where he would record 173 scrimmages yards on 20 touches and two touchdowns in the 22–47 loss. Bell would post two more rushing touchdowns the following week against Winnipeg but only racked up 45 scrimmage yards. Following his 118-yard performance in an upset win against Toronto, Bell was given the starting role at running back. Bell went over 100 yards again against the Redblacks, including the game-sealing touchdown to put him at 111 total yards for the day. In Week 20, Bell would have his best game of the season, rushing for 139 yards on 15 attempts and catching 3 passes for 23 yards in the 42–24 victory over the Calgary Stampeders. Bell finished the season with 625 rushing yards and 230 receiving yards for 855 total scrimmage yards and seven scrimmage touchdowns.

## CFL statistics
### Regular season

| Year | Team | Games | Rushing | Rushing | Rushing | Rushing | Rushing | Receiving | Receiving | Receiving | Receiving | Receiving |
| Year | Team | GP | Att | Yds | Y/A | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD |
| 2024 | HAM | 8 | 94 | 625 | 6.6 | 52 | 6 | 29 | 230 | 7.9 | 63 | 1 |
| Career | Career | 8 | 94 | 625 | 6.6 | 52 | 6 | 29 | 230 | 7.9 | 63 | 1 |