Demetress Bell Demetress Carte Bell ( born May 3 , 1984 ) is an American football offensive tackle for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League . After playing college football for Northwestern State , he was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the seventh round of the 2008 NFL Draft . He played for the Bills for four seasons . He is the son of former basketball star Karl Malone . Early life . Bell , who spelled his first name " Demetrius " until 2012 , when he learned his name was actually spelled " Demetress " , was born in 1984 to Gloria Bell , then aged 13 , of Summerfield , Louisiana . According to Gloria Bell , Demetress ' father is Karl Malone , a former star player in the National Basketball Association ( NBA ) and a fellow native of Summerfield . Malone and Demetress Bell have reportedly spoken on only one occasion . As a young teenager , Bell played more softball than he did Malone ' s sport of basketball . He did not play organized football at all during that time . Eventually , during high school , he took up basketball and played well enough to receive a scholarship to Northwestern State University , where he played in 88 games over the course of the 2003 - 04 , 2004 – 05 and 2006 - 07 seasons . Bell was one of only four NCAA athletes to play both basketball and football in Division I in 2007 . After the 2006 - 07 season , he decided to give up basketball to concentrate on his development in football . College career . Bell ' s high school had not fielded a football team , so prior to his attending Northwestern State , he had never played organized football . In the fall of 2005 , he red - shirted the basketball season and began playing for the school ' s football team . He was initially placed in the position of defensive end . The following year , injuries struck the team ' s offensive line , and he was moved to the left tackle position . He earned second - team All - Louisiana honors that season . Bell made a bigger name for himself in his senior season of 2007 , having focused solely on football . Remaining on the offensive line , he was named an All - Louisiana and an All - Southland Conference first - teamer . He also became an Associated Press All - American . Bell graduated from Northwestern State in 2008 . Professional career . Buffalo Bills ( 2008 - 2011 ) . Bell was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the seventh round of the 2008 NFL Draft . The Bills were encouraged by his raw skills , but saw him as a longer - term project , given his inexperience in having played organized football for only three seasons at that point . However , the team chose to place him on their active roster , rather than assigning him to their practice squad , where he could potentially have been signed away by another team . Consistent with their view of him as a work in progress , Bell was not activated for play in any of the Bills ' regular season games in 2008 . In 2009 , citing the quality of Bell ' s performance in the Bills ' off - season and pre - season training camps that year , then - Bills head coach Dick Jauron installed Bell as the team ' s starting left tackle for the 2009 regular season . After earning mixed reviews over the first half of the campaign , including an extremely high number of penalties against him , Bell ' s year came to a disappointing conclusion when he suffered what would prove to be a season - ending knee injury in a Week 10 game against the Tennessee Titans . Philadelphia Eagles ( 2012 ) . On April 4 , 2012 , the Philadelphia Eagles signed Bell to a contract that could be worth up to $ 34 . 5 million over five years . On February 6 , 2013 , Bell was released from his contract . Dallas cowboys ( 2013 - present ) . On July 21 , 2013 , Bell was signed by the Dallas Cowboys . Relationship with Karl Malone . Karl Malone has never offered public confirmation that he is the father of Demetress Bell . However , laboratory blood tests prepared for the Bell family ' s 1986 paternity lawsuit against Malone reportedly pointed to an over 99 percent probability that Bell ' s father was either Malone or a brother of Malone . Malone initially refused to respond to the lawsuit , but eventually reached an out - of - court settlement with the Bell family over the issue . The Bells received a single lump sum payment of a confidential amount , with no on - going child support for Demetress . In speaking later about the settlement , Malone ' s attorney asserted that it had not included an official court determination of paternity , and noted that Malone " had a lot of brothers " . Although Malone was 20 years old at the time that the 13 - year old Gloria Bell was impregnated , she said that her family chose not to pursue criminal charges against Malone over the relationship . According to Bell , with Malone being a neighbor — Summerfield ' s population is only a few hundred — her family did not wish to see him jailed , especially since he would then be unable to provide any support for Demetress at all . In 2008 , " The Buffalo News " published a story about Demetress Bell that included the claim that he didn ' t know who his father was until after he graduated from high school . However , in a 1998 article in " The Salt Lake Tribune " , when Bell was 14 years old , his mother spoke of his shying away from anything to do with Malone because his feelings were hurt by Malone ' s refusal to acknowledge him . According to Bell , he has spoken to Malone on one occasion , when Bell was 18 years old . Bell reported that Malone told him that he would have to make his way on his own , as it was too late for the two men to have a father - son relationship . In 1989 , Malone was also sued over the paternity of twins Daryl and Cheryl Ford , also of Summerfield , Louisiana . Similarly to the case with Bell , the Ford twins ' case was ultimately settled out of court and without Malone offering confirmation that he was the twins ' father . In 1998 , after knowledge of the two paternity suits became public , Malone did acknowledge his paternity of the Ford twins , and he has since maintained an active relationship with them . Despite the on - going estrangement between Bell and Malone , Bell has reported that he is very close to the Ford twins , who acknowledge him as their brother .