If you walk into an NFL front office today and mention the name Ricky Bell, you’ll likely get a respectful nod from the older scouts and a blank stare from the analytics kids. That’s a shame. Honestly, it’s more than a shame—it’s a massive gap in football history. People talk about the "Busts" and the "Hall of Famers," but Ricky Bell occupies this haunting middle ground.
He was the man chosen over Tony Dorsett. Think about that for a second.
In the 1977 NFL Draft, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had the first overall pick. They could have had Dorsett, the flashy, highlight-reel Heisman winner from Pitt who went on to a gold jacket and 12,000 yards. Instead, they took Bell. Why? Because John McKay, the Bucs' legendary and often sarcastic head coach, had coached Bell at USC. He knew Bell wasn't just a runner; he was a 220-pound battering ram who would carry the ball 50 times if you asked him to.
Bell wasn't a bust. Far from it. But his story is one of the most tragic "what ifs" in the history of the sport, ending not with a decline in skill, but with a terrifying, rare disease that took his life at just 29 years old.
The USC Legend and the 51-Carry Game
Before the "Creamcicle" jerseys and the losing streaks in Tampa, Ricky Bell was basically a god in Los Angeles. He didn't start as a tailback, though. He was a linebacker. Then a fullback blocking for Anthony Davis. It wasn't until 1975 that he finally got the rock as the primary guy.
What he did next was legendary. He led the nation with 1,875 rushing yards. He finished third in the Heisman race that year. The next year? He finished second.
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There’s one game every USC fan from that era remembers: 1976 against Washington State. Bell carried the ball 51 times. 51! Most modern backs feel the wear and tear after 20 carries. Bell just kept coming. He finished with 347 yards in that single game. It’s still a school record. You’ve gotta wonder if those hits, that sheer volume of contact, masked the early signs of what was coming for his body later on. He was a workhorse in the truest, most exhausting sense of the word.
1979: When Ricky Bell Saved Tampa Bay
The Buccaneers were a joke when they started. 0-26. They were the punchline for every late-night comedian in America. But in 1979, something clicked. Ricky Bell finally looked like the guy John McKay promised he would be.
He rushed for 1,263 yards that season. He was the engine. While the defense, led by the great Lee Roy Selmon, kept teams off the board, Bell just ground them into the dirt.
The Playoff Masterpiece
The peak of his career—and arguably the franchise's history up to that point—was the 1979 Divisional Playoff against the Philadelphia Eagles.
- The Stats: 38 carries, 142 yards.
- The Result: A 24-17 win, the first playoff victory in Bucs history.
- The Impact: He scored two touchdowns, including a bruising 4-yarder where he basically willed himself into the end zone.
Doug Williams, the Bucs' quarterback at the time, once said that when you handed off to Ricky Bell, you knew you were getting 195 percent effort. It showed. He was the team MVP. They were one game away from the Super Bowl, losing a 9-0 heartbreaker to the Rams in the NFC Championship.
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That was supposed to be the beginning. Instead, it was the curtain call.
The Silent Decline: Dermatomyositis
By 1980, something was wrong. Bell was losing weight. His muscles ached in a way that didn't feel like "football sore." His skin was breaking out in strange rashes. Fans, who can be cruel when they don't have the full story, thought he’d grown lazy or lost his edge after signing a big contract.
He hadn't. He was dying.
Bell was eventually diagnosed with dermatomyositis, a rare autoimmune disease. Basically, his own body was attacking his muscles and skin. Imagine being a professional athlete whose entire life is built on physical power, and your own immune system starts dissolving your muscle tissue. It’s horrific.
He tried to play through it. He even followed McKay to the San Diego Chargers in 1982, but he was a ghost of himself. He’d lost 30 pounds. His strength was gone. He retired before the 1983 season because he simply couldn't move like a football player anymore.
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A Legacy Beyond the Yardage
Ricky Bell passed away on November 28, 1984. Heart failure caused by the disease. He was only 29.
If you want to understand the kind of man he was, look at his relationship with Ryan McPhail. Ryan was a young fan with severe physical disabilities and speech impediments. While other stars might have done a quick "meet and greet" and moved on, Bell became Ryan's best friend. He brought him into the locker room. He took him to dinner. He treated him like a peer. This bond was the basis for the 1991 TV movie Triumph of the Heart: The Ricky Bell Story.
Actionable Takeaways for Football History Buffs
If you’re a fan of the game or a student of NFL history, don't let Bell be a footnote. Here is how you can actually honor that legacy:
- Watch the 1979 Highlights: Go find the 1979 NFC Divisional game footage. Look at how Bell runs. It wasn't about speed; it was about a refusal to go down.
- Support Myositis Research: The disease that took him is still rare and hard to treat. Organizations like The Myositis Association work on the very condition Bell fought.
- Re-evaluate the "Bust" Narrative: Next time someone calls a player a bust for "underperforming" after a few good years, remember that you never know what’s happening behind the locker room doors.
Ricky Bell wasn't Tony Dorsett. He was something else—a man who gave everything to a franchise that had nothing, and a human being who remained kind while his own body betrayed him. That matters a lot more than a gold jacket.