STARKVILLE — Today marks one-year anniversary former Mississippi State football player Nick Bell died after a fight with cancer.
MSU is using Homecoming this weekend to honor his memory. The MSU Student Association hosted a 3.6-mile run Tuesday evening to raise money for the Nick Bell Mentoring Memorial Foundation.
On Monday, MSU football coach Dan Mullen talked about the importance of honoring Bell’s memory, especially to the upperclassmen on the team who knew the former defensive lineman best.
“It’s never away from the kids’ minds, especially the older players that were very close to him,” Mullen said. “We have the patch on the jersey and memorial on the field. We do a lot with it already in the right context of things to not do too much and be insensitive. I think a lot of them have come to grips with that, but his mother being around, there’s a comfort there instead of being depressed about it.”
Mullen said Bell’s mother, Linda, will be on campus this weekend, starting with a lunch date with his wife, Megan. He said she also will attend the team’s game at 6:30 p.m. Saturday (CSS) against the University of Tennessee at Martin.
Linda Bell also gave a speech to the Bulldogs in the team meeting room Tuesday evening.
Megan Mullen also wrote a letter to the editor of MSU’s student newspaper, The Reflector, making sure students understood the importance of this week in regard to the memory of Nick Bell.
“Nick was a champion not just on the field, but in every aspect of his life,” Megan Mullen wrote. “We are so thankful Nick was able to live his dream of playing football in the Southeastern Conference. We are even more thankful he was a part of our family. Nick was a leader, a competitor, and someone that made you better just because you were around him. His dynamic personality and heart made him a friend to all. Take a look at pictures of Nick and you’ll never see brighter eyes or a bigger smile. Quite simply, Nick is irreplaceable.”
Martin focusing on enjoying SEC road game
University of Tennessee at Martin coach Jason Simpson has reminded his players to have fun this weekend when they face MSU.
The Skyhawks (5-3, 4-2 Ohio Valley Conference) will be play in front of a much larger crowd than usual, but Simpson said playing a game against an Southeastern Conference team will provide his players with an excellent college football memory.
“You want them to enjoy this week,” he said Monday. “This is a neat experience for them.”
The Skyhawks typically go directly to the hotel when they arrive in another town for a road game, but they will visit Davis Wade Stadium on Friday.
“That’s the excitement of college football, the pageantry of it, the traditions of it,” Simpson said. “You’re going to play them on Homecoming. I hope the cowbells are loud.”
Simpson is very familiar with the Magnolia state as the native of
Ellisville. He signed as a quarterback with MSU and played for two seasons for the Bulldogs. He also played baseball for coach Ron Polk at MSU before transferring to Southern Mississippi in 1992. At USM, Simpson was a two-time all-conference selection in baseball and was team captain his senior season.
After earning a bachelor’s degree in 1994 from Southern Miss., he spent the next year as a graduate assistant football coach at Delta State, where he coached defensive backs. In the spring of 1995, Simpson served as an assistant football and baseball coach at Collins High School in Mississippi.
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