Bert Bell

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Bert Bell
Date of birth February 25, 1895
Place of birth Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Date of death October 11, 1959
Position(s) NFL Commissioner
Head Coach
College Pennsylvania
Career Record 10-46
Coaching Stats DatabaseFootball
Team(s) as a coach/administrator
1933-1940
1941-1946
1946-1959		 Philadelphia Eagles
Pittsburgh Steelers
NFL
Pro Football Hall of Fame, 1963

DeBenneville (Bert) Bell (February 25, 1895 - October 11, 1959) was co-founder of the Philadelphia Eagles, co-owner and coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers and commissioner of the National Football League from 1946 until his death.

Contents

[edit] Early life

Bell grew up in a prominent Philadelphia, Pennsylvania family, the son of John Cromwell Bell, Pennsylvania's attorney general. Once commenting on his son's plans for college, the elder Bell said, "Bert will go to Penn (the University of Pennsylvania) or he will go to hell." While there, Bell played quarterback for the Quakers' football team, a stretch that was interrupted by World War I service at the Mobile Hospital Unit in France.

After graduating, Bell served as backfield coach at his alma mater from 1920 to 1928, then held the same position for two years at Temple University in 1930 and 1931.

[edit] Philadelphia Eagles founder, co-owner, coach, owner

In 1933, with three other former college teammates (including Lud Wray, first head coach), he became co-owner of the Eagles for $2,500.

On May 6, 1934, he married Broadway actress Frances Upton. They had three children, sons Bert, Jr. and Upton, and daughter Jane.

Taking the approach of making the overall league stronger, Bell was credited with establishing the NFL draft in 1935. He served as Eagles head coach from 1936 to 1940. By 1937, the Eagles had lost $90,000 and were put up for public auction. Bell became sole owner with a winning bid of $4,500, but after continuing financial struggles, he became co-owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers with his friend Art Rooney in a bizarre transaction in which Rooney sold the Steelers to Philadelphia businessman Alexis Thompson, who then traded franchises with Bell. By 1943, a wartime manpower shortage led the Steelers and Eagles to temporarily merge into the "Pennsylvania Steagles" (officially known as "Phil-Pitt"). The following year, the Steelers merged with the Chicago Cardinals.

In 1937, Bell founded the Maxwell Football Club, which awards the Maxwell Award to the top college football player and the Bert Bell Award to the top professional.

[edit] NFL commissioner

On January 11, 1946, Bell was selected to replace Elmer Layden as NFL commissioner and subsequently sold his ownership in the Steelers after being given a three-year contract at $25,000 per year. One year later, the contract was changed to a five-year pact at the same salary, a move that was followed in 1949 by a ten-year agreement that boosted his annual pay to $30,000.

Among his accomplishments as commissioner, Bell merged the league with the All-America Football Conference, developed the league's relationship with the new medium of television, and did battle with the Canadian Football League over scheduling and player rights. He also coined the phrase, "On any given Sunday, any team can beat any other team."

One of his first major acts dealt with a gambling scandal that marred the 1946 NFL Championship game. In response, he was able to create laws in virtually every state that made it a crime for athletes not to report a bribe attempt. In addition to all these duties, he also single-handedly plotted out league schedules each season on his dining-room table by using a giant checkerboard.

[edit] Death and legacy

Bell died of a heart attack on October 11, 1959 at Philadelphia's Franklin Field, while watching a game between the team he co-founded, the Eagles, and the Steelers, which he had co-owned from 1941 to 1946. He had been under a doctor's care for two years and had recovered from a heart attack the previous February.

The Bert Bell Benefit Bowl, informally referred to as the Playoff Bowl and first played in 1960 (the year after his death), was named for him.

Bell was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963.

Bell's older brother, John C. Bell, Jr., served as Lieutenant Governor and briefly as Governor of Pennsylvania.

[edit] External links

Preceded by:
Elmer Layden		 Commissioner of the National Football League
1946-1959		 Succeeded by:
Austin Gunsel (interim)
Preceded by:
Aldo Donelli		 Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coaches
1941		 Succeeded by:
Walt Kiesling
Preceded by:
Lud Wray		 Philadelphia Eagles Head Coaches
1936-1940		 Succeeded by:
Greasy Neale


NFL Commissioners and presidents

1920-1921: Jim Thorpe | 1921-1939: Joseph Carr | 1939-1941: Carl Storck | 1941-1946: Elmer Layden | 1946-1959: Bert Bell | 1959-1960: Austin Gunsel | 1960-1989: Pete Rozelle | 1989-2006: Paul Tagliabue | 2006-present: Roger Goodell
Pittsburgh Pirates/Steelers Head Coaches
Douds • DiMelio • Bach • McNally • Kiesling • Bell • Donelli • Kiesling • Leonard • Sutherland • Michelosen • Bach • Kiesling • Parker • Nixon • Austin • Noll • Cowher
Philadelphia Eagles Head Coaches
Wray • Bell • Neale • McMillin • Millner • Trimble • Devore • Shaw • Skorich • Kuharich • Williams • Khayat • McCormack • Vermeil • Campbell • Ryan • Kotite • Rhodes • Reid
Eagles Honor Roll inductees.

1987: Chuck Bednarik | 1987: Bert Bell | 1987: Harold Carmichael | 1987: Bill Hewitt | 1987: Sonny Jurgensen | 1987: Wilbert Montgomery | 1987: Earle "Greasy" Neale | 1987: Pete Pihos | 1987: Ollie Matson | 1987: Jim Ringo | 1987: Norm Van Brocklin | 1987: Steve Van Buren | 1987: Alex Wojciechowicz | 1988: Bill Bergey | 1988: Tommy McDonald | 1989: Tom Brookshier | 1989: Pete Retzlaff | 1990: Timmy Brown | 1991: Jerry Sisemore | 1991: Stan Walters | 1992: Ron Jaworski | 1993: Bill Bradley | 1994: Dick Vermeil | 1995: Jim Gallagher | 1995: Mike Quick | 1996: Jerome Brown | 1999: Otho Davis | 2005: Reggie White
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