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Upton Bell | |
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| Born | (1937-10-13)October 13, 1937 (age 88)[1] |
| Occupation(s) | Professional football executive, sports commentator, talk show host |
| Known for | New England Patriotsgeneral manager (1971–1972) |
| Parents |
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Upton P. Bell[2] (born October 13, 1937)[1] is an American formerNational Football League (NFL) executive, talk show host, and sports commentator. He is the son of former NFL commissionerBert Bell andBroadway theatre actressFrances Upton.
Bell was the child of De Benneville "Bert" Bell, a college football quarterback at theUniversity of Pennsylvania, a college assistant coach at Penn andTemple University, an NFL head coach (Philadelphia Eagles andPittsburgh Steelers),[3] an NFL team owner (Eagles and Steelers), and NFL Commissioner (1946–1959), and actress Frances Upton, who had been aZiegfeld Follies star.[4] He was raised inNarberth, Pennsylvania. Bell attendedMalvern Prep, where he was a standout on the basketball team. His teammates included future college and National Basketball Association head coachPaul Westhead. He also played in the Narberth Basketball League, where futureNaismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame andCollege Basketball Hall of Fame coachGeorge Raveling was a teammate. Bell's grandfather,John Cromwell Bell, was aPennsylvania attorney general; and his uncle,John C. Bell Jr., was a governor and lieutenant governor ofPennsylvania when Bell was a child, and later Chief Justice ofPennsylvania's Supreme Court.[5][6]
Bell was present on the day Bert Bell suffered a fatal heart attack atFranklin Field during an Eagles-Steelers football game, on October 11, 1959.[5][6] Bert Bell had namedBaltimore Colts ownerCarroll Rosenbloom as hisexecutor. The elder Bell had coached Rosenbloom at Penn and later convinced Rosenbloom to purchase the Baltimore Colts. After Bell's death, Rosenbloom hired Bell's sons Upton and Bert Jr. to work for the Colts.[7]
Bell started his football career by working at the Baltimore Colts' training camp, was an assistant equipment manager,[8] moved to the ticket office, and in 1964 transitioned to the Colts' scouting department where he became personnel director in May 1966.[9] On his first day meeting the Colts players likeJohnny Unitas,Ray Berry andBig Daddy Lipscomb, he was warmly welcomed and was told how much they appreciated his father.[10] Although Colts general manager Don Kellett told Bell not to drink with the players when he joined the team he did anyway, and learned how professional football players thought.[8]
Bell's responsibilities included scouting, and negotiating and signing contracts with allcollege football recruits. He played a role in draftingMike Curtis andNorm Bulaich for the Colts.[8] He worked with hall of fame coachesWeeb Ewbank,Don Shula, andChuck Noll.[11] During Upton's tenure, the Colts were in twoNFL Championship games (1964[12] and1968[13] both against theCleveland Browns) and twoSuper Bowl games, losingSuper Bowl III[14] in 1969 then winningSuper Bowl V in 1971 under new head coachDon McCafferty.[15] Seventeen of the 40-man roster on that winning team were players drafted during Upton's tenure as personnel director. Bell held the personnel director's job until he was hired to become thegeneral manager of the thenBoston Patriots.[16]
Bell joined the Patriots in February 1971, and at age 33 was the NFL's youngest general manager.[16] One of Bell's first moves was recommending to the Patriots' board of directors that they change the team name from the proposed Bay State Patriots toNew England Patriots,[17] as the team relocated from Boston toFoxborough, Massachusetts.[11] He attempted a trade involving disgruntledDallas Cowboys running backDuane Thomas coming to the Patriots and the PatriotsCarl Garrett going to Dallas, which was reversed.[4][18] His later involvement in suspending Garrett, which suspension was reversed by NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle, was one of the reasons for Bell's later firing.[19]
Bell later hiredBucko Kilroy and put together the Patriots' first scouting department. For the scouting department Bell hiredTom Boisture,Dick Steinberg, Mike Hickey and Bob Terpening, all of whom went on to head scouting positions in the NFL. Bell also hired as assistant general managerPeter Hadhazy, who later became general manager of theCleveland Browns.[11][4]
Under Bell's leadership, the Patriots improved from their 1970 record of 2–12 to 6–8 in 1971.[20][21] Despite the improvement, Bell wanted to fire head coachJohn Mazur and hire a coach of his own choosing. The team's board of directors agreed that if the Patriots lost to the Baltimore Colts in the final week of the regular season, Mazur would be fired. The Patriots won, 21–17, helped by an 88-yard touchdown pass fromJim Plunkett toRandy Vataha (who had also played together at Stanford University[22]) in the fourth quarter.[23][11][4] The Patriots fell to 3–11 the following season,[24] and Bell was fired on December 5, 1972.[25] Despite this, Bell was paid by the Patriots for many years after.
Bell returned to professional football in 1974 with the purchase of theNew York Stars in theWorld Football League (WFL). Bell, who also served as team president and general manager,[26] relocated the team toCharlotte, North Carolina, where the team was renamed theCharlotte Hornets.[27] This venture was short-lived due to the folding of the WFL in 1975.[28][29][30] One of Bell's co-owners wasArnold Palmer.[11] After the closure of the WFL, many of Bell's players along with all his coaches were signed into the NFL. They includedLindy Infante, who became the Packers' head coach;[29]Tom Moore who went on to coach in various roles in the NFL from 1977 to the present (2024) for thePittsburgh Steelers,Minnesota Vikings,Detroit Lions,Indianapolis Colts,New Orleans Saints,New York Jets,Tennessee Titans,Arizona Cardinals, andTampa Bay Buccaneers (where he coached inTom Brady's final season);[31][32] andBob Gibson, the Hornets head coach,[33] who went on to coach with the Detroit Lions andNew York Giants.[34] Bell also recommended Charlotte to the NFL as a franchise city.[29]
Starting in 1976, Bell began a long media career by making guest appearances on programs such asJohn Sterling's show onWMCA in New York. In 1977, Bell was the host of thePats Post Game Show onWBZ. In 1978, he became co-host of WBZ'sCalling All Sports with newcomerBob Lobel. Other shows hosted by Bell includedSports Nightly (1979–1980),Sports Line onWEEI (1980–1984),Sports Beat onWSBK-TV (1989–1996) with Joe Fitzgerald,Bob Ryan and Bob Lobel, andUpton Commentary with columnistWill McDonough ofThe Boston Globe onWNEV Channel 7 (1984–1988) andNew England Sports Final (1989–2007). He was also a guest commentator onNECN andSports Final onWBZ-TV. During the 1989 and 1990 NFL seasons, Bell served as an interviewer for WBZ-TV during their Patriots pre-game show and newscasts.[35]
Bell's first color commentary experience came atWSMW where he called college football withBob Fouracre from 1978 to 1982. In 1983, Bell served as the color commentator for theBoston Breakers professional football team on WNEV andESPN and was the studio host forSports Channel New England. He was the color commentator for theBoston College Eagles football radio broadcasts with play-by-play announcersDan Davis in 1985 and Bob Lobel in 1986. Bell was also a fill in-color commentator for Sports Channel New England'sBoston Celtics games as well as host of their nightly talk show.[35]
Nationally, Bell worked onIvy League football games onPBS alongside play-by-play announcer Dick Galiette and sideline reporterSean McDonough in 1984.[36] Bell also was co-host of the first national television show on theNFL draft on PBS in 1977.[35] He was also involved inESPN's first year covering the NFL draft.[37][38]
Bell transitioned from sports talk on radio to general talk in 1988.[11] He succeededDave Maynard on WBZ radio in 1990. After 1988, Bell hosted shows onWHDH (1988–1989),WTAG (1992–1998),[39] WRPT/WMEX (1998–2003).[35] For three consecutive years, theUpton Bell Show was recognized by theAssociated Press as Outstanding Talk Show in New England.[11]
Notable people that Bell interviewed includeGeorge H. W. Bush,Bill Clinton,Tip O'Neill,Stephen Hawking,Henry Kissinger,Ted Kennedy,Geraldine Ferraro,Norman Mailer,Regis Philbin,Frank McCourt,Jay Leno,Dr. Joyce Brothers,Jackie Mason,Sam Donaldson,Stephen King,Johnnie Cochran andAlan Dershowitz.[35]
In November 2010, Bell and Bob Lobel reunited briefly with a Sunday morning program onWXKS 1200 Radio in suburban Boston.[35]
In January 2015, Bell suffered 39 fractures and a concussion in an automobile accident.[40]