NATCHITOCHES, La. - Northwestern State offensive tackle Demetrius Bell was the 219th player chosen in the 2008 NFL Draft, picked in the seventh round Sunday by the Buffalo Bills.
He will join one of the Demons' all-time great players, starting cornerback and 2004 Pro Bowl kick returner Terrence McGee, in Buffalo.
"I'm happy as I could be," said Bell. "I started to get worried when I wasn't picked after the end of the fifth round and I kept watching and hoping and worrying. It was as nerve-wracking as everybody said it would be, but now I'm really happy and it's time to go to work."
Bell had returned to his native Summerfield, a small community in rural north Louisiana, planning to fish at nearby Lake Claiborne and spend time with his mother and other family members, but bad weather spoiled his fishing plans and he returned to Natchitoches to await news on the draft.
McGee and Bell, two of the 39 football All-Americans in 100 years of Demon football history, met briefly when McGee visited the campus for a football game last fall during an open weekend for Buffalo.
"I shook his hand and said hello, but we don't know each other yet," said Bell. "I feel real good about going where he is. He is one of the best players to come out of Northwestern and he is a veteran player with the Bills, so he's a guy I will look to for advice while I'm trying to learn the ropes."
Bell will travel to Buffalo Thursday for a weekend mini-camp. Bills offensive line coach Sean Kugler called him to congratulate him on being selected before the pick was announced.
"I met him at the (NFL Scouting) Combine in February," said Bell. "He is going to be great to work for. I have a lot to learn and I am ready to get going."
Bell was one of only four Division I football players last year who also played basketball. He came to Northwestern in 2003 on a basketball scholarship, earning honorable mention All-America honors at Summerfield High School, where he was part of a graduation class of 12 at a school without a football team. He never put on a football helmet or shoulder pads in his life until going out for football in August 2005, with the support of NSU basketball coach Mike McConathy, who redshirted Bell in the 2005-06 season. Bell played in 2006-07, starting twice, and saw action in 88 career basketball games for the Demons, getting six starts, four as a true freshman.
After earning Associated Press first-team Football Championship Subdivision All-America honors last fall, he reluctantly decided to give up his basketball career to focus on his football future.
"It was the right thing for Demetrius, but it was a blow to our team. He was a very solid post presence, a strong defender and an outstanding leader," said McConathy. "But we had to look at the big picture and accept what was best for D-Bell, and that was to spend his time preparing for the draft and his future."
He started 22 consecutive games for the Demons over the past two seasons since being shifted to offensive left tackle three weeks before the 2006 season opener at Kansas. He was a second-team All-Louisiana choice after his junior year, then emerged last fall as a premiere player, earning first-team All-Southland Conference and All-Louisiana honors along with All-America accolades.
"My junior season, I was learning on the move. I was having to think too much out there because it was all brand new, not having any football background at all. (Offensive line) coach (Jeremy) Offutt brought me along real well, and when my senior season came around I felt confident and knew what I needed to do, and I relaxed and had fun out there," he said.
"I'm young at football, but willing to work hard and willing to get things done on the field. I think my strongest point is pass blocking, but I'm getting stronger by the moment and that's a plus on my side for stopping the bull-rush. The run blocking is always getting better when I'm adding bulk and getting stronger too. Technique-wise it's all about the technique the coach wants. I think it's all on the upside," he told BuffaloBills.com.
Bell (6-5 ¼, 304 pounds) became the first Demon chosen in the draft in two years, since cornerback David Pittman was a third-round selection of the Baltimore Ravens. He joins veterans Mike Green (Seattle), Kenny Wright (Cleveland), Craig Nall (Green Bay), Pittman and McGee on the list of NSU's six active alumni in the NFL.
He was the 10th of 11 Louisiana college players chosen this weekend, including seven from LSU and one each from Northwestern, McNeese State, Nicholls State and Tulane. Bell was among 24 FCS players chosen.
He was one of three picked from the Southland Conference, headed by third-round selection Bryan Smith of McNeese State, a defensive end in college who is projected as a linebacker with the Philadelphia Eagles. Bell and Smith battled head to head for the past two seasons, although Smith left the 2007 NSU-McNeese game with an ankle injury in the second quarter and did not return.
"Bryan Smith is a super football player, but head to head, D-Bell won those battles," said Demons' seventh-year head coach Scott Stoker. "I think he could be a heck of a pro player. We played five games in the last two seasons with him at left tackle going up against Big 12 and SEC teams (Kansas, Baylor, Texas Tech and Ole Miss twice) and he played very well in all of those games, especially this past year at Texas Tech and at Ole Miss. D-Bell has a lot of upside and a ton of heart and desire."
Also chosen from the SLC was safety Kareem Moore of Nicholls State, a sixth-round selection by the Washington Redskins.
At least two of his 2007 NSU teammates, receiver Ben Bailey and tight end Clay Broyles, are strong candidates to sign free agent deals with NFL teams shortly in time to report to mini-camps later this week.
Eight former Demons, including McGee, have gone on to make Pro Bowl appearances or All-Pro teams, including receivers Mark Duper and Charlie Hennigan, running backs Joe Delaney, John Stephens and Charlie Tolar, and quarterback Bobby Hebert. Tight end Jackie Smith, a 1994 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, is the most notable NSU product in pro football, having punted and played tight end at NSU from 1959-62.