RAIDERS : Bell Missed Ringing but Got the Message

OXNARD —  Anticipating that he would be selected in the first round of the NFL draft last April, Iowa running back Nick Bell drove his girlfriend to his apartment to watch the draft on TV.

After being passed over in the first round, Bell took her home.

“I didn’t think there was any sense for her to stick around,” Bell said. “I knew I was going to be drafted, so I didn’t see any reason to sit around and worry about it, even though deep down I was.”

When Bell returned to his apartment, there was a message to call the Raiders, who had drafted him in the second round, trading up eight spots with the Seattle Seahawks to select him with the 43rd pick.

Once Bell recovered from the shock of not being selected in the first round, he was happy that the Raiders had chosen him.

“I’ve always been a Raider fan, always,” Bell said. “I have a picture of myself when I was 4 years old wearing a Raiders uniform.

“Once I got past the part of dropping from the first to the second round, I saw the light and said this was the best situation for me.”

Some NFL teams may have been reluctant to select Bell because they thought he wanted to play tailback and wouldn’t play fullback.

“You can’t believe everything you hear,” Raider Coach Art Shell said. “All we know is what we saw, and we had him rated high. . . . We made a trade to move up and get him because we couldn’t believe he was still sitting there.”

At 6 feet 2 and 250 pounds, Bell has explosive speed (4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash). He rushed for 1,009 yards in 166 carries, a 6.1-yard average, and scored 12 touchdowns in leading the Hawkeyes to the Rose Bowl last season.

“He could be a running back, fullback, tight end or linebacker, he’s that versatile,” Iowa Coach Hayden Fry said. “Most guys can play just one position. Nick has the capabilities to play four.”

Bell’s versatility might have hurt him in the draft because his preference to play tailback was interpreted by some as an unwillingness to play other positions.

“They can put me wherever they want to put me,” Bell said. “I’ve never said I had an objection to playing (fullback). The scouts made a big deal about it. They would ask me what my preference was. And when you ask someone what their preference is, it means that’s their preference, it doesn’t mean they don’t want to play (fullback). It was blown out of proportion.

“I told the Raiders when I came here that I was willing to play any position. I’ll play fullback or tailback or tight end. They can put me at wide receiver if they want to.”

Bell joins a Raider backfield crowded with tailbacks. Marcus Allen rushed for 682 yards and 12 touchdowns while splitting time with Bo Jackson, who had 698 yards in 10 games. However, Jackson is sidelined with a career-threatening hip injury.

Greg Bell gained 164 yards in six games but missed the final 10 games with a sprained ankle. And the Raiders acquired Roger Craig from the San Francisco 49ers as a Plan B free agent.

But Bell, 22, could be the Raider tailback of the future. Allen and Craig are 31, Greg Bell turns 29 next month and Jackson turns 29 in November.

“This is a great situation for me to be in with all the great backs they have,” Bell aid. “I feel confident that these guys will help me learn. This is a family situation and guys don’t try to fight each other, they try to help each other and whoever wins out, wins out.”

Joe Scannella, who coaches the Raider running backs, has been impressed with Bell’s progress.

“He doesn’t run like a big ox,” Scannella said. “He’s not fat. And he isn’t a weightlifter, he’s just born big. And he’s very light on his feet.

“I never get surprised in the draft. Teams have different ways of evaluating people. I would have thought he was a first-round choice.

“You ask, ‘Why did the Raiders draft him?’ When you get to the point where it’s time to draft and (there is) a good player, we never pass him up.”

Raider Notes

Although quarterback Todd Marinovich, the Raiders No. 1 draft pick, remains unsigned, director of operations Steve Ortmayer said the team is making progress in contract negotiations with Marinovich. The situation is complicated because only four other No. 1 picks have signed, making it difficult for Marinovich’s management firm, the International Management Group, to assess the value of Marinovich, drafted 24th. . . . The Raiders have signed two free agents from the World League of American Football: Roy Hart, a 6-1, 260-pound nose tackle who played for the London Monarchs, and Rich Stephens, a 6-7, 300-pound center who played for the Sacramento Surge. . . . After practicing twice today, the Raiders will practice once a day Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Veterans report Friday.