Michigan receiver Ronnie Bell will help lead ‘new’ U-M next year
Michigan senior receiver Ronnie Bell was off to an incredible start this year with a long touchdown reception and punt return against Western Michigan. It came to a grinding halt after only a quarter and a half when the Michigan captain went down with a knee injury during a nice return against the Broncos.
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Bell, a Wolverines team captain, didn’t know immediately how bad it was, he said in a recent podcast with former Michigan tight end Jake Butt. But he knew something was wrong.
“As soon as I went down … honestly, I didn’t think much of it,
he said. “It definitely hurt, but as soon as I was on the ground I was like ‘aw, I hyperextended my knee.’ It hurt. But as soon as I got up and put weight on it, I realized, ‘aw snap — something’s not right.’”
More than anything, the Michigan captain said, he hated that they had to stop the game and help him off the field.
“That was probably the worst part about it,” he said. “It’s something I’ve never let happen, but when I went to put my weight on the leg and it wouldn’t take it I was like, ‘aww, crap. I did something.’
“I didn’t know right away, but the doctor knew right away, and it was the first thing he checked. He knew. And it was rough.”
But once he got through the initial stage – the heartbreak — and figured out the plan, Bell and his family moved on. He got all the support necessary from the players, coaches and trainers and prepared for surgery.
He’s now on the mend, and he’s been a big part of the 2021 Michigan team’s success. The receivers leaned on him all year while he provided them with critical advice, and the team fed off his energy.
It started in the spring, the Michigan senior noted, and carried through the summer and fall camp.
“You could just tell. The vibe was changed,” Bell said. “It was not what it was in 2020 when we left, for sure. You could just tell. It was weird.
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“We had a practice in spring ball, the first practice, and I remember coach [Harbaugh] … how he talks after practice. It was the craziest thing I ever saw. He went to break it down, and when he was done talking, everybody just started jumping around. You’d have thought some song came on or something. It was the craziest thing.
“I just took a step back and looked. I can’t remember who was next to me, but I nodded at the person and said, ‘we’re going to be all right.’”
The 2020 Michigan season was ‘gross,’ he said, with guys struggling just to be around one another. It was that bad. Bell plans to return to the Wolverines next year and to bring the 2021 culture with him, no matter who does or doesn’t return with him.
He started jogging again in Week 12 of the season and continues to improve. While he’s had rough days, he’s continued to move ahead with the help of his Michigan teammates.
“I didn’t sleep for two weeks after surgery,” he said, noting he’d had other sleepless nights. “… But I feel like every time I catch myself taking that road, it starts to eat at myself, I take a step back. To me, that’s not going to help me.”
What is going to help, he said, is to live vicariously through his Michigan brethren while they prepare for the Orange Bowl playoff game with Georgia. Win or lose, he plans to help carry this year’s culture into next season, likely as a team captain.
“The team love is clear throughout everything we do,” he said.
And he plans to keep it that way with the 2022 Wolverines.
