Colorado safety Jered Bell in 2012. (Hyoung Chang, The Denver Post)
Colorado safety Jered Bell, who was sidelined with separate ACL tears his sophomore year and last season as a fifth-year senior, has been granted a rare sixth year of eligibility to compete for the Buffs this fall, he tweeted on Thursday afternoon.
Bell, a native of Pasadena, Calif., sat out 2014 after , just three years after .
He confirmed the news on his Twitter account:
IT’S OFFICIAL! I’VE BEEN GRANTED MY FINAL YEAR OF ELIGIBILITY FROM THE NCAA TO PLAY AGAIN NEXT FALL!
PRAISE GOD!!!!
— J.Bell (@shewent2jered)
“It was non-contact. He just ran and stopped and blew his knee out,” CU coach Mike MacIntyre said about the August injury. “That was a sad night for me last night, really sad.”
He was expected to start at free safety in 2014 after being a full-time starter at the position in 2013 — when he recorded 67 tackles, three interceptions and six pass breakups.
MacIntyre had said he believed that Bell’s chances of being granted a sixth year were high given that he hadn’t played a single snap in either of his lost seasons and had been a good student.
