<span lang="EN">
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE</p>
November 2, 2010</p>
</p>
MISSISSIPPI STATE’S NICK BELL, 20, PASSES AWAY</p>
</p>
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Mississippi State redshirt sophomore defensive end</p>
Nick Bell passed away Tuesday afternoon, doctors at UAB Medical Center</p>
announced. Bell, 20, battled cancer since a diagnosis earlier this</p>
fall.</p>
</p>
Bell played in 16 games for the Bulldogs, earning four starts. Bell</p>
played in the first four games of the 2010 season, and started against</p>
Auburn and Georgia. He recorded 22 total tackles in his career,</p>
including seven this season. He was credited with one tackle for loss in</p>
the season opener against Memphis and another against LSU.</p>
</p>
The Mississippi State football team was informed of Bell’s passing at a</p>
team meeting on Tuesday afternoon. Several members of the team had</p>
travelled to Birmingham to visit with Bell and his family on Monday</p>
evening. Local clergymen and professionals from the university’s Student</p>
Counseling Services Office will be brought in to meet with grieving</p>
members of the team. </p>
</p>
Funeral arrangements have not been announced by the family at this</p>
time, but the Mississippi State Athletic Department will establish a</p>
memorial fund for the Bell family through the Bulldog Club. More details</p>
will be available online at
<font color="#0000ff" size="1"><font color="#0000ff" size="1">www.MStateAthletics.com</font></font><font size="1"> (</font></p>
<font color="#0000ff" size="1"><font color="#0000ff" size="1">
http://www.mstateathletics.com/</p></font></font><font size="1"> )and donations can be made by calling
662-325-3074. The department will also deliver messages and cards sent</p>
to the family. The Athletic Department mailing address is PO Box 5308,</p>
Mississippi State, MS, 39762.</p>
</p>
</p>
</p>
Head Football Coach Dan Mullen</p>
"This is a tragedy for Nick’s family, our football program, our</p>
community and everyone who had the privilege to meet and be around Nick</p>
Bell. Nick was a son and a brother to our football family and I know he</p>
will continue to look over us from heaven. Nick lived his life like a</p>
champion and will always be remembered in our hearts that way. During</p>
this impossible time, we pray for Nick’s family and all those he has</p>
touched."</p>
</p>
Megan Mullen</p>
"There are few people in the world who have the unique ability to light</p>
up a room – Nick was one of those extraordinary individuals. Every</p>
single one of us in the Bulldog football family is a better person for</p>
having Nick in our lives."</p>
</p>
Dr. Mark Keenum, Mississippi State University President</p>
"Rhonda joins with me and Bulldogs everywhere in expressing our</p>
sympathies to Nick Bell's family, teammates, and friends during this</p>
difficult time. Nick was an outstanding young man, who proudly</p>
represented our university with character and enthusiasm in everything</p>
he did. He was an exemplary student athlete, always giving the maximum</p>
effort on the football field and in the classroom. Nick left us too</p>
soon, and we mourn his passing, but we also celebrate the impact he made</p>
and fondly recount the many lives he touched in our Bulldog family."</p>
</p>
Scott Stricklin, Director of Athletics</p>
"Words can't express our sadness. Nick was a model student-athlete –</p>
special in the classroom, on the field and to those whose lives he</p>
touched. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family, his teammates and</p>
his coaches. He will be missed by the entire Mississippi State community</p>
and our athletic department family."</p>
</p></font></span>
