Back to 100%, Ronnie Bell aims to be better than ever
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — It was a heartbreaking moment for Michigan football, last year when Ronnie Bell tore his ACL in the first half. It’s been a long road to get back, but Bell is ready to return and make an impact like he never has — which is saying a lot.
And while fans have been excited to see him suit up again, Bell has been waiting longer than most to put that winged helmet on once again.
“We’ve mentioned how the games are probably like, three weeks out, or whatever it is,” Bell said. “And I’m like, man, I’ve been thinking about playing the game for a year now. I’m beyond excited, man, I’m ready to go.”
Of course, the question is, how close to full strength is he? Bell insists he feels as good as he did when he last suited up.
“I would say yes, I do,” Bell said. “I feel blessed. I’m beyond excited about every single day and just — yeah, for real, good. My body feels great. And so, yeah, making plays, and it’s fun as a lot of fun.”
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Still, just because you get healthy and have no more problems with the injured appendage, doesn’t mean that you won’t have issues.
Most of the time, it’s a mental block — something we’ve seen with other players. The difference between pre-and-post injury can be stark, as suddenly a player that was going all out can be somewhat tentative. They overthink what they’re doing instead of relying on their natural instincts.
Bell had those impulses for a moment, but once he went up and made a vintage play a few days into fall camp, all of that internal negativity just drifted away.
“It definitely was the first couple of days (that were) like that. It was very, like — just rusty,” Bell said. “Having people around, guys running around (me) — because I’ve been running routes. I’ve been running routes for months, but I didn’t run routes with people around me. So busting, kicking off the rust of being comfortable with people around you.
“And then I don’t know what day it was, but I finally jumped up and made a play on the ball, one of the early days in camp. Once that happened, it was like the biggest weight was lifted off my shoulders that I’ve ever had. So since then, I feel like I’ve been back and rolling.”
Full throttle #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/6jhjX2Ejfj
— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) August 6, 2022
What’s more, Bell feels like he could be better than ever — not just returning to where he was pre-injury.
He set a personal record doing the L-cone drill, doing better than he has in years when he initially set the record.
“I even honestly shocked myself because I had a (personal record) that I’d set a couple of years ago that I couldn’t break,” Bell said. “And I ended up being super excited about that. And yeah, just rehabbing every day, you’re focusing on yourself for nine-straight months. I told myself whenever it all happened, if I didn’t come out on the other end stronger, I was doing something wrong. So that was the goal for sure. And I’m glad that that’s kind of how it’s went.”
Bell certainly will have to get over the next barrier — actually playing in a game against a live opponent. That will come on Sept. 3, when Michigan hosts Colorado State for the season opener.
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