Shakir Bell has been dismissed from the team.

[bluestreak]

Sorry if I am misinterpreting your post, but why the sarcasm? If Coach DID dismiss Shakir, I am sure its for a very good reason, makes NO sense otherwise. On Shakir's part, I am sure he has been disappointed with all the injuries and that may have had something to do with the nature of his tweets. As someone pointed out, this isn't Shakir's only discipline issue. He was benched for the Penn State game a couple of years ago and another time (?) as well.... Its difficult to determine how this all transpired - we can't assume that everyone know what everyone else was saying - stuff like this rarely follows a perfect timeline. I will certainly miss seeing Shakir play for ISU, but am confident that Coach did what he felt was necessary.

 

[Bluethunder]

This is very sad to hear. Don't care who's at fault, should have never got this far. How short of the record was Shakir?

I think he was 122 yards from the school record and around 400-450 from the conference record.

 

[new sycamore fan]

Really, people care about whether a record will fall? There were about 40 Sycamore seniors the last 2 seasons and about 10 this year who truly cared about turning the program around and being proud or the teams accomplishments. He was not one of them. Last word from me on this; I will cheer for the kids who do things the right way and want to be part of a team.

 

[Bluethunder]

Rick Semmler just tweeted that a "source" close to Bell confirmed that he was indeed dismissed from the team for "for not being loyal to coaching staff and having a bad attitude."

Bell says he is not ready to comment and Sanford still says "no comment".

 

[lakesbison]

Sad deal, I had mad respect for bell. Tough runner, dayum shame. If I was Indiana state....I'd do damage control. Just say he's hurt, it'll help Indiana state when shakir is drafted....don't get all Larry bird with this......lol


Hell. Let him stay on team, rehab and put him in last game to get the record.

 

[Chief_Quabachi]

I have absolutely no idea what has transpired that led to Bell not being on the team any longer. However, I feel confident if he was dismissed that it was discussed with R.P. before a dismissal was executed. The "No Comment" by Coach Sanford, in my mind, is his way of protecting Bell's image so to speak and not airing any "dirty laundry" that led to such an unfortunate event. Keep in mind that no ONE player is bigger than TEAM.
GO SYCAMORES

 

[Bally #50]

Really, people care about whether a record will fall? There were about 40 Sycamore seniors the last 2 seasons and about 10 this year who truly cared about turning the program around and being proud or the teams accomplishments. He was not one of them. Last word from me on this; I will cheer for the kids who do things the right way and want to be part of a team.

I just happened to check SP before I went to bed and am stunned to read this information. After reading thru all the threads, I zoomed in on what New Sycamore Fan has to say. He and I had a rocky beginning but frankly, when it comes to football, he's the guy I search out. Yes, it is a terrible day for ISU football, but come on, the season has been shot for weeks. There is no doubt that Shakir had something less than a team attitude. I admired his presence when he was a game maker but his less than on-board all-me persona turned me off. I always zero'd in on him when he was out of the game and his drama off the field was quite obvious to me. I knew his pro chances were slim and none, primarily because his me hurt, me fine, me hurt attitude was NOT going to play out in the pros, no fricking way. He has tremendous talent and that is obvious. I wish him luck in the future but ANY chance of playing on Sunday likely went down the toilet today.

NSF calls it correctly. That's why he is dead on in these kind of matters. He's seen it all. We'll survive but it is going to be an ugly season unless there are some true believers in Coach Sanford left on the roster or in the stands. I happen to be one of them but will I be there this weekend? Probably not but I've got a few things on my plate right now too and have a pass from the school nurse. Great comment, NSF, if I do say so myself.

 

[SycamoreStateofMind]

I just happened to check SP before I went to bed and am stunned to read this information. After reading thru all the threads, I zoomed in on what New Sycamore Fan has to say. He and I had a rocky beginning but frankly, when it comes to football, he's the guy I search out. Yes, it is a terrible day for ISU football, but come on, the season has been shot for weeks. There is no doubt that Shakir had something less than a team attitude. I admired his presence when he was a game maker but his less than on-board all-me persona turned me off. I always zero'd in on him when he was out of the game and his drama off the field was quite obvious to me. I knew his pro chances were slim and none, primarily because his me hurt, me fine, me hurt attitude was NOT going to play out in the pros, no fricking way. He has tremendous talent and that is obvious. I wish him luck in the future but ANY chance of playing on Sunday likely went down the toilet today.

NSF calls it correctly. That's why he is dead on in these kind of matters. He's seen it all. We'll survive but it is going to be an ugly season unless there are some true believers in Coach Sanford left on the roster or in the stands. I happen to be one of them but will I be there this weekend? Probably not but I've got a few things on my plate right now too and have a pass from the school nurse. Great comment, NSF, if I do say so myself.

Do you really wish him luck? Do we really need to go over this again? Quit wishing kids luck that you couldn't give a rip about, it's lip service.

Pretty easy for you all to pile on Bell now. I mean that's a pretty simple thing to do isn't it - must make you feel awfully good about the way his career ended.

An "ugly season unless there are some true believers in Coach Sanford left on the roster and in the stands" - is that what your sticking with? It matters not, none natta, nill what is going on in the stands - my support has no impact on the outcome, let's get that strait - athletic compeitions are decided on the fields in which they take place. Secondly, your statement(s) almost suggest that this season can A. Still be turned around (It can't) and B. That Bell is the sole reason we are in the shitted? Let's not go so far, in fact even suggesting that would be really unfair.

You can look to NSF or who ever you want for your football perspective. But a lot of blame to go around this football season. But for him to suggest that Shakir Bell didn't care about turning this program around is just wrong - I saw a kid on the field for 3 seasons that cared about winning, his numbers really wouldn suggest otherwise wouldn't they. Not a real hard case to make.

 

[new sycamore fan]

SSOM. Don't read the recent posts as something new. If you look back a couple of years ago I was saying the same things. I'll stand fully behind the fact that it was always more about him than the team. Have you not noticed the prior suspensions for breaking team rules? The pouty attitude on the sideline when the team was winning but the stats weren't there? The fact that he didn't practice? I could go on with specifics, but that's irrelevant. Your opinion is your opinion, and that's fine. I also enjoyed watching him play. It is a FACT, though
, that there were many many players that cared about the team a whole lot more. Keep ripping away though. And oh yeah, there still needs to be more housecleaning done.

 

[BankShot]

I'm trying to figure out if Trent Miles knew "which chains to yank," and if Sanford ever had the right combination? Sad case, that will not HELP ISU FB recruiting.

 

[bent20]

Just to clear up the comments about Sanford's comments. As coach, he can't go into detail about why a player leaves the team. He can say if he was dismissed. In this case he hasn't, apparently for Bell's sake and his own (who wants to be known as the coach who dimissed one of the best players in school history). That's about all he is allowed to say though. Doesn't mean Golden and other reporters aren't obligated to ask, but I wouldn't expect him to give a detailed account of what Bell did and said.

None of this is good though. I don't care if you disliked Bell and his attitude, it's not good for the program to lose it's best player from the last four years, a player who was a huge part of our turn around. I'm not saying he shouldn't have been let go, but I don't see this as a positive. I think Sanford understands that, that's why he'd prefer to call it a season ending injury. Hopefully, this team can rally together and salvage a win or two going forward. We need some sort of momentum toward next year or we could be going into a deep and very dark hole again. I don't think any of us have the patience to tolerate that again.

 

[Westbadenboy]

I posed the question on another thread about Bell -- guess we all wondered.
I loved watching this guy play and he usually seemed to come across pretty well with interviews etc.
But there were some major indicators of what was likely coming ................
His first chance to appear on national TV (Penn State) and he gets himself suspended for part of the game ? ? ? ?
The last game of the year last year -- we win and we're likely in the playoffs -- lose and go home. Bell gets himself suspended for all or part of the game ? ? ? ?
His constant remark that he would be the 19th guy in the NFL draft last year -- was that coming from one his old high school buddies or what ? ? ? ?
He might have been drafted ---- but first round -- get real !
As someone noted, maybe there was a reason there were no big time offers coming his way in high school.
Without a doubt Bell was the best football player in ISU history in my mind. But like in many areas of life, not just football, we are sometimes our own worst enemy.
Has Bell learned and matured over the past couple of years -- does not look like it -- hopefully he is not back in Indy in the future talking about what "might" have been. Gets harder and harder to turn things around the older you get .............time to get that done for Shakir.

 

[Bluethunder]

Do you really wish him luck? Do we really need to go over this again? Quit wishing kids luck that you couldn't give a rip about, it's lip service.

Pretty easy for you all to pile on Bell now. I mean that's a pretty simple thing to do isn't it - must make you feel awfully good about the way his career ended.

An "ugly season unless there are some true believers in Coach Sanford left on the roster and in the stands" - is that what your sticking with? It matters not, none natta, nill what is going on in the stands - my support has no impact on the outcome, let's get that strait - athletic compeitions are decided on the fields in which they take place. Secondly, your statement(s) almost suggest that this season can A. Still be turned around (It can't) and B. That Bell is the sole reason we are in the shitted? Let's not go so far, in fact even suggesting that would be really unfair.

You can look to NSF or who ever you want for your football perspective. But a lot of blame to go around this football season. But for him to suggest that Shakir Bell didn't care about turning this program around is just wrong - I saw a kid on the field for 3 seasons that cared about winning, his numbers really wouldn suggest otherwise wouldn't they. Not a real hard case to make.

I will not pretend to know who Bell is as a person and what he wanted for the team vs. what he wanted for himself, as I have never met him nor spoken to him. Many others are much more plugged that I am with regards to the team and due to living out of state, my information primarily comes from those on this board. I will say this, I just hope he finishes his degree. As a senior (I can't remember if he redshirted or not) he has to be very close to obtaining it. It would be a shame to see him leave school now and walk away from that.

I do agree that the issues that have developed this season and the results of the season are bigger than any one player. I also agree with someone else's comment (don't recall who made it but it was a good point) that this is probably not the last person to be jettisoned before this season ends.

 

[treeman]

Sad sad that it came to this. really enjoyed watching Bell play, he was a hell of a play maker. i never got the vibe from him that he thought he was better than the team, but then again i didn't watch him on the sidelines or follow to closely on what was going on off the field with him. New Sycamore Fan is in the know and has been hinting at his for quit some time. it worries me that he says their still needs to be more house cleaning done......I wonder if this was going on during the trent miles era or it just came about when sanford got here?? i have the suspicion that this season will have a couple more surprises by the end of the year.

 

[SycamoreStateofMind]

SSOM. Don't read the recent posts as something new. If you look back a couple of years ago I was saying the same things. I'll stand fully behind the fact that it was always more about him than the team. Have you not noticed the prior suspensions for breaking team rules? The pouty attitude on the sideline when the team was winning but the stats weren't there? The fact that he didn't practice? I could go on with specifics, but that's irrelevant. Your opinion is your opinion, and that's fine. I also enjoyed watching him play. It is a FACT, though
, that there were many many players that cared about the team a whole lot more. Keep ripping away though. And oh yeah, there still needs to be more housecleaning done.

Maybe this post below didn't make my opinion clear enough to you.

Indiana State at it's best...

And we talked for years about why Shakir Bell wasn't recruited by any D1 teams. You've got your answer Sycamore Pride.

I'm not here to defend Shakir Bell, I'm sure Sanford didn't want to dismiss Bell, I'm sure it's the last thing a new coach wanted to do. But you know what, I'll be damned if poor disciplin didn't put us in the place this program was in for too long. So in that respect, I'm glad he (Sanford) made a play.

Lets not forget what Bell did for Indiana State Football. A major player in saving this program.

No one wins today... This said someone has to answer for this and IMO it's the head coach!

I want to make sure you are VERY clear where I stand on this. Clearly, Shakir Bell is at fault. Clearly he did something and perhaps many things that have lead to this sad news. However I am not going to let a few things happen, I'm not going to sit back and watch people throw a kid under the bus after all this has happened because that is a pretty easy thing to do at this point and secondly the leader of this program is not with out responsibility here and ignoring that fact is simply ridiculous to me. Shakir Bell is not the first great athlete at a school that couldn't do the simple things both on and off the filed to stay on a team - he's not the first great athlete to be kicked off a team. I get all that. If you missed it above then read it again, him being undersized probably aint the only damn thing that kept him out of D1 Football - the kid has character issues it's quite clear. Just as you can't argue against the numbers he put up, I'm not going to sit here and pretend a college athlete that fathers a child out of wedlock doesn't have issues.

I have no doubts that Sanford did the right thing in this instance. I however think he has some responsibility in letting it get to this point. If you don't think he has any responsibility in the matter then I don't know what to tell you.

In other words, if you want an award for being right about a kid having "issues" and you take some "Pride" in that fact... Well we probably don't have much else to talk about in this setting. I'm glad you've been "calling your shot" on this one for a long time, what a noble thing to pimp yourself on.

I got no dog in this fight, I got no one to protect here. I don't know Sanford, Bell or anyone on this roster. The only damn thing I care about is the program and this University - let that be known.

 

[Bally #50]

Do you really wish him luck? Do we really need to go over this again? Quit wishing kids luck that you couldn't give a rip about, it's lip service.

Pretty easy for you all to pile on Bell now. I mean that's a pretty simple thing to do isn't it - must make you feel awfully good about the way his career ended.

An "ugly season unless there are some true believers in Coach Sanford left on the roster and in the stands" - is that what your sticking with? It matters not, none natta, nill what is going on in the stands - my support has no impact on the outcome, let's get that strait - athletic compeitions are decided on the fields in which they take place. Secondly, your statement(s) almost suggest that this season can A. Still be turned around (It can't) and B. That Bell is the sole reason we are in the shitted? Let's not go so far, in fact even suggesting that would be really unfair.

You can look to NSF or who ever you want for your football perspective. But a lot of blame to go around this football season. But for him to suggest that Shakir Bell didn't care about turning this program around is just wrong - I saw a kid on the field for 3 seasons that cared about winning, his numbers really wouldn suggest otherwise wouldn't they. Not a real hard case to make.

Yes, I will wish him well. In the same way I wished Jake Kelly well. What do you want me to say, damn Shakir, I hope you fall down the steps? Whether I meant it or not, you don't know but for whatever reason he had to quit in the middle of his senior season, who am I to challenge him on it? Like NSF, I too have been more than negative about Shakir in the past and have made the comment I felt his "shot" at the NFL was slim and none as early as two years ago. So if I am piling on him, it is nothing new. I have been doing it for a couple of years.

It reflects terribly on our program (deserved or NOT deserved) and I can only hope we can climb out of the mud and move on. If you don't think it doesn't matter who is in the stands, your must be losing your eloquent touch for nailing most every statement you make. Doesn't matter? You've got to be kidding? The fans are already restless and this is certainly going to affect our program big time. Like Jake Kelly, Shakir, IMO opinion, made a terrible mistake here. Whether it is simply quitting the team or if it was an attitude thing. The NFL doesn't like quitters and drama kings and his chances were already slim of being in the draft this spring.

So SSOM, I do wish him well, but trust me, I am not going to add him to my Christmas card list.

 

[Sycamore624]

Now that the shock and confusion from yesterdays tweets/news has had time to soak in I'll give my 2 cents. Loved Shakir as a player and have been able to talk to him several times and he was always very nice and down to Earth. I've heard rumblings on here and from folks around campus that he was all about Shakir and not the team. Not sure if that's true and at this point don't really care. For Coach in his first year and one that has been VERY disappointing he would have to be idiotic to just kick the programs greatest player of all time off the team for being a jerk. Coach has to have his reasons and for this I support him and the coaching staff. This just another part of being a ISU fan for us to have something potentially great and to have it fall apart. It's a shame for a great career to end like this but sounds like it was on his hands.

With all that said GO TREES!!!!!

 

[hans1950]

If indeed coach is sending a message I hope any other problem players are listening.Apparently there will always be guys who push the envelope as far as rules go.We can't forget that almost all these guys have been stars to one degree or another before coming to ISU.Lots of them have baggage of one kind or another that the coaching staff must deal with.How well they do that will probably show up in the success or failure of the program moving onward.At this point,Shakir isn't really much of a loss as far as productivity goes at this point and if he was that big a problem he provided the coach a means to deliver the aforementioned message.
We always hate to see our laundry aired out for everyone to see but apparently there was no other choice at this point.

 

[SycamoreStateofMind]

I'm not going to sit here and pull the college athlete card, but I'm not sure how many of you have walked a day in those shoes?

Shakir Bell, 2 time All American, Walter Payton Award Runner-up, MVFC Offensive Player of the Year, 3rd All Time Leading Rusher, Only Ninth Player in MVFC History to surpass 4,000 career rushing yards.

He goes down as one of the best backs in ISU History and FCS History. He has been mentioned as one of the best backs in all of college football at his peak. He has battled through 8 concussions, a shoulder and foot injury this year.

And here we are on Sycamore Pride and in the News Media praising the coach for trying to "protect" Shakir Bell by saying his season is over because he has a foot injury? Am I the only one on this forum that does have a problem with that?

As much as college athletics tells us these kids are just a piece of meat, they go to class and practice each day trying to make sure that they keep a college scholership, pass drug tests, lift weights, do community service, talk to the cameras and much much more. Then when things go wrong... Boy you guys get classy. Say the kid has been a Cancer his whole career. Don't say a word about the coach and past coach who let it get to this point. Want to praise the coach for saying it's just an injury and now what?

We never hear another word from one of the best players in school history...

Naaaa I'm not good with that. So I'm sorry it I find it distasteful for anyone on here to wish a kid good luck after this has happened because you can't really mean that. By all means whatever you do, protect the grown ass men that are leading this program and throw the kid under the bus and say it's always been about Shakir Bell. Talk about a low point in the history of the program...

 

[landrus13]

I'm not going to sit here and pull the college athlete card, but I'm not sure how many of you have walked a day in those shoes?

Shakir Bell, 2 time All American, Walter Payton Award Runner-up, MVFC Offensive Player of the Year, 3rd All Time Leading Rusher, Only Ninth Player in MVFC History to surpass 4,000 career rushing yards.

He goes down as one of the best backs in ISU History and FCS History. He has been mentioned as one of the best backs in all of college football at his peak. He has battled through 8 concussions, a shoulder and foot injury this year.

And here we are on Sycamore Pride and in the News Media praising the coach for trying to "protect" Shakir Bell by saying his season is over because he has a foot injury? Am I the only one on this forum that does have a problem with that?

As much as college athletics tells us these kids are just a piece of meat, they go to class and practice each day trying to make sure that they keep a college scholership, pass drug tests, lift weights, do community service, talk to the cameras and much much more. Then when things go wrong... Boy you guys get classy. Say the kid has been a Cancer his whole career. Don't say a word about the coach and past coach who let it get to this point. Want to praise the coach for saying it's just an injury and now what?

We never hear another word from one of the best players in school history...

Naaaa I'm not good with that. So I'm sorry it I find it distasteful for anyone on here to wish a kid good luck after this has happened because you can't really mean that. By all means whatever you do, protect the grown ass men that are leading this program and throw the kid under the bus and say it's always been about Shakir Bell. Talk about a low point in the history of the program...

I agree 1,000%. Before yesterday, everyone was talking about how great Shakir has been for ISU and the football program. We all said how great it'd be for him to break the rushing record and make it to the NFL. Now that he's gone, everyone wants to jump on the guy and say how bad of a guy he is and that he has character issues. He just had a daughter like 3 weeks ago, I'm sure he has more than football on his mind. We all have our own issues. I've never met Shakir, but I can tell you he played his heart out for this team. He went out there every weekend and carried this team to wins the last 3 years. He'll be missed greatly here. I wish him the best and I hope he can find it in his heart to occasionally come back to ISU.