IT’S TIME TO RING BECAUSE : School Is Out for Nick Bell : After Sitting, Watching Allen & Co., He Gets Chance to Earn Respect

Raider tailback Nick Bell knows all about being patient.

He probably could write a book about it after spending most of his first two seasons playing behind Marcus Allen and Roger Craig, then Allen and Eric Dickerson.

“I understood that I was playing behind some of the greatest who ever played the game,” said Bell, the Raiders’ second-round draft choice from Iowa in 1991. “I just dealt with it as it came and tried to stay as positive as I could. I never tried to make myself the focus. You have to earn respect. It is not given to you.”

The respect Bell desired was slow in arriving, mostly because he played so little. In the 24 regular-season games he played in the last two seasons, he averaged only six carries.

The Raiders, however, liked what they saw. They liked Bell’s 4.4-yard average and his desire to play.

Ever since they drafted him, the Raiders have said he was their tailback of the future. Not a bad plan considering his 6-foot-2, 252-pound size and surprising speed.

For two years, Bell played his role patiently, but with every Raider defeat, his wait became tougher to endure.

“At times, Nick would express his frustrations,” said Bob Stearnes, Bell’s former roommate at Iowa. “He would just say how he wished that he had an opportunity to do more.”

Which is exactly how the Raiders felt after their 7-9 record last season. They figured they needed to find room for him in their crowded backfield. And there’s room now.

First, Allen signed as a free agent with the Kansas City Chiefs, and then Dickerson, who had replaced Craig last fall, was traded to the Atlanta Falcons. In a month’s time, Bell went from backup to starter.

“Now is the time for Nick Bell,” Raider Coach Art Shell said Monday at the team’s training camp. “It’s time to give him the ball and see what he can do. He’s our No. 1 back.”

Finally, it would appear, Bell’s patience has paid off.

“I was never told directly that I was going to be the (starter),”Bell said. “All I knew was that there were going to be changes just because the way last season ended, with the controversy with some of the players at my position.”

Fortitude is nothing new to Bell.

“Throughout his career, he has had to overcome difficult situations,” said Stearnes, who met Bell as a freshman at Iowa. “But he’s a person with tremendous resiliency. He gets discouraged just like anyone else when things don’t go their way, but he’s the type of person who takes that energy and uses it to his advantage.”

Even at Las Vegas Clark High, Bell had to wait for his turn in the spotlight.

He played his first three seasons in the offensive line before moving to the backfield his senior season. Then he made the best of that move by gaining 893 yards in 112 carries for 12 touchdowns. He was named to the all-state team and earned his scholarship to Iowa as a running back.

Once there, though, Bell had to wait again. After redshirting his first year, he played sparingly as a reserve his first two seasons. Then, as a junior, he led the team in rushing. And as a senior, he made All-Big Ten after rushing for 945 yards and 10 touchdowns.

“I’ve dealt with a lot of controversy over my career as a player,” Bell said. “(Being a reserve for the Raiders) wasn’t the first time I’ve been in a situation where people thought I should be playing more. It happened to me in high school, and it happened to me in college. I’m used to it.”

Since joining the Raiders, though, Bell has picked up a reputation of not being an everyday, every-play back. His critics have said that whenever he has showed a flash of greatness, he has followed it with a string of average performances.

Bell has heard the talk. All he has wanted is a chance to prove his critics wrong. And now he has it.

He also has the firm support of his wife, Pamela.

“As far as what other people think or how other people treat me, it didn’t matter because of her,” said Bell, who married Pamela in March. “She’s helped because she is my friend and I can talk to her about anything. She really helped me deal with the situation I was in the last two years.”

After Bell had met Pamela two years ago, Stearnes immediately noticed a change in his former roommate.

“Nick and I are close friends, but I’m limited in the support I can give him,” said Stearnes, who lives in Chicago. “She definitely has been the person who has given Nick added stability.”

Joe Scannella, who coaches the Raider running backs, watched Bell develop as a reserve and says he is ready to start.

“When we drafted Bell, we had a real good feel about him,” Scannella said. “He really did not play a whole lot until his senior year, and we felt that he was a back on the rise.

“We’ve been stacked up at halfback for his first two years, but we made the decision almost immediately after last season that we were going with him.”

The Raiders hope to see more efforts from Bell like his performance at Seattle last year. He carried the ball only 10 times but gained 97 yards, 66 of them on a scoring run.

With Bell and Gaston Green, who was acquired from Denver in the off-season, the Raiders will have a new look to their running game.

So far in training camp, Bell has impressed.

“I’m very pleased with what I have seen of Nick,” Shell said. “I’ve been impressed with his blocking, which is something he has not really had to do before, and his running ability has always been there. Once he gets his shoulders turned upfield, he’s a load.”

Bell is excited about this year’s team, and not simply because he will play a bigger role. He said that this team is ready to surprise.

“Our attitude is totally different from last year,” he said. “People are willing to make sacrifices now, just like I was willing to make sacrifices the last two years, waiting my turn, and that is what this game is about. That is what winning is about.”