MOVING ON
Vonn Bell still trying to get over final play of Saints’ season
No two offseasons have been the same for former Ridgeland High School five-star defensive back Vonn Bell.
There was the drama of 2013, when Bell spurned the Southeastern Conference by signing with Ohio State over Alabama and Tennessee. There was the optimism in 2014 after he snagged an interception in an Orange Bowl loss to Clemson, and there was the jubilation in 2015 after Bell and the Buckeyes won college football’s first fourteam playoff.
There were the busy months of 2016, when Bell attended the NFL combine and became a second-round pick of the New Orleans Saints, but this offseason has been tougher to digest. The 5-foot-11, 205-pound free safety has experienced agony and reflection after the Saints were denied a spot in January’s NFC title game due to Minnesota’s 61-yard touchdown pass from Case Keenum to Stefon Diggs on the final play of their divisional-round matchup.
“I’m still not over it,” Bell said. “It’s something to build upon and get stronger from mentally, but it’s still a sore spot.”
Bell’s second season with the Saints seemed destined for a trip to Philadelphia with a berth in Super Bowl LII at stake. New Orleans had rallied from a 17-0 hole against the Vikings to take a 24-23 lead with 10 seconds remaining, but Saints rookie safety Marcus Williams whiffed on a tackle of Diggs, who caught the pass, turned around and had clear sailing to the end zone.
Reliving the moment isn’t easy for Bell, who tried to run Diggs down and was at the 10-yard line when Diggs crossed the goal line.
“I was on the other side of the field,” said Bell, who was a recent guest of “Press Row” on Chattanooga’s ESPN 105.1 FM. “I saw the ball in the air, and then I was like, ‘Oh my goodness.’ It was a surreal moment, and it felt like a dream. Then it felt like I woke up, and I had to chase after the guy.
“I feel like if I had 10 more yards I would have caught him.”
Williams, who had a key interception of Keenum earlier in the game, met with reporters and quickly took the blame. For Bell, it was a confusing time but also an opportunity to help out a slightly younger teammate.
“At first I couldn’t really say anything,” Bell said. “Our lockers are right next to each other, and I was still mind-blown. A few minutes later, I told him that I was there for him and that I loved him like a brother.
“I told him that we were going to move on from this.”
Bell was 247Sports.com’s No. 26 overall prospect nationally while at Ridgeland, which retired his jersey last month. He was superb for Urban Meyer’s Buckeyes, amassing 175 tackles, nine interceptions and two fumble recoveries.
His most productive season was 2014, when Ohio State stunned Alabama and then shredded Oregon to win the inaugural playoff. He tallied 91 tackles and six interceptions as a sophomore that year.
Since signing with the Saints as the 61st overall selection, Bell has played in all 32 regular-season games and started 24 of them. He has racked up 123 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and four forced fumbles, admitting that the intelligence of the NFL quarterbacks has been the biggest adjustment.
“I noticed that right away,” he said. “Those guys know what they’re doing before you’re in your stance or give a call to your corners or your linebackers. Those guys have been studying all day, and Drew Brees is the toughest out of all of them.
“He sees me in practice day in and day out, so he knows my tendencies. When I have success against him, it’s a really good thing.”
When Bell played at Ridgeland, the Panthers always were the better team on the field until the deepest rounds of the Georgia state playoffs. It was the same way at Ohio State, where the Buckeyes went 38-4 in Bell’s three seasons.
The NFL, however, is overrun with parity, which makes the final play of Bell’s second season all the more gut-wrenching. Last season’s 11-5 record by the Saints followed three consecutive 7-9 marks.
“It’s so hard to get to the point of where we were,” he said. “I have been with guys who had played for seven years and had never been to the playoffs, so you can never take that moment for granted. It’s the NFL, so you never know what’s going to happen. You’re with a new group each year, and it plays out differently every year.
“Drew Brees is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, but his time is ticking. The time is now, so we’ve got to strap it on and keep getting better. I still need a picksix, but I’m going to keep working. I still have a lot to learn. I’m still a young player, and the sky is the limit.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.