By TJJD Communications
TJJD’s Charles Bell received some surprise accolades for his past achievements as a high school football and track star when the Waco ISD inducted him into their Athletic Hall of Fame earlier this month.
The honor came at a Sept. 5 ceremony at a Waco High School football game where officials reviewed Bell’s achievements on the gridiron and the track field for a Thursday night crowd.
Bell, who’s worked at TJJD since 2008, said the event was a big surprise because he’d flashed those football and track abilities back in high school in the 1980s.
Back then, at Waco Richfield HS Bell was a standout running back and defensive back and made First Team All-State in 1985.
But his star rose even higher in track, where he was a two-time state champion in the 300-meter hurdles in 1985 and 1986. Track and Field News ranked him Number 2 in the nation as a hurdler in track, he said.
Needless to say, Bell was “highly recruited” out of high school and accepted an offer from Baylor University, where he continued in football. There he lettered all three years he attended and made First Team all Southwest Conference in 1990. In 1990-91, he played in Hula Bowl College All Star Game in Hawaii.
The Washington Commanders (then the Redskins) drafted Bell, but he did not make the team. He later finished college at Tarleton State University where he got a degree in criminal justice. And the rest is about TJJD’s good fortune, because, after a stint with McLennan County, Bell came to the agency (then TYC). He first worked as a JCO at Gainesville State School and then the Mart campus, near Waco. In 2018, he moved to the Monitoring & Inspections Division with Central Services where he manages and reviews body cam and other security videos.
Bell was great at sports, said M&I Director Teri Dollar, but perhaps even better, “he is just a great guy without an ounce of arrogance.”
Bell says he was thrilled to receive the honor from his former high school, which he accepted before a football crowd with many of his relatives in attendance, including his wife Carmen Bell. Bell has four adult children, two step-sons and two grandsons.
“It was really nice for my family. They did introductions and told everyone about your accolades and had it on the big screen,” Bell said. One of his biggest fans, his 85-year-old mother, Doris, was not able to attend, but was happy to hear all about it, he said.
The event put a spotlight on a past that Bell says he doesn’t often talk about, though many of his colleagues and friends know about his sports accomplishments. Another thing they know – he remains a Commanders fan – and that usually invites some chiding from the many, inevitable Dallas Cowboys fans in his friend circle.
“They say ‘y’all haven’t won a Super Bowl,’” he said, with a chuckle. “And I say, y’all haven’t won a Super Bowl lately either.”