The Detroit Lions rewarded running back Joique Bell on Tuesday with a three-year contract worth around $9 million.
Close to half of that money is guaranteed.
"I feel so many different emotions going through my body right now," Bell said in a quote posted by the Lions. "I don't know whether to laugh, cry, hug my mom or grab my son."
Bell, a Benton Harbor (Mich.) native, was undrafted coming out of Division II Wayne State four years ago and worked as a security guard for the Lions during his college days.
He spent a few years trying to prove himself in the NFL. Bell got released by Buffalo, Philadelphia and Indianapolis, and spent time with New Orleans before the Lions picked up off the Saints practice squad in January 2011.
It's been a nice fit for him back in Detroit.
Bell, 27, earned a roster spot with the Lions in 2012 and then took it to another level last season, when he teamed with Reggie Bush to become the only running-back duo in NFL history to both have more than 500 yards rushing and 500 yards receiving.
Bell became an restricted free agent this offseason, but here was no way the Lions were going to let him get away.
They gave him a second-round tender worth more than $2 million for 2014, showing just how far he's come, then added two more years on top of it.
