T.K Gorman player named to 2017 Parade All-America Football Team

EAST TEXAS (KLTV) - Bishop T. K. Gorman press release:

Parade Magazine, the weekly periodical that is inserted into 700 Sunday newspapers across the country, has announced its 2017 Parade All-America Football Team.

Included on the offensive squad is Judah Bell, the wide receiver on Tyler's Bishop Thomas K. Gorman Catholic School football team.

Randy McFarlin, who was just made the new head football coach at Gorman, says that "having players with the kind of talent that Judah Bell has makes coaching easier.  I just wish Judah was going to be here for one more year!"

Bell had college scholarship offers from no less than fourteen schools beginning in his junior year.

He narrowed the field to his top five choices: Kansas State, the Naval Academy, the University of Houston, University of Wyoming and Southern Methodist University.  He plans to start at SMU in the fall.

Judah is the sixth of seven children who have been reared by Tami and Greg Bell.

Greg is a chemical operator for Eastman in Longview. Tami is a Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor.  She is the one who had the primary responsibility for homeschooling the couple's seven children.

Originally from New Jersey, the Bells moved their family to Tyler in 2005, when Judah was seven years old. Tami and Greg Bell were determined to ensure their children were well-grounded and that they were taught the things necessary to build their character, and to instill in them the desire to help others, which in turn would help them.

The Very Rev. Dr. Anthony McLaughlin was recently appointed President of Bishop Thomas K. Gorman Catholic School.

"Judah Bell is an exemplary student," McLaughlin says, "More importantly; he embodies the morals and ethics that are the hallmarks of Bishop Thomas K. Gorman Catholic School."

In addition to Bell's prowess on the football field, he excels academically, maintaining a respectable 3.566 GPA.  He has been honored with the Principal's Award, two scholarships from the Teacher-Parent League, Merit Awards in English, Speech and Algebra, Leadership Awards and he is considered a permanent fixture on the Honor Roll.

"My priority is getting an education," Bell says.  "Even if I get the opportunity to play in the NFL, every sports career ends.  I want to be able to take care of my family without any major roadblocks. This is something I have prayed about."

The Parade All-America Football team has been a fixture on the sports scene since 1963, honoring the best high school athletes across the nation.  During its fifty-four year history, several members of the All-America Team have gone on to make names for themselves in the world of professional football.  Among them are Tim Tebow (2006), Vince Young (2002), Payton Manning (1994), Emmitt Smith (1987), John Elway (1978), Dan Marino (1978), Joe Montana (1973), and the Tyler Rose, Earl Campbell (1973).  More than one million high school students play football, which is the number one participation sport in the country.  Only twenty-two players in the nation make the Parade All-America Team each year.

"It is a great honor for me to be chosen for the All-America team," says Bell, "However, no matter what I may achieve in life, I will always be a Gorman Crusader."

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