Bills rookie WR is all in on Buffalo and the Sa...

ORCHARD PARK - Wide receiver Skyler Bell, the Buffalo Bills’ rookie fourth-round draft choice, has enough on his plate right now as he tries to learn the offensive playbook and start carving out his role on the team. So no, he’s not going to revive his high school hockey career in an effort to go help Bills’ owner Terry Pegula’s other team, the Buffalo Sabres, who are on their heels and absorbing some big-time punishment in their second-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens. “I would say my competitive hockey career is over,” Bell said with a smile last weekend after getting on the practice field for the first time during the Bills’ rookie camp. “I used to go skate and stuff like that, shoot around a little bit. I still got some goals in my stick a little bit.” Well, the Sabres could certainly use a few of those, but since Bell shifted his athletic focus mainly to football when he was around 15 years old, I’ll go out on a limb and say Bell won’t be the answer to the Sabres’ quest Tuesday night to get even in their best-of-seven series. Bell was born and raised in the Bronx, and he admitted that he was pretty much a lone wolf in his love for hockey. “I actually didn't want to play because none of my friends played,” he said. “Nobody plays hockey in the Bronx, so none of my friends played. They all played basketball and football, and they see me go to hockey games in the morning and they’re like, ‘Bro, what are you doing?’ But I fell in love with it and then sooner or later they’re coming to my games watching me, supporting me, so it was great. I miss it and it was super super fun.” Bell also played lacrosse and basketball growing up, and some of his hoop playing was at Rucker Park, a legendary playground in Harlem where many NBA players first discovered their love of the game. Bell was good enough to play for the New York Gauchos, an AAU team based in the Bronx that counts NBA stars Kyrie Irving and Stephon Marbury among its alumni. Who knows where Bell would be had he stuck with hockey or basketball, but based on what has happened and where he now is, it would seem he made the right choice to play football. Starting with his sophomore high school year, Bell left home to join one of his brothers, O’Shea, at The Taft School, a private boarding school in Watertown, Connecticut. He was the point guard for the basketball team and was a two-way star as a receiver and safety for the football team, ultimately earning a scholarship to Wisconsin at a time when current Bills’ defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard was performing those duties for the Badgers. On draft night, Bell said of Leonhard, “I honestly can’t wait to see him. I’m probably gonna give him the craziest hug ever because that’s my guy. I spent a lot of time with him. I love him to death. He helped me with my development a lot my freshman year and my sophomore year. So, I can’t wait to see him.” In 2022, the year Leonhard served as interim head coach after Paul Chryst was fired, Bell started 12 of 13 games and caught 30 passes for 444 yards and five TDs, but when a new coaching staff took over in 2023, Bell became an afterthought and he started just two games. Though he caught 38 passes for 296 yards and a TD that season, he was not happy with his situation so he entered the transfer portal and chose UConn and it was there that he built his NFL-worthy resume. In two seasons, 26 games and 26 starts, he caught 151 passes for 2,138 yards and 18 TDs and the Bills felt like they were getting a great bargain when they took him at No. 125 overall. Obviously, Bell will be spending much more time in Buffalo with head coach and offensive playcaller Joe Brady than he will with Leonhard, and it was Brady who needed to give Bell a little pep talk on Friday. Bell did not look sharp in the early drills as he dropped a couple passes and at one point, Brady went over to calm him down. “He was just telling me to be myself and stop overthinking,” Bell said. “That's all it is with me. I was just in my head a little bit, you know, with jitters and things like that. So he was just telling me, ‘Just be yourself, man. We want you here. You're here for a reason. So just keep doing you.’” Bell needed that because he admitted he was a little nervous even though this was only being with fellow draft picks, undrafted free agents, and players on tryouts. Josh Allen was not flinging balls his way, nor was Christian Benford covering him. “That’s one of the big things, just not overthinking, knowing you belong and keep working and stacking days,” Bell said. “Once you get out there, obviously, you got the jitters, antsy, nervous being in a new spot. But once we got to seven-on-seven and team (drills), I was pretty much flying.” Bell will have a chance to compete for legitimate playing time as he’ll be in direct competition for the No. 3 and No. 4 spots with Joshua Palmer and Keon Coleman. He ran a 4.4 in the 40 at the scouting combine and that kind of speed will be a welcome addition to the Bills’ receiver room, and he also showed an ability in college to succeed even though every opposing team knew he was UConn’s primary offensive weapon and shaded coverage his way. “You always talk about having guys that can play outside, play inside, and you see they asked him to do a lot of different things,” Brady said. “You see him make the contested catches down the field, you see him take a screen behind the line of scrimmage and do a lot of good things with it. I think he has a unique skill set. Those are the type of guys that sometimes you don’t think are going to be there (in the fourth round), and then they’re there, and you got to take advantage of that.” Bell was not a Sabres fan growing up, and interestingly, he wasn’t really a fan of the three New York-area hockey teams - the Rangers, Islanders and Devils. He loved Alexander Ovechkin so the Capitals were his team. However, given that the man who signs his checks also owns the Sabres, his allegiances will change in a hurry. “NHL playoffs is exciting, man. Go Sabres!” Bell said. “I’m up here now, you know? I might as well join the culture a little bit.” Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for more than four decades including 37 years as the full-time beat writer/columnist for the D&C. He has written numerous books about the history of the team, and he is also co-host of the BLEAV in Bills podcast/YouTube show. He can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com, and you can follow him on X @salmaiorana and on Bluesky @salmaiorana.bsky.social. This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bills rookie Skyler Bell embraces Buffalo sports culture

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Bills rookie WR is all in on Buffalo and the Sabres playoff run