Yeremiah Bell

FINS FACT
After graduating from high school, Yeremiah went to work at a Kentucky steel mill, where he earned $8 an hour bending liner pieces that are put in tunnels. "I actually liked it," Bell said.  "The hardest thing was stacking them. The heaviest pieces were like 75 pounds." At age 20, after two years working in the mill, Bell decided to walk-on at Eastern Kentucky, where he eventually earned a full scholarship.

CAREER TRANSACTIONS
Was the third of three sixth-round draft choices by the Dolphins in 2003, with a compensatory pick from the NFL as a result of net free agent losses from 2002.

PRO
2009 - Finished first on the Dolphins in tackles with 114 stops, was second on the team in interceptions with three picks he returned a total of 48 yards, had 1.5 sacks for a total of eight yards in losses and added nine passes defensed ... It is his second straight season (and the second of his career) recording 100 or more tackles ... Led the team in tackles 11 times and finished second on the team in tackles two times this season ... Has one game of double figure tackles ... Started 15 games and played as a reserve once this season.

SACKS: Has 7.5 sacks in his career with the Dolphins, which is the highest sack total among defensive backs in Dolphin history ... Broke a tie with Liffort Hobley to move into first place when he had 1.5 sacks on Oct. 25, 2009 vs. New Orleans.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS - VS. PITTSBURGH (JAN. 3): On Jan. 3rd vs. Pittsburgh tied for the team lead with six tackles and had one interception, picking off a Ben Roethlisberger pass and returning it 16 yards.

VS. HOUSTON (DEC. 27): On Dec. 27th vs. Houston had five tackles and one interception, picking off a Matt Schaub pass and returning it 29 yards.

AT TENNESSEE (DEC. 20): On Dec. 20th at Tennessee finished tied for first on the team in tackles with six stops.

AT JACKSONVILLE (DEC. 13): On Dec. 13th at Jacksonville led the team in tackles with seven stops and had one pass defensed ... The pass defense came on a key 4th-and-3 play on the Miami 45 yard line with 8:01 left in the game to help preserve the Dolphins' 14-10 lead.

VS. NEW ENGLAND (DEC. 6): On Dec. 6th vs. New England tied for the team lead in tackles with six stops.

AT BUFFALO (NOV. 29): On Nov. 29th at Buffalo led the Dolphins in tackles with 13 stops and added one interception, picking off a Ryan Fitzpatrick pass and returning it three yards.

AT CAROLINA (NOV. 19): On Nov. 19th at Carolina finished tied for first on the team with eight tackles and added two passes defensed.

AT NEW ENGLAND (NOV. 8): On Nov. 8th at New England tied for the team lead in tackles with nine stops.

VS. NEW ORLEANS (OCT. 25): On Oct. 25th vs. New Orleans tied for the team lead with nine tackles, including 1.5 sacks for eight yards in losses, tackling Saints QB Drew Brees for a six-yard loss and also shared a four-yard sack of Brees with Randy Starks ... With his 1.5 sacks in the game, it gave Bell 7.5 sacks in his career ... He became the all-time Dolphin leader in sacks among defensive backs, breaking his tie with Liffort Hobley, who had six sacks in his career.

VS. N.Y. JETS (OCT. 12): On Oct. 12th vs. N.Y. Jets finished second on the team in tackles with six stops.

VS. BUFFALO (OCT. 4): On Oct. 4th vs. Buffalo led the Dolphins with eight tackles.

AT SAN DIEGO (SEPT. 27): On Sept. 27th at San Diego tied for the team lead in tackles with seven stops.

VS. INDIANAPOLIS (SEPT. 21): On Sept. 21st vs. Indianapolis led the Dolphins with five tackles.

AT ATLANTA (SEPT. 13): On Sept. 13th at Atlanta finished second on the team with eight tackles and added one pass defensed.

2008 - Started all 16 regular season games at strong safety ... Posted a team and career-high 120 tackles (100 solo) ... Also registered one sack, ten passes defensed and three forced fumbles ... Led the team in tackles nine times and finished second four times ... Had three games of double-figure tackles ... Made an immediate impact in season opener vs. N.Y. Jets (9/7) as he tied for the team lead with ten tackles and added a forced fumble ... Led the team with ten tackles at New England (9/21) ... Paced the team with six tackles and also recorded two passes defensed vs. San Diego (10/5) ... Tied a career high with 12 tackles and alos registered a pass defensed and recovered a fumble at Houston (10/12) ... Had eight tackles and forced a fumble on the Dolphins' five-yard line that was recovered by Charlie Anderson vs. Baltimore (10/19) ... Recorded five stops and his second forced fumble in as many weeks vs. Buffalo (10/26) ... Led the team with seven tackles and three passes defensed at Denver (11/2) ... Registered a team-high nine tackles and had one pass defensed vs. Seattle (11/9) ... In fact, made the key play of the game as he broke up a pass for a two-point conversion with 3:03 left in the game to help secure the Dolphins' 21-19 win. ... Led the Dolphins with nine tackles, including one sack for three yards of Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel vs. New England (11/23) ... It was his sixth career sack as a Dolphin, tying him with Liffort Hobley for the most sacks by a Dolphin defensive back in team history ... Tied for the team lead with five tackles against Buffalo in Toronto (12/7) and with seven stops at St. Louis (11/30) ... Led team with nine tackles and added one pass defensed at Kansas City (12/21) ... In the regular season finale at N.Y. Jets (12/28), finished second on the team with seven tackles and added two passes defensed as the Dolphins secured the AFC East Division title ... Started in his playoff debut in AFC Wild Card game against Baltimore (1/4/09) and had three tackles and one pass defensed.

2007 - Started the season opener at Washington (9/9) ... Registered five tackles before sustaining a ruptured left Achilles' tendon, which ended his season ... Was placed on injured reserve on September 11.

2006 - Played in all 16 games, including 11 starts ... The first two starts came as part of a five- or six-DB alignment while the final nine were at strong safety ... Finished fifth on the team and second among defensive backs with 65 tackles ... Added two sacks, a team-high 12 passes defensed, two fumble recoveries and a pair of forced fumbles ... Also contributed five tackles and a forced fumble on special teams ... Registered a sack vs. Buffalo (9/17) ... Forced a fumble on punt coverage at New England (10/8) ... Initial start of NFL career came at N.Y. Jets (10/15) as the Dolphins opened with six DBs ... Two games later, opened at strong safety in the Dolphins' 31-13 win at Chicago (11/5) ... In that game, recorded five tackles, two passes defensed and a forced fumble ... On the first series of the second half, stripped the ball from Justin Gage following a 17-yard reception, with the loose ball being recovered by André Goodman, who returned it 33 yards to the Bears' 12, setting up a 6-yard TD pass from Joey Harrington to Wes Welker three plays later ... Posted nine stops and a season-best three passes defensed the week afterwards in a 13-10 win over Kansas City (11/12), as the Dolphins held the Chiefs to 185 net passing yards ... Recorded a career-high 12 tackles the following week in 24-20 win over Minnesota (11/19) ... Also knocked down a pass and recovered a fumble in the contest ... Fumble recovery occurred when he pounced on a Chester Taylor fumble at the Dolphins' 30 in the fourth quarter ... In a 21-0 win over New England (12/10), posted a team-high nine tackles, including a sack, forced fumble and fumble recovery, all on the same play ... It occurred in the fourth quarter, and he recovered the fumble at the Dolphins' 39, leading to a 3-yard TD run by Sammy Morris eight plays later in the Dolphins' 21-0 win.

2005 - Played in all 16 games in a reserve role ... On defense, where he played primarily in dime packages, registered 21 tackles, three sacks, an interception, four passes defensed, a fumble recovery and a forced fumble ... Finished second on the squad with 14 stops on special teams, where he also recovered a fumble ... First sack of NFL career occurred at Tampa Bay (10/16), when he dropped Bucs QB Chris Simms for a four-yard loss ... Initial interception of NFL career came vs. New England (11/13) when he picked off a Tom Brady pass in the fourth quarter, leading to a Dolphins touchdown six plays later ... Recorded a season-high five tackles in win at San Diego (12/11), when he also made what was perhaps his biggest play of the year ... With the Dolphins holding a 20-14 lead over the Chargers with just more than two minutes to play, stripped the ball from Drew Brees with San Diego at their own 36 ... Kevin Carter recovered the loose ball, leading to a Dolphins field goal seven plays afterward, which proved to be the margin of victory in the 23-21 decision ... Was credited with a fumble recovery on an errant snap from field goal formation vs. N.Y. Jets (12/18) ... Also knocked down a Brooks Bollinger pass attempt on fourth-and-five from the Dolphins' 14 with less than a minute to play, preserving Miami's 24-20 victory ... Had a season-high three special teams tackles vs. Kansas City (10/21) and vs. N.Y. Jets (12/18) ... Recovered an Allen Rossum fumbled punt vs. Atlanta (11/6), resulting in a Dolphins field goal four plays afterward ... Downed a Donnie Jones punt at the Raiders' 2 at Oakland (11/27)

SACK TOTAL AMONG DOLPHINS DEFENSIVE BACKS: Bell's three sacks not only ranked fifth on the team in 2005, but it tied for the most ever in a season among Dolphins defensive backs, along with Liffort Hobley (1990), Jerry Wilson (1999) and Nate Jones (2008) ... In addition, along with Reggie Howard (2), Lance Schulters (2) and Tebucky Jones (2), it was the first time in team history that four defensive backs each registered a minimum of two sacks in a season.

2004 - Played in 13 games, all in a reserve role ... Collected five tackles and a pass defensed on defense, and five more tackles on special teams ... Made his NFL debut in opener vs. Tennessee (9/11) ... Sustained a right distal fibula fracture in game at Denver (12/12) and was placed on injured reserve the following day ... Underwent surgery to stabilize the fracture on December 15 ... In preseason, ranked second on the squad with 22 tackles.

2003 - Was waived on August 31 and signed to the practice squad a day later ... Spent the first four games of the season there before being placed on the practice squad/injured list with a right foot injury on October 7.

COLLEGE
Was a three-year letterman (1999-2001) at Eastern Kentucky ... Missed his senior season of 2002 after sustaining a knee injury in a pickup basketball game prior to the season ... In his three-year career, appeared in 32 games ... Amassed 258 tackles, nine interceptions (including one for a touchdown), four fumble recoveries, seven forced fumbles, 31 passes defensed and three blocked kicks ... Started ten games as a junior in 2001 ... Led team with 86 tackles (61 solo) and six interceptions ... Added three tackles for loss, one sack, 15 passes defensed, a fumble recovery and two forced fumbles ... Also blocked two kicks and returned a punt for 24 yards  ... Earned recognition as a first-team Division I-AA All-American by the Associated Press and the American Football Coaches Association. . . Was a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award, signifying I-AA football's top defensive player ... Also was named first-team All-Ohio Valley Conference, OVC Defensive Player of the Year and made the EKU Winners Club on both defense and special teams ... He was selected player of the year among defensive backs and chosen EKU's Most Valuable Player on defense ... Led team as a sophomore with 110 tackles (63 solo) and added two interceptions and a fumble recovery ... Was selected by the EKU coaching staff as the school's Defensive MVP ... Won the 1999 EKU team award for Defensive Back of the Year as a freshman ... Majored in physical education.

PERSONAL
Single ... Has a daughter, Yamia, and a son, Brayden ... Graduated from George Rogers Clark High School in Winchester, Ky ... Also lettered in basketball ... Has participated in the Dolphins' annual turkey giveaway ... For the past two years was part of a defensive backfield that participated in the "All-Community Team" in which they donated a block of tickets for every home game to various high school student athletes ... Also has done events in conjunction with local elementary schools, including Sunland Park and Nova Blanche Foreman Elementary ... Has participated in the Miami Dolphins Foundation's Kids Fishing Clinic and the Foundation's Fishing Tournament Awards Dinner ... Growing up, the Chicago Bulls were his favorite sports team and Michael Jordan was his favorite athlete ... Lists "Remember the Titans" as favorite movie, "My Wife and Kids" as favorite television show and DMX as favorite recording artist ... Full name is Yeremiah Neavius Bell, born March 3, 1978 in Winchester, Ky.