Tackles (and goofy tweets) fuel first Pro Bowl nod for Seahawks special teams ace Nick Bellore
A decade into his professional football career, Nick Bellore has earned his first Pro Bowl nod.
The special teams ace was one of seven Seahawks — tying a team record — named to the NFC team earlier this week.
“I appreciate it,” Bellore said before practice Thursday on a Zoom call with reporters. “It always feels good to get something like that.
“Obviously I’m kind of an old man in this game, so it was fun to finally reach that point.”
How did the 31-year-old veteran, who has played for the Jets, 49ers, Lions and the past two seasons with the Seahawks finally reach this point after 151 career games?
To start, his 12 special teams tackles are tied with teammate Cody Barton and tied for third in the NFL.
He also had a hilariously convincing social media campaign.
During the NFL’s “Tweet to Vote Period” earlier this month, Bellore took to his Twitter account.
When online voting opened, he tweeted a photo of punter Michael Dickson, long snapper Tyler Ott and kicker Jason Myers, with a cutout of his face pinned on top.
The photo was retweeted more than 450 times.
Bellore continued to promote his fellow special teamers throughout the voting period, then, a few days before it ended, he tweeted another goofy image — this time his head placed on a photo of star Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf hauling in a pass during warmups before Seattle’s win over the Jets.
“Top 3 funniest people I know,” Metcalf later tweeted in support of his teammate’s latest social media push.
This effort was retweeted more than 1,400 times, and Bellore eventually was named to his first Pro Bowl.
“It’s just fun to kind of use someone like DK for his prowess of social media abilities, and Photoshop my face on there to kind of steal some of his thunder,” Bellore joked.
Metcalf was also named to his first Pro Bowl, while quarterback Russell Wilson, linebacker Bobby Wagner, safety Jamal Adams, safety Quandre Diggs and long snapper Tyler Ott were Seattle’s other honorees.
Bellore, Metcalf, Diggs and Ott are all first-time selections.
“I think it’s terrific not just for them — we’re happy for them — but for the organization,” Seahawks offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer said Thursday. “It means we’re doing good things.”
Bellore and Ott represent a special teams unit that has been a bright spot for the Seahawks all season.
Bellore is tied for the special team lead in tackles, Ott has been consistent, and Dickson and Myers, though not named to the NFC team, have had impressive seasons.
Myers is 20-of-20 on field goal attempts with a Seahawks record 31 consecutive makes, and Dickson is averaging 49.4 yards per punt and leading the league with 27 punts inside the 20-yard line.
Bellore said he’s been excited about “how well the special teams has been playing as a whole.”
But, the Pro Bowl nod is also an exciting individual achievement after so many seasons in the league.
Bellore has primarily played special teams since first joining the Jets in 2011, but has also played defense and is now Seattle’s fullback.
“Really special teams has been at the forefront of my entire career,” Bellore said. “It’s something that coming into the league took a little getting used to. I didn’t do it in college, but it really encompasses everything you do on a football field — both offensively and defensively. You have to run hit, tackle, block, do everything.
“So, it’s something that I knew just coming into the league that it would be something that I would have to do in order to stay around. And, managed to work on my skills with that and still trying to fool people to this day.
“It’s fun because you get to do everything that you do in a normal football game on both sides of the ball. Then obviously me playing linebacker, then fullback, it kind of worked out good. I can do a little bit of everything.”
Schottenheimer, who has known Bellore for much of his NFL career, said it’s been fun to watch the journey.
“In Nick’s case, Nick and I were together with the New York Jets when he came in as a linebacker, and to see how his journey has gone, and to see … how detailed he is with everything that we’re asking, and in meetings he’s involved, he’s engaged, he brings energy,” Schottenheimer said.
“We had him kind of do a little fun signal review the other day, and he was all over it. So, it’s been fun to see that journey.”
