Jaquai Bell Representing Bowie State University at Super Bowl Madden Tournament

Bell Is Looking Forward to Showcasing His Gaming Abilities at the Tournament as He Looks for Career Opportunities

 

MEDIA CONTACT: David Thompson, dlthompson@bowiestate.edu, 301-860-4311

(BOWIE, Md.) – Who could have known that an interest in video games could lead to job offers. Such is the case for Bowie State graduate student Jaquai Bell, who travelled to Phoenix, Arizona this week to compete in the Madden 23 HBCU tournament. The tournament features the top 16 individuals that survived the qualifying rounds, which ran from Oct. 15-Nov. 13.

In addition to competing for pride and prizes, The NFL is using the tournament as an opportunity for students to enhance their career development by spending the week shadowing various professionals, learning the business side of football and participating in immersive job training.

Bell, who recalls picking up Madden as a child thanks to the family tournaments his father hosted, said he has every intention of winning the tournament, but his first priority is using the time to connect with potential employers and lock in his next job.

“Number one is finding connections or a job,” said Bell, who has a bachelor’s degree in computer technology and is working towards his master’s in business administration. He has scheduled meetings with Microsoft and EA while out in the desert. “I’m looking forward to the networking and a potential job offer.”

Bell, a member of BSU’s e-sports team, hopes to combine his interests in technology and business to create his own lane, which falls in line with his approach to playing Madden.

Bell wasn’t happy just copying what everyone else does, which, according to him, is how most professional esports players approach the game. He also notes that other players rely too heavily on listed stats for the various team instead of understanding how to truly play Madden. So, he came up with his own scheme that he believes separates the wheat from the chaff when it comes to online competition.

“When I see people play on a professional level, they copy one another,” said Bell, who relishes in being able to see which of his opponents really understand football in the digital realm. “I like to expose people. I just wanted to show other people that you can win without copying people. People expect you to pick the cheesy teams, like the Chiefs, Buccaneers and all the teams that are good in real life. I have a whole bunch of pros tell me that they don’t want to play me, because they've never seen what I run.”

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Bowie State University (BSU) is an important higher education access portal for qualified persons from diverse academic and socioeconomic backgrounds, seeking a high-quality and affordable public comprehensive university. The university places special emphasis on the science, technology, cybersecurity, teacher education, business and nursing disciplines within the context of a liberal arts education. For more information about BSU, visit bowiestate.edu.