Bobby Bell kept looking at his watch and asking the time.
He wasn't nervous. He was excited.
A couple hours before the college and pro football hall of famer walked the stage as a 74-year-old University of Minnesota graduate, Bell told the story of how his Bulova gold watch reminded him of his father, who presented him with the gift before Bell went off to college in 1959.
"I wore it all the time when I was at the U," he said. "I just didn't want to lose it."
Now 56 years later, it's also a reminder of what Bell accomplished after he returned to school last year to fulfill the promise he made to his dad to graduate.