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Crosby superfan Devin "Opie" Opiela shows off one of his custom cowbells cut and assembled in his home garage.
Devin "Opie" Opiela zooms in tight to finish the sides of one of his custom-built cowbells. He sells the bells to fans of the Crosby Cougars and swears they're the loudest ones on the market.
Crosby superfan Devin "Opie" Opiela puts the final touches on the stainless steel handle assembly on one of his custom cowbells.
Crosby superfan and welder Devin "Opie" Opiela begins to weld the handle assembly to the top of his custom cowbells.
Crosby superfan Devin "Opie" Opiela works on assembling one of his custom cowbells that he'll sale to a customer to be rung at the high school's football games.
Devin "Opie" Opiela from Crosby welds the top to his custom-built cowbell that he will sell to fans to ring at Cougar games this fall.
It was the third round of the playoffs in 2014, and the Crosby Cougars were set to face off against a tough Brenham opponent. Under the leadership of Coach Jeff Riordan, the team found itself its best season ever, with its best record at 13-2 and a trip to the state semifinals.
Devin "Opie" Opiela’s brother Josh was a senior on the team who played mostly tackle and occasionally the guard position.
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Opiela remembers theater arts director Raymond Blanchard, who was a big football fan, had been very involved in creating different themes each week as the team progressed through the playoffs. Blanchard proposed an idea to fans for the game against Brenham: bringing noisemakers.
“They bought the little cheap cowbells and handed them out to all the fans, and we used them,” Opiela said. “You couldn't buy a cowbell within 20 miles at any Tractor Supply or farm store. They were sold out from Crosby fans."
But Opiela said there was a problem with them.
“You’d ring them hard for a game or two and then the ringer would go flying off,” he said, silencing their noise advantage.
During the offseason, Opiela decided to make his own bell. Like a mad scientist in his laboratory, he spent hours in his garage practicing, trying out different shapes and sizes until he finally reached the golden standard for a quality bell to support his Cougars.
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“When you weld them out completely, they are super loud,” he said smiling with satisfaction.
The bells are made from carbon steel and the handle, stainless.
“I used to make them completely out of stainless, but it was too expensive. The carbon is just as good and is actually louder than the stainless."
He couldn’t wait for the first football game.
“I think everyone thought I was crazy, and I started ringing the bell and then I got that look from fans,” he laughed.
They were not just intrigued, they had to have one.
“I couldn’t make them fast enough,” he said.
Originally, he charged $25 for the bells, then he bumped it up to $30 when he added a red paint job and stickers. Now, with the cost of the materials rising, he’s had to adjust that to $40. By the time he’s finished securing the materials and labor, he doesn’t make much. The 2008 graduate from Crosby is the first to tell you: it’s not for the money.
Every morning, Opiela rolls out of bed around 4:30 a.m., gets dressed, and heads to work to start his day at 6 a.m. as a single-hand welding contractor for Austin Industrial at LyondellBasell. During football season, the height of requests for bells, he comes home by late afternoon and gets to work immediately in his garage.
The process begins with a trip to North Shore Steel and the purchase of a sheet of 4-by-8-foot 16-gauge carbon steel. He brings it home and cuts it into 6-inch strips.
“I mark it out with the templates I made tracing it onto the steel. I take them over to my Swag table which has a portaband fixed on the table,” he said. He begins cutting.
At that point, he has a stack of sides. Then, he cuts out the same number of tops and ringer assembly. The ringer assembly consists of a 3/4-inch ball bearing on the top of a stainless-steel handle.
Then like a puzzle, he welds all the pieces together. Opiela has found it’s easier to cut out enough for 20 each batch than to do only one at a time. Start to finish, it would take him about 30 minutes to assemble one bell at a time.
“I can weld one together in the amount of time of one country and western song,” he smiled.
He figured he’s sold more than 400 bells. That number got boosted recently.
“When we played Liberty Hill (in the playoffs) two years ago, I put together 60 in one week,” he said.
Now he builds them in batches and posts on his Facebook when he has more available.
“They sell really quickly,” he said.
He does paint the bells for customers who want it, though he said many prefer their bells without paint because it tends to muffle the sound slightly.
To ensure the demand for bells is met, Opiela doesn’t go inside when he first gets home.
“I have a son with Down syndrome and he’s all about daddy and I’m all about him,” he said. “If he sees me, that’s it,” he smiled. No work gets done.
As soon as he’s done working in the garage, he spends quality time with his three-year-old son and one-year-old daughter.
Opiela takes the bells to the game, passes them out to the folks who purchased them, and he takes his seat in the bleachers alongside the other fans.
Then the reality sets in when the team takes the field. He hears all those bells ringing.
“It gives me butterflies,” he said, “and a good bit of pride.”
Being a fan, his favorite thing is to watch opposing teams get drawn offsides because the sound of the bells disrupts their game.
Crosby High Athletic Director and Head Football Coach Jerry Prieto doesn’t mind it either.
“The cowbells have definitely been a staple in the stands for us,” Prieto said. “It is definitely a help and disrupts the communication for the other team, especially during crucial times in the game.”
Kent Walker is the head coach of Liberty Hill and has faced Crosby the last two years deep in the playoffs. He's familiar with the cowbells.
"As a coach, you don't hear much but the focus of the game. Did I know they were there? Heck yes! …They are a very supportive community and do a great job of creating a lot of noise," Walker said.
The bells aren’t just a football thing. They’ve been used at baseball, softball, and even graduation.
He has friends and family who live in Mont Belvieu who have purchased bells for their games at Barbers Hill. One has even made its way as far as Mississippi State University.
“I’ll keep building them as long as I’m in Crosby,” he said. “I’m a diehard fan. My heart is in Crosby and Crosby will always come first.”
Want a bell? Message him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/devin.opiela.
David Taylor is the reporter/photographer for Houston Community Newspapers / Houston Chronicle and writes news, sports and investigative pieces. He is a member of the Texas Press Association and has won numerous state awards.
He attended Rice University and the University of Houston and has led the news rooms of several newspapers including The Sentinel Newspapers, The Pasadena Citizen, The Examiner Newspapers, and The Observer Group.
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