I really don’t care if people smoke marijuana. I just don’t. I think it should be legal. We waste hundreds of millions of dollars annually on it, arresting, prosecuting and locking people up. But it isn’t legal in most places and isn’t permissible by the NFL. Therefore, players should find a way to avoid it.
I’m not going to get on a soapbox because I believe people should be free to make choices about their own lives. This isn’t about players lacking character or morals. It’s about players lacking intelligence and not caring about their teammates. In other words, players getting suspended for smoking weed (or missing a mandatory drug test) is a really dumb, selfish act.
Remember those discussions about whether the Steelers should sign Le’Veon Bell or Antonio Brown to a big contract extension? Yeah, well, that is no longer a discussion given the latest news that Bell is facing a four-game suspension for violation of the NFL’s substance abuse policy.
Bell was suspended for two games for his little adventure up McKnight Road with former Steelers running back LeGarrette Blount in 2014, which should have been a wake up call but apparently wasn’t. Bell, who has appealed this suspension, either tested positive or missed four different drug tests, which tells me he either is too dumb to understand the rules or too arrogant to care about them.
That brings me back to the Bell and Brown contract extension discussion. Not only should the Steelers give the money to Brown, they shouldn’t even offer a contract to Bell and maybe even should look to trade him.
To be clear, I thought Brown should get the money anyway because he is the Steelers’ best player (sorry Ray Fittipaldo) and one of the best players in football. It has been proven time and time again that you don’t need an elite running back to win at a high level in today’s NFL. The Steelers almost got to the AFC title game with Fitzgerald Toussaint at running back, so they will be fine offensively.
It’s ridiculous that a guy with millions on the line can’t lay off marijuana for a few months. And please, spare me the argument that he was medicating himself because he is in pain from playing such a brutal sport. That is nonsense and an excuse for players. If a guy is in pain, there are plenty of drugs available for pain that aren’t illegal and banned by the NFL.
It isn’t that hard to know when a drug test is coming, so it shouldn’t be that hard to be prepared for one. That’s why I said either he isn’t very bright, or he just selfish and doesn’t care about his teammates. Either way, he needs to go somewhere else and try again.
Bell is one of the best running backs in the league. There is no question about his talent. But he has been injury-prone and drug-prone, which means he is suspension-prone. Therefore, he isn’t reliable.
The Steelers can’t count on him, so they shouldn’t pay him the big money he wants. Sadly, some owner won’t be able to help himself and will give Bell a big contract. Therein lies part of the problem: talented guys like Bell have been told their entire athletic life they are above the rules because their talent trumps all else.
For Bell’s sake, I hope he figures it out, stops doing drugs and goes on to a great career. I hope he breaks records and goes to the Hall of Fame and becomes a great role model for kids in terms of how to bounce back from self-inflicted adversity.
All of that has to happen elsewhere. He can’t stay with the Steelers beyond the end of his current contract (after this season) because they can’t count on him. He clearly hasn’t learned his lesson from his first suspension. The Steelers would be foolish to sign Bell long-term, but if they do, they deserve what they get. At this point, that’s a talented yet unreliable tailback who may not be available on game day.
Follow Paul Zeise on Twitter @PaulZeise.
First Published: July 22, 2016, 3:58 p.m.
