It was only eight months ago that Le’Veon Bell was lavishing his linemen with $26,000 watches (which were probably set to make everyone late). Times were better then.
They are bitter now.
This might yet end peacefully. The Steelers likely will “leave the light on” for Bell, as Mike Tomlin might say, and I tend to agree with NFL executive-turned-analyst Andrew Brandt, who tweeted the following Wednesday, even as flames billowed from the Steelers’ locker room: “For all this current animus, once Le'Veon Bell shows up it will take like 15 minutes for everything to be back on track. They'll all hug it out. Seen it before.”
Nothing is guaranteed, though. This story has taken too many turns to suddenly become predictable. And by the time Bell does show up, the season could be cooked. I don’t imagine there would be much hugging happening then (though I also believe this team is capable of winning games without him).
In the meantime, the wounds are real. And deep. That became obvious late Wednesday afternoon as several of those same linemen told Bell what time it is, in no uncertain terms.
Veteran guard Ramon Foster went the deepest.
“My mom died, I went to the funeral and came to camp the next day.,” Foster said. “Al [Villanueva, an Army veteran] has seen people die and has come and given his all to this team.”
Bell “doesn’t give damn,” Foster added. Fellow linemen David DeCastro and Maurkice Pouncey sounded off, as well, which sent shock waves around the league. This kind of thing just doesn’t happen in NFL locker rooms. Not even this one. You never hear players shredding a teammate during a contract dispute.
Plenty of folks, including ex-players such as Maurice Jones-Drew, ripped the linemen. Some perceived them as taking management’s side in a contract dispute, a big no-no with new collective bargaining negotiations just around the corner and the plight of the dreaded franchise tag very much in play.
Why weren’t these players ripping the Steelers for using the tag twice on the same player and offering scant guaranteed money to a superior talent who plays the most precarious position on the field?
Fair question. But those people should know the history here. They need to put the players’ feelings on Bell in context.
I’m not sure this is about Bell’s stance in the dispute, even the possibility of him missing games. All these guys know the deal. They know the Steelers, like all teams, will toss them aside like rotted meat if they don’t perform and that every man must get what he can.
To quote the immortal Martavis Bryant, “I want mines, period.” We all do.
The way I read it, this is more about the timing of it all and the players’ claim that Bell surprised them by not showing up. If that is true — if he indeed kept his plans to himself — it’s unforgivable, given how these players have supported him at every turn through a series of knucklehead moves that put other seasons in peril.
Bell at least owed them the courtesy of a text or phone call, informing them he wouldn’t be showing up the week of the season opener. If that didn’t happen, shame on him. He let his agent do the talking Wednesday. That didn't sit well.
“Why play hide-and-seek? Why let your agent say this?” Pouncey said. “Just man up and tell us what you’re going to do.”
Two years ago, you’ll recall, Bell got himself suspended for the first three games by blowing off drug tests. His teammates supported him. They did so even after Bell posted a video — later deleted — where he copped to smoking dope in December 2014, four months after his arrest for marijuana possession and DUI.
Speaking of that, Bell was lucky he didn't hurt anyone while driving high on McKnight Road the day of that preseason road trip in ’14. He was suspended for two games that year. His teammates supported him.
Last year, the day before a playoff game against Jacksonville, Bell missed all but five minutes of the Saturday walk-through. He also showed up late on game day. His teammates supported him (and he played well, as he almost always does).
Two years ago, Bell mysteriously missed the Wednesday and Thursday practices leading up the AFC Championship Game against the New England Patriots. Nobody said a word.
Do you see a pattern here?
In the end, I don’t blame Bell for possibly sitting out games in order to preserve his body for the open market. Business is business. I do blame him for disrespecting his loyal teammates by keeping them in the dark. They have always had his back, even after he betrayed them.
They deserved better than this.
First Published: September 6, 2018, 12:19 p.m.
