If you learn anything as you get older it’s that choices have consequences. If you choose to go over the speed limit? There’s a consequence. Choose to spend everything you have for concert tickets? There’s a consequence. Le’Veon Bell chose to sit out a year and take his talents elsewhere. There was a consequence. Bell made his way to the New York Jets and several other teams but he never came close to the success he had in Pittsburgh. And now he’s apologizing for it.
Bell was easy to root for during his five seasons in the Black and Gold. He ran hard and blocked hard and authored many moments that left all of us amazed. But as his contract situation grew more unstable, his relationship with Steelers Nation grew unstable as well. While many fans understood the business side of what was happening, the ‘average’ fan thought Bell was being greedy. The fact is that running backs are not what they once were in the National Football League. Few are getting second contracts any longer as more and more teams rely on committee approaches or realize that late round or undrafted free agents are just as capable.
It’s not an easy place for running backs to be and Bell (and his agent) knew this. I don’t blame them for trying to get everything they could but ultimately they overplayed their hand and Bell’s career never got back on track. This wasn’t surprising given that Mike Tomlin is notorious for riding with a bell cow until the hooves fall off. In other words, the Steelers weren’t going to overpay for a guy they felt was already on the down-side of his career.
So for whatever reason, Bell took to social media to apologize to Steelers’ fans. What we have here is a guy who unfortunately realized what he should realized several years ago. He had it pretty damn good in Pittsburgh but he wanted to see if the grass really was greener on the other side. It was green alright, New York Jets green to be exact, but that was nothing like the “green” he truly expected.
Personally, his apology doesn’t mean anything to me. If he feels better for doing it, then great. I’m glad for him but what I choose to remember is a guy who could have made a ton of money and stayed with the team that stuck with him. Neither of those things worked out.
