Former Steelers Running Back Le'Veon Bell Shares The Gripping Truth Behind His Contract Breakdown In Pittsburgh

Ask a group of Pittsburgh Steelers fans their feelings on former standout running back Le'Veon Bell and you will get a wide range of sentiments. Bell is one of the best backs in Steelers history, and that's saying something for a team that has always prided itself on its ground game. 

Bell had his naysayers when he entered the draft, but during the five seasons he played in Pittsburgh, Bell showed the Steelers that they had made a wise choice. He rushed 1,229 times for 5,336 yards and 35 touchdowns. He also had 312 receptions for 2,660 yards and seven touchdowns. 

Then the rumblings of trouble started to appear. In 2016, Bell was suspended for a substance abuse violation. In 2017, the first bits of displeasure with his contract popped up as the Steelers franchise tagged him. In 2018, Bell made it clear that if the Steelers franchise tagged him, as they were expected to do, he might sit out. He consistently said it was not about the amount of money, but instead about getting paid relative to his value. The Steelers reportedly offered him $70 million for 5 years. Bell turned it down and sat out for the season.

He ended up leaving Pittsburgh and going to the New York Jets for two seasons and then spending a year each with the Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. During his time with those teams, he was never able to recreate the magic he had in Pittsburgh.

Now Bell is speaking up and attempting to set the record straight. According to Bell, he wasn't the greedy villain in this story, he was misled by Pittsburgh. 

Steelers' Le'Veon Bell Felt Slighted By Pittsburgh

Bell recently appeared on an episode of the Steel Here Podcast which is hosted by Kevin Adams and Jersey Jerry. They asked him about what went wrong with his contract negotiations and why he left the Pittsburgh Steelers. 

During the pre-draft meetings, coming out of Michigan State, Bell said he knew when he met Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin that he was an honest man.

"Coach Tomlin, he's a legitimate honest man, he's a guy who will look at your face, whether you like what he says or not, and tell you the truth. Me coming in being 20 years old, I instantly got that vibe from him. Always been a guy that's gonna shoot you straight."

Bell said his coach at Michigan, Mark Dantonio, was the same way. He had no idea that it would be any different from other teams or from other people within the organization. He felt like he was always a straight shooter, but did not feel he got the same treatment. He said if he had known, that might have changed the way he operated. 

"It was the coach for me, not necessarily the place I was at, when I went to New York, there was a lot of secrets, you couldn't say something to somebody. My mistake was thinking I'm gonna get that [honesty] from everybody."

The podcast hosts asked Bell what went wrong with the contract negotiations with the Steelers. Fans were left to speculate as the organization is notoriously tight-lipped about business arrangements and Bell wasn't saying much at the time. 

Bell said that he felt like the Steelers front office promised him something, the general manager at the time was Kevin Colbert, and then didn't come through on it. Bell said he had played on the franchise tag one year because he was promised that they were going to pay him on a long-term deal the following year, then they didn't.

"At the time, I had just played on the franchise tag, I was chancing it because before I played on the franchise tag, y'all was already telling me I was going to get a long-term deal. We didn't work it out and I had a little weed held over my head. The APY was fine, but the guarantee was only the first year of the contract." 

The deal the Steelers were offering, after promising to give him a better long-term deal, was basically the same amount of money as the franchise tag. With no guarantees after the first year. 

Adams points out that the Steelers don't screw players over. When you sign a contract with them they make it right, his example was Ryan Shazier. The Steelers continued to pay Shazier after his injury despite knowing he was likely never going to return. They could have cut him from the team, in fact, many teams likely would have - cap space is precious.  

The reality is that neither side would budge according to Bell. He felt like he had played through injuries and played on a franchise tag and they insulted him by sending him the same contract he had already rejected, like they didn't even hear him. He saw it as a smack in the face. 

"I didn't want to leave Pittsburgh. That's where I was at, that's where I got drafted at. Especially after going to different teams and seeing how it is. I was Pittsburgh's guy. In hindsight, I probably could have ate it." 

Bell said that the first year he sat out of camp, that was a bluff and when they made him an offer, he took it, but that second year he sat out, ultimately for the whole year, he meant to be heard. During that first sit out, he said his teammates, especially the offensive line - Maurkice Pouncey, Ramon Foster, Alejandro Villanueva - begged him to return. They even offered him some of their salary, but he maintains it wasn't about money.

"I wanna clear up this rumor. There was a rumor I told them I was coming and I never told them I was coming. The second year while I sat out, I never told anybody I was coming back. There was never a time I told Pouncey, Ramon, or anybody I was coming back." 

The issue Bell had was with "upstairs" and he hated that he let everyone down, especially his teammates who he considers like brothers. 

"I'm not playing the game for money, I'm playing the game for respect. I want y'all to respect why I am out here. Money is not really why I am in it." 

Does hearing Bell's side of the story change your opinion at all of what went on? Does it make you more empathetic toward him? Tell us what's on your mind, Steeler Nation! Click to comment below. 

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