The Le'Veon Bell Saga: Pt. 2

As we approach Week 3 of the NFL season, we are still in the midst of one of the most perplexing modern-day sports standoffs: Le’Veon Bell vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers. While this may have seemed like the normal Lev Bell antics, this is much more. Money talks, bullshit walks, and Lev just put his dick on the table. The man is forfeiting $850,000 a week, and this is for more than money. There is precedent here when it comes to football. The NFLPA is the least powerful of all professional sports players’ unions, and with the collective bargaining agreement set to expire in 2021, I think he’s trying to set the tempo for the rest of the league. When “franchise tag Lev” gets paid the same as Brandon Knight/Robin Lopez/Marvin Williams/Taj Gibson, it’s easy to understand his frustrations. While the NFL will never be the NBA, a perennial MVP candidate on a team that has been to the playoffs in each of his five seasons should theoretically make more than a bench center for a 27 win team in the miserable Eastern Conference. But that’s a conversation for another day.

I don’t care who you are, we all know this

does not equal this

Beside, who doesn’t LOVE watching this high step?

(ignore the abysmal defense by William Jackson not pushing him out of bounds)

It’s not that people shouldn’t be mad at Le’Veon for holding out. I understand their frustration, but I’m going to lay out the argument for why Bell should continue his holdout. Below are the arguments for why Le’Veon is worth every penny he’s asking for.

Bell Is Still Best Runner in NFL

I could end this section really quickly just by stating the obvious: the Steelers have not won. They tied – yes, you read that right – THEY TIED a team that can’t even convert an extra point. Let me tell you some fun facts about the Cleveland Browns. They lost all 16 games last year. They have won one of their last 32 games. The last time the Steelers did not defeat the Browns was October 2014…when All About That Bass was in its fifth week as the country’s top song, when the new era dynasty that is the Golden State Warriors had still not won a championship, when Swaggy P and Iggy Azalea were still going strong, when…you get the picture. And then in week two, they came out and got SMACKED by the Chiefs. Mahomes has looked otherworldly thus far, but the Chiefs defense practically doesn’t exist (sorry Justin Houston). After a strong week one performance, Conner was completely held in check in week two. The one and only time in his career in which Le’Veon saw single digit carries was in week 17 of the 2014 season. And the dude rarely misses time for injury. He’s a workhorse that has proven indispensable time and again. Le’Veon Bell made just over $16 million in his five NFL seasons ($12.1 million of that coming on his 2017 franchise tag) while Ben is set to make $56.4 million over the 2018 and 2019 seasons…seems fair to say he’s earned a long term guaranteed contract for his inexpensive contributions to the Steelers success thus far. Not to mention that he’s only 26 years old.

You can be the judge, but when it boils down to deciding whether you want to shortchange a once in a lifetime running back when the AFC is as wide open as it’s ever been – Brady in the twilight of his career – so be it. I’d rather ride with Le’Veon than die without him.