Missing person: Le’Veon Bell

By: Jake Rajala

Le’Veon Bell was once not only one of the top running backs, but one of the most dominant offensive players in the league. Bell had elite patience and strength. However, he seemed to fall off a cliff after he left the Pittsburgh Steelers. Hence the question arises: what happened to Bell?

Bell was All-Pro with the Steelers in his second season and All-Pro in his last season with the Steelers in 2017. He sat out in a contract dispute in 2018. He seemed somewhat sluggish and rusty in his first season with a new team, also known as the New York Jets. He had 461 receiving yards, but he only averaged 3.2 YPC and he had a career-low four touchdowns.

Bell completely fell off the cliff in 2020. The former AP ball-carrier had 74 rushing yards, 138 receiving yards, and 2 touchdowns. I don’t believe that Bell gets a pass for being on the Jets offense (with Adam Gase), as he played for the Chiefs in 9 games!

Bell also hasn’t gone through injuries like a Todd Gurley, so he shouldn’t get a pass in that regard. I believe that Bell’s work ethic dipped after he signed a four year contract worth $52 million dollars!

It’s somewhat strange and sad to note that Bell is a shell of himself at 32 years old, while Derrick Henry is 31 years old and throwing defenders on the ground with his wicked stiff arm. Adrian Peterson even found a way to run over 1,000 yards beyond 30 years old.

Bell was on pace to be a Hall of Fame RB. Bell had three seasons of 1,800+ total yards in three of his first five seasons. He had 321 carries (the most in the league) in 2017. He was a true, top-tier bell-cow RB. If he could have been a dominant RB for a few more seasons, he may have made a serious case for Canton.

In his last season, he played for the Kansas City Chiefs. He ran for 18 yards on eight carries. He reached the end-zone once, so he finished his career with 51 total touchdowns. He accumulated 9,843 total yards in his football journey.

It may come as a surprise that Bell had more total yards than fellow Hall of Fame RB Terrell Davis. However, Davis ran for 2k yards in a season and he won two Super Bowl rings, while garnering Super Bowl MVP once.