Let’s make something very, very clear. Just because you can throw a football, or catch a football, or run with a football, does not mean that you are or are not a person of quality.
The Pittsburgh Steelers had a quarterback for twenty years; and although he guided the Steelers to three Super Bowls and won two, his treatment of women off the field disgusted me so much that I have not willingly mentioned his name in my blog for the past fifteen years. As far as I’m concerned, he was just an employee of the team, not anybody whose jersey I would purchase and wear at Steelers gams.
The Pittsburgh Steelers had a wide receiver, one of the greatest to ever play the sport. Acrobatic catches. Stunning runs. But over time, the talent on the field was damped by the antics off the field. And trust me, I’ve chronicled those actions when he purchased – and ran into the ground – the Arena Football League’s Albany Empire. Trust me, when a team gets “Antonio Browned,” you know bad times are afoot.
The Steelers have had a mixed bag of running backs. For every class act and Hall of Famer (Franco Harris, Rocky Bleier, Jerome Bettis), we’ve had some serious wackadoodles. Bam Morris and his penchant for the chronic. Gunner Olzewski, whose first name should have been fumble.
And sadly, we now come to the subject of this blog post. Le’Veon Bell. Bell was with the Steelers from 2013 to 2018, appearing in two Pro Bowls. After an extended holdout, he signed with the New York Jets, then bounced around the NFL for a few more seasons before retiring in 2021.
That being said … Bell played at above-average level for the Steelers, and was part of the team’s “Killer B’s” lineup.
But today is the last day Le’Veon Bell gets mentioned in this blog. Ever.
Because of this news article from Sports Illustrated. And I’m issuing a trigger warning, because if you click on the link here, you will read the horrifying story that involves CSAM.
Yeah. Ugh. Straight up ugh.
This is repulsive, this is disgusting, this is horrendous. If this story is even partially true … Le’Veon Bell needs to be locked away for a very long time.
And again … we may never know the full story. But if a judge has enough evidence to issue punitive damages to a victim of $25 million for what Le’Veon Bell was charged with doing … that’s as serious as a heart attack.
This is why you can not automatically elevate an athlete to sainthood just because he can hit a baseball or slap a rubber hockey puck into a net. Believe me. The Baseball Hall of Fame has some enshrinees that have done terrible, terrible things off the field.
And now this. Ugh. I just don’t want to …
Excuse me. I just visited that link to make sure I comprehended what I read.
And now I feel sick again.
Yeah, take a hike, Le’Veon Bell. You were a great running back years ago.
Too bad we didn’t realize who you were OFF the field. UGH.
It sounds like he’s adopted that winning legal defense strategy of ‘dodge, point fingers, cry foul, then appeal’…after one year.
Unless the victim recants, he and his brother deserve to wear all the shame that comes their way, and then some.
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Athletic Affluenza. Today’s players are conditioned to believe that multi-million dollar contracts make them untouchable, which is the single biggest myth in sports today.
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