In group chat featuring my myself, my mom, dad, brother and uncle we were discussing, Pittsburgh Steelers' running back Le'Veon Bell's current situation. Bell didn't suit up for the Steelers for week one in their tie with the Cleveland Browns. When the news broke that he wouldn't play, my uncle sent a message saying that he would be missing out on a $855k game check. My brother responded and said, "I mean we all know that Uncle Matt would hit one golf stroke with two broken legs for 50k, but Bell, who is healthy, can't just sit on the sidelines for almost a million." The truth in this statement made us all lose a bit of respect for Bell. Many Steelers fans feel the same.
It's pretty selfish for a guy to leave his team in the dust just in hopes that he can make more money. For the past two seasons, Le'Veon Bell has been franchise tagged. Each franchise gets one player that they can tag. It lasts for a year, and this season, as a tag, Bell will make $11.886 Million. He's holding out in hopes to come to a contract agreement with the Steelers. They presented him with a reasonable contract, but he thought he deserved more.
That's what gets me about professional sports— Bell is doing this for the money. It's not like he's fighting for enough money to stay above water. He's well above water and can live a very luxurious lifestyle. So why can't athletes just play the game they claim to love? Sometimes I feel like just playing for the love of the game is lost, they are just playing to make the most money and sign the biggest contract. This applies to all sports athletes who hold out for money all the time, and it drives me crazy.
Either way, Bell wants more money, yet he sat out last week and skipped a $885k paycheck. I understand that he wants more, but I think it's gotten to the point now that he wants to prove his point. So to me, and many other Pittsburgh fans, missing week one shows that his ego is too big to take a step back, just take the money he's been offered (which mind you is a whole lot) and play football for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He's too much about himself and not enough about his team.
His teammates are speaking out about it also calling him selfish. Expressing their frustrations explaining that his they are out here working for him for a fraction of his salary, and all he wants is more money. I'd surely feel the same as them. On the other hand, some teammates like star receiver Antonio Brown are supporting Bell, saying they're his family and ready for him when he comes back.
On top of all these shenanigans before week one after the game concluded Sunday afternoon, Bell turned to Twitter. He did what most people do on Twitter and posted something vague that can be taken many ways. He posted a singular emoji with a magnifying glass over one eye. After someone called him out calling it "shade" his response was "no shade, just never witnessed a tie before…" I'm not sure that I buy it. As stubborn and egotistical he has been thus far, I wouldn't put it past him that he would be a bit happy inside for the result of that game, considering he is trying to prove his value to the team and they didn't perform too well without him. When we will see number 26 back on the field is a mystery, but whenever it is it will be interesting to see how his teammates and fans react.
