One of the things I love about Le'Veon Bell's running style is the old-school attitude. He doesn't just take on tacklers. He seeks them out. He punishes people.
There was no better example of it than late in the Buffalo game last season, when Bell could have run out of bounds but turned upfield just so he could detonate defensive back James Ihedigbo. And detonate he did. They might still be trying to pry Ihedigbo off the turf.
I love that.
But I wonder, given the fact that Bell clearly is unhappy with the Steelers and likely remains two full seasons from the historic pay day he craves, whether he will still be that guy.
The stakes are raised. Every injury Bell incurs from now until the end of the 2018 season _ the time he would hit the market if the Steelers retain him on another franchise tag and don't sign him long-term _ could hurt his value. Every touch adds a tick to the odometer.
Ridiculous to be thinking that far ahead?
Maybe, but Bell obviously is. His holy grail is a record-breaking, market-setting mega deal.
I'm not suggesting he'll tank. He's not wired that way. He'll be great, as long as he is healthy. I just wonder about situations like the one described above, and whether Bell will eschew some big hits in favor of some sound business decisions.
Maybe that's the right move no matter the circumstances. Maybe he should curtail his style. Like maybe hit delete on the "Le'Veon Leap" for starters.
And maybe the larger question is this: Will Bell still be willing to play through a nagging injury the way he did in the playoffs last season, or will his mindset shift to something along the lines of, "They didn't take care of me, so I'm not going to sacrifice my body for them."
Seems like a fair question, and I'm not sure there's a wrong answer.
The NFL chews through players the way dogs chew through bones. The Steelers could easily ride Bell for 650 more touches over the next two years and let him go, satisfied they likely got the best years of his career.
On the other hand, the Steelers will have paid Bell around $26 million for that right (2017 and '18 tags combined) and appear to have made Bell a fair, multi-year offer. In fact, the Post-Gazette's Ed Bouchette reported the Steelers thought they had a deal until Bell nixed it at the last second.
Part of me admires Bell for his stubbornness and pride. I respect the fact that he is willing to bet so heavily on himself. That kind of self-assurance obviously is part of what made him great.
But why does he feel the need to play the disrespect card?
We don't have all the details of the Steelers' five-year offer, but if the issue was guaranteed money, it seems pertinent that Bell was ticketed to make $30 million over the first two years. That is akin to guaranteed money, because even if he sustained, say, a major knee injury this season, it's doubtful he'd be cut before next year.
The Steelers did not disrespect Bell, who has missed nearly 30 percent of the team's games since he was drafted and has yet to start and finish the same season.
It'd be nice to hear Bell say something like, "I believe I'm worth more than the Steelers offered, but I also understand I need to play in more games. I need to finish what I start."
Instead, we hear him talk about being undervalued, and we saw him sarcastically tweet, after talks fell through: "I gotta get better, apparently."
That bothers people, kind of like the excuses Bell tossed out after getting suspended again last season.
The other angle here is that Bell's backup happens to be one of the more popular athletes in Pittsburgh sports history in James Conner. But let's be clear on this: It's unfair to Bell and Conner to compare the two and to suggest the Steelers would be fine without Bell.
They need him. And they'll get him, apparently, next Friday, along with a couple of questions:
Will his approach to the game be exactly the same?
And would you blame him if it's not?
