Steelers fans flip out on Le'Veon Bell after his latest social media post
In the battle for the hearts and minds of Pittsburgh Steelers fans, Le’Veon Bell is starting to lose the fight.
The point at issue is the running back’s decision to record a rap EP rather than report for training camp to honor the agreement he made to play for the Steelers and earn his $14.5 million salary.
Bell tweeted out just two words: “EP coming.”
EP coming 👀
— Le'Veon Bell (@LeVeonBell) July 26, 2018
Twitter jumped down Bell’s throat immediately…and viciously.
https://twitter.com/SadlstIk/status/1022296519075155969
“I hope he tears his ACL this season,” the user, identified only with a dove emoji, tweeted.
Other users on Twitter sharply rebuked Bell and told him to report to his team.
The rest of your TEAM is at camp working and your lazy ass is on twitter. #gettowork
— Frank Reynolds (@1m2g3o4k) July 26, 2018
And still others went after the quality of Bell’s jams.
— Antonio (@anton_yoo) July 26, 2018
Suffice to say, any sympathy fans may have had for Bell has evaporated in as much time as it took the running back to start acting like a petulant child at a time when it’s actually costing his football team in terms of preparation for a season.
The same user who took a shot at Bell, Brett Kostoff, had previously called BS on Bell’s posturing and insistence that he cares about his team.
https://twitter.com/kostoff2/status/1018974078160523264
“This is complete BS. You only want to get paid for your production. You forgot to factor in the suspensions. If you wanted to retire a Steeler it could have been done multiple times. It’s all about YOU!” Kostoff said on July 16.
And, of course, no potential loss of a player’s services is complete without sour grapes.
https://twitter.com/SportIris1976/status/1022304939241025536
Bell rushed for 1,291 yards and caught 85 passes for 655 yards out of the backfield for the Steelers last season.
And while second-year player James Conner got off to a strong start last season, averaging 4.5 yards a carry on 32 attempts, he caught not a single pass in limited duty in 14 games.
Indeed, nobody on Pittsburgh who isn’t a wide receiver or a tight end caught more than two passes last season. You might be able to replace Bell’s rushing, but you can’t easily replace offensive versatility, the same reason the Rams just backed up a dump truck full of cash for Todd Gurley and his 12-plus yards per catch to go with his running offense.
Bell has stuck to his guns — if nothing else, you gotta hand it to the guy for defending his principle that football needs him more than he needs football — but he’s done so at the cost of any sympathy Steelers fans have for him.
Which, in turn, means that if Pittsburgh wants to get rid of him, they’ll face a lot less fan backlash when they do.
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