The Le’Veon Bell holdout is one of the main storylines heading into the NFL season. Some of his Pittsburgh Steelers teammates spoke out on a day when they expected him to show up.
Le’Veon Bell’s teammates, three of his offensive linemen in particular, had some harsh words for the All-Pro running back. Ramon Foster, Maurkice Pouncey, and David DeCastro had critical things to say of Bell. Foster is the Steelers’ players union rep and Pouncey is a team captain, so their words aren’t to be taken lightly.
They decided to voice their opinions on the matter, after waiting 24 hours for their star running back to show. When he didn’t, they made sure to let the media know they weren’t happy.
Here are some quotes from these guys during Wednesday’s media session:
Maurkice Pouncey is clearly DONE w/ Le’Veon Bell’s absence. Says he’d much prefer Bell just say when he’s going to show up, even if it’s Week 10: “Why play hide and seek? Why let your agent say this? Just man up and tell us what you’re going to do.”
— Aditi Kinkhabwala (@AKinkhabwala) September 5, 2018
Ramon Foster’s words were a bit more harsh.
Steelers teammates not happy with Le’Veon Bell no show, led by vet G Ramon Foster, their player rep:
— Ed Bouchette (@EdBouchette) September 5, 2018
“What do you do? here’s a guy who doesn’t give a damn, I guess so we’ll treatit as such. I just hate it came to this. “
There were many other quotes that could fill this article, but I’d recommend going to twitter to check it out yourself.
The bottom line is this: when you have multiple players, especially team leaders, calling you out and publicly stating their disdain for your actions, you’ve lost their trust. The relationship between the offensive line and the skill players, especially the quarterback and running back, is special. Trust is a big component. The offense doesn’t do what they’re capable of without the offensive line doing its job. The quarterback doesn’t have time to make his reads and make good throws. The ball carrier doesn’t have the room or holes to gain yardage without the offensive line.
Now, do I think the offensive line will just stop blocking for Bell? No way. This team wants to win a Super Bowl. You hear guys like Ramon Foster and Cam Heyward talking about that all the time. They just want to win. They know with Bell in the locker room and on the field, he can help them win. That’s why they’re mad.
They’re also mad because Bell tweeted multiple times over the offseason that he’d be with the team in 2018. He also stated, along with his agent, that 2018 would be his best season to date. It’s hard to pull that off when you don’t play a full season. Every game he misses just makes that statement a bigger lie.
Bell’s teammates are smart. They understand the business side of football, which is why they haven’t publicly shamed Bell for anything. They didn’t shame him for missing OTA’s, training camp, or preseason games. They feel betrayed now because the games start to matter. And if the Steelers lose the opener in Cleveland, especially if the offense is stale, it will just add fuel to the fire.
Bell could fix all this by showing up and playing games. He may want to preserve his body for free agency, but his true colors are showing now. His focus is purely on himself and not his teammates. Football is more than money.