Free agent running back Le’Veon Bell admitted to regularly smoking marijuana prior to games during his playing days.
Speaking of an episode of the Podcast ‘Steel Here’Bell admitted his drug use and seemed to indicate that it helped his performance.
“Looking back on this, that’s what I did,” Bell said. “When I was playing football, I smoked, man. Even before the games I smoked and went out and ran for 150, two [touchdowns].’
“You get that one drug test [a year] and you’re fine… with me, I’ve never failed any drug tests. It was that smell that happened and I got caught.
“So it was like a public matter and now I’m on the program. So that finally happened and I got suspended for the first four games [of 2015].’
Le’Veon Bell spoke on the “Steel Here” podcast about his time in Pittsburgh and his drug problems
Bell admitted that he would smoke marijuana before games and that helped his performance
Bell would be suspended again in 2016 for violating the league’s drug abuse policy.
Later in the podcast, Bell seemed to express buyer regret when it came to his not-so-nice departure from the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The former All-Pro declined to sign a franchise label with Pittsburgh in 2018 and sat out the entire season before signing with the New York Jets in 2019.
“Yeah, it was a little trivial, that little warranty thing,” Bell said Friday. “I’m like, damn it, could I really have just eaten it? Yes, I probably could have. He probably could have actually eaten it.’
Bell told the podcast that the Steelers only wanted to guarantee the first year of his renewal — which the rusher said wasn’t enough security for him.
“I didn’t want to leave Pittsburgh. At the end of the day I was there. There I was summoned.
“Especially after going to different teams and seeing what it’s like, if a team has their man, you’re their man. I was the man from Pittsburgh.”
Bell also said he regretted the ‘petty’ way he didn’t play for the Steelers in 2018
Because of that force majeure, he remained a free agent, where he eventually signed with the Jets in 2019
Eventually, Bell settled with the Jets – where he bagged a big payday but found no consistency in his performance.
Bell also found he couldn’t replicate his form in Pittsburgh – in part due to the “terrible” coaching of then-Jets boss Adam Gase.
“Bro, we go to New York, and you immediately notice that head coaches make a huge difference,” said Bell. ‘As soon as I arrive in New York, I notice it as in the first week. … Bro, the team wasn’t that great, don’t get me wrong, but I feel like Coach [Mike] Tomlin [of the Steelers] coached that team, we win at least nine games.
‘It’s time [ex-Jets quarterback] Sam Darnold doesn’t even know the protection of the line because he’s so confused about our attack because the coach is confusing him.’
He was finally released in 2020 and spent time with Kansas City, Baltimore and Tampa Bay in 2020 and 2021. Bell has not appeared for an NFL team since.
Bell also told the podcast that he has not officially retired and hopes he can return to the team that drafted him before that happens.
Bell joined a Jets team led by Adam Gase, a coach who called the former All-Pro back “terrible”
Bell bounced around playing with the Chiefs, Ravens and Bucs before getting cut
“I never officially retired,” Bell said. “The day I retire will be in Pittsburgh. Like, I’m trying to retire from Pittsburgh.
“But before I do that, I might say, ‘Hey, let me get some tote bags in the preseason so I can show you all something.’
“With the Steelers, I would do the little preseason, like okay, boom boom, but I wouldn’t do that anywhere else. Because I’m not even thinking about playing, it would literally only be in Pittsburgh.
“Pittsburgh is where I retire, you know what I mean, that’s just it. Because I’ve already been to other places. It’s not Pittsburgh.”