Bell’s penalties flawed, but he is to blame
Don't mistake the villain here. The villain isn't NFL commissioner Roger Goodell or his disciplinary police for coming down hard on Steelers running back Le'Veon Bell with a threegame suspension. The villain isn't former Steelers running back LeGarrette Blount for leading Bell down the wrong path by smoking marijuana with him. The villain is Bell. He's a grown man who should have known better. He deserves everything he gets for playing the fool in August by smoking the marijuana and driving his black Camaro down McKnight Road on his way to the airport for the team's flight to Philadelphia for an exhibition game the next night.
He let down his coaches, teammates and the Steelers organization in a big way. They will pay a significant price at the start of next season because of his selfishness. The Steelers expected punishment for Bell from the NFL office — though just two games — because he violated the league's drug policy. That's why they took no public action at the time against him and Blount, who was on the team then, even though they were infuriated by the players' thoughtless behavior. Think what you will of marijuana — it is legal in four states for recreational use and in 19 others and the District of Columbia for
medicinal purposes — but it is against the law in Pennsylvania. Beyond that, Bell was driving under the influence, which also is against Pennsylvania law. In February, he went to court and was given 15 months probation. Charges against him will be dropped if he completes the first-offenders program.
What's really hard to believe is Bell and Blount were on their way to a business trip. Where was their respect for their profession, let alone their coaches and teammates? Didn't they think Art Rooney II and Mike Tomlin could smell the marijuana on their clothes when they walked by on the plane? Couldn't they have waited until they got home after the game in Philadelphia to do their partying and get high?
For those reasons, it's hard to feel sympathy for Bell or to strenuously argue against the league discipline for him. Yes, Blount, now with the New England Patriots, was suspended for just one game at the start of the 2015 season, but he wasn't driving the vehicle. And yes, three games might seem excessive, especially considering former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice initially was suspended for just two games after punching out his then-fiancee in February 2014 in an Atlantic City casino elevator. But Goodell and the NFL took considerable criticism for being too lenient with Rice. All of it was justified. The league won't make a similar mistake again, which is a good thing. The opinion here is the tougher the penalty for criminal behavior, the better the NFL will be. The NFL Players Association will argue, of course. Bell already has appealed his penalty. I can't bring myself to root for him. Well, that's not entirely true.
The one troubling aspect of the Bell discipline is the NFL will allow him to play in the fourth game next season but withhold his paycheck. There is no way he should play for free. If he is allowed to put on a uniform and put his body and career on the line, he should be paid. This is America, right? A day's work for a day's wages.
No matter how the appeal process turns out, it's nice to think Bell will learn from his mistake and become a better person. Bell already is a terrific running back, maybe the NFL's best all-around back. He was the league's second-leading rusher last season and the Steelers' second-leading receiver. The team's offense, playing without Bell after his knee injury in the final regular-season game, was mostly impotent in a 30-17 playoff loss to the Ravens.
Veteran running back Ben Tate was signed off the street to fill in for Bell along with former practice-squad player Josh Harris. The two combined for 14 carries for 44 yards and four catches for 15 yards.
It's possible Bell's suspension will sabotage the Steelers next season, although the team is better prepared to be without him temporarily. It expected a suspension and planned accordingly, signing veteran running back DeAngelo Williams in March. Williams will be with the squad throughout the spring workouts and training camp, and should know his role in the offense much better than Tate or even Harris.
It's not as if the Steelers don't have experience at this sort of thing. They played the first four games of the 2010 season without quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who was suspended for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy when he was accused but not charged — in a sexual-assault case in Georgia.
Backups Dennis Dixon and Charlie Batch stepped in and led the team to a 3-1 record with Batch nearly beating the Ravens in the fourth game. Roethlisberger took over for the fifth game and led the Steelers to Super Bowl XLV against the Green Bay Packers.
Bell has to hope teammates bail him out the way they did Roethlisberger. He has to hope they give him a chance to atone for his mistake..