Brown not worried about Steelers, tagged Bell
LOS ANGELES – Le’Veon Bell’s contractual drama certainly has disrupted Pittsburgh’s offseason, but as for the season itself ? Don’t be so sure.
Bell and the Steelers were unable to agree to a long-term contract, meaning the star running back will play the season under the franchise tag before likely entering free agency.
However, rather than being a disruption to the team’s chances of mounting a Super Bowl run after falling to the Jaguars in the divisional round six months ago, wide receiver Antonio Brown believes the drawn-out saga might act as a spark for Bell and his colleagues.
“I have no doubt that he is going to have a great season,” Brown said of Bell. “He is an ultimate competitor — ultimate. He is one of the greatest running backs in the NFL. I don’t think his success will take a hit or nothing.
“The team will deal with it in a posi- tive way. Obviously, we had a dose of it last year. I think everyone will know how to handle it this year with regards to how the situation is unfolding. We will welcome him back with open arms.”
Brown was ranked second on the NFL’s list of its top 100 players last sea- son, behind Tom Brady.
But Brown just turned 30; Ben Roethlisberger is 36, and with Bell’s future seemingly destined to play out elsewhere, this season might be the last chance for the current Steelers core to mount a serious title charge.
“Super Bowl, that’s it,” Brown said, when asked what would constitute a successful season. “And I feel like that window of opportunity is getting smaller and smaller. Every year we get close, right there, not quite getting over the hump.
“Now is the time. Absolutely, this moment has to be the moment. In regards to the situation we are in with the team and the organization, this time will have to be the time.”
When Brown came into the league in 2010, he was not considered significant enough to be made part of that year’s “Madden” video game by EA Sports. This year, he is on the cover and is one of the most effective and recognizable non-quarterbacks in the league.
Brown bristles at suggestions that aside from quarterbacks, NFL players’ offensive contribution naturally starts to decline once they enter their fourth decade. Last week he celebrated turning 30 by buying himself a dazzling diamond chain said to be worth $200,000 that includes the names of his girlfriend and sons. The message was clear. He has no plans to slow down.
“In the NFL they always have their theories,” he added. “A player’s life span in only three years in the NFL, stuff like that. They have all these theories. I feel like the older you get the smarter you get. Great players like Jerry Rice were an example of that, Cris Carter, Larry Fitzgerald.
“I am excited to show what I can do after the age of 30.”
Rice led the league in receiving six times. Three of them came after he turned 30.
Brown believes he is positioned for similar productivity. “I am in crazy shape,” he said.