Le'Veon Bell was once the best running back in the entire NFL, dominating the position from 2014 to 2018. Now, the former Pittsburgh Steeler has opened up on his off-field behaviour.
With Ben Roethlisberger throwing the ball and Antonio Brown at wide receiver, the Steelers were a most feared offense in the league - while being spearheaded by Bell's rushing abilities. And while being a superstar during that time, Bell has admitted that some of his best performances came after he had smoked marijuana before games.
Speaking on the 'Steel Here' podcast, Bell said: "Looking back on this, that's what I did... When I was playing football, I smoked, bro. Even before the games, I'd smoke and I'd go out there and run for 150, two [touchdowns]."
If Bell's admission is true, then he is lucky he got away without punishment - with players regularly being drug-tested throughout the season. When Bell was at the height of his career, the NFL had much stricter rules against the use of marijuana and big-name stars Josh Gordon and Randy Gregory were amongst those to receive suspensions.
Under the new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) in 2021, it is now much less likely for players to be suspended heavily for testing positive for smoking, instead receiving fines. And although Bell was never suspended by the NFL for his use of marijuana, he did have a number of run-in's.
In 2014, he was arrested for being in possession of marijuana in Pittsburgh, before being put on probation. Bell also missed several NFL drug tests in that year, and had reportedly been taken out of practice sessions to submit a urine test.
He would go on to have a sensational five seasons with the Steelers, before holding out of the 2018 for a new deal and being traded to the New York Jets where he went on to have a nightmare stint.
Speaking on the same podcast, Bell was hugely critical about Adam Gase's period as head coach of the team. "Bro, we get to New York, and that's when you instantly find out that head coaches make a huge difference," Bell said. "As soon as I get to New York I find that out like the first week.
"The team wasn't that great, don't get me wrong, but I feel like if Coach Tomlin (Steelers head coach) was coaching that team, we win nine games at least. It's to the point where Sam Darnold don't even know like the actual line's protections because he's so confused about our offense because the coach is confusing him."
Both Bell and Gase would last just two seasons, with Bell being traded to the Kansas City Chiefs and Gase fired. Bell has not played since 2021, after a short stint with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
