Ravens sign RB Le'Veon Bell

[AngusMcFife]

1 hour ago, Leoric said:

I’d love to know if he was ever that special to begin with or benefitted from surrounding talent. Steelers had prime Antonio Brown stretching the field during Bell’s good years and of course Ben. He was nothing special in New York or KC and it’s hard to say he physically stepped back that much with the gap year. Maybe it was the accumulation of touches or maybe he wasn’t ever the superstar his stats suggested. There’s guys that change teams and continue producing ex. Clinton Portis and then there are the dudes that are duds elsewhere ex. Mike Wallace, David Boston. 

Likewise the Steelers haven't won a playoff game since Bell held out, and missed the playoffs 2 out of the 3 years altogether. 

[Ray Reed]

1 hour ago, Leoric said:

I’d love to know if he was ever that special to begin with or benefitted from surrounding talent. Steelers had prime Antonio Brown stretching the field during Bell’s good years and of course Ben. He was nothing special in New York or KC and it’s hard to say he physically stepped back that much with the gap year. Maybe it was the accumulation of touches or maybe he wasn’t ever the superstar his stats suggested. There’s guys that change teams and continue producing ex. Clinton Portis and then there are the dudes that are duds elsewhere ex. Mike Wallace, David Boston. 

Hey that's Mike "1,000 yard receiver for the Ravens" Wallace you're talking about (crazy bar trivia stat)

[MWil23]

Not much of a choice here for Baltimore. I can't imagine anything major comes out of it, but stranger things have happened and maybe he can give them some insight into KC and Pitt schematically or whatever.

[AngusMcFife]

3 hours ago, 43M said:

You claimed people like to "hate" him for no reason, when that is completely false.    I dont hate LeVeon, but he has done numerous things over the years that havent helped his image.   Nothing over the top bad...but enough to understand why many dont like him.

1)  Violated league substance abuse policies twice earlier in his career and didnt take accountability for his actions.   Regardless of how you feel about the rule itself, its a league policy that every player is held to.

2)  He claimed he was a new breed of player and wanted to set the new market for versatile RBs.   I dont have a problem with it, but his ego began to outgrow his talent during his final contract year in Pittsburgh.  He acted like the Steelers were lowballing him when it was actually a good offer....especially considering he was a RB who got injured at inopportune times and had a few violations of league rules against him.    He didnt think that stuff should've mattered, but unfortunately, it does.  If not for those things, I think the Steelers would've coughed up more money.

3)   During the year he held out, he acted like he was on LeBron James level of stardom.   He spent more time showing off and promoting his terrible rap career than focusing on football.   He gained a good bit of weight during his year off.  He lost it, but his conditioning took a backseat.   After signing with the Jets, he clearly wasn't the same player.

4)   He badmouthed Reid, but didnt really clarify why....which kinda tells me he is still an immature brat who was jaded Reid didnt give him more opportunities he didnt earn.

For the record, I dont even really dislike him.   He did what he thought was best for his career, but he went about it all wrong.   I wished him well after he left and now that he is on the Ravens, its the first time I will actively root AGAINST him.  

However, regardless of anyones feelings about him, he objectively hasnt handled his career well.   He started off great (aside from league violations), but gambled on himself being a superstar wherever he went, but it hasnt worked out.

I'm just saying, for all the things he's done, people love to hate on him when he really hasn't done harm to anyone but himself. I'm not saying you hate him, but there is a lot of hate for Bell out there. 

I think his issues with Pittsburgh were justified. He led the league in touches in 2017, it seemed obvious to me that the Steelers were going to heavily use him to the point where he'd be too injured/used-up to be good again on another team. They were content to to churn him up and spit him out. You say the Steelers offered him a fair deal, but the guaranteed $ was a joke. $10 million guaranteed was an absolute joke, a lowball offer. You know it, I don't know why you are arguing otherwise.  

Also it has been reported that the Steelers were letting immature Big Ben run wild and not be at all accountable as team leader, leading to players like Bell and Antonio Brown to want out. No highly skilled player should have to put up with that kind of corrupt culture unless they are fairly compensated, which he didn't feel like he was. 

[MSURacerDT55]

1 hour ago, MWil23 said:

Not much of a choice here for Baltimore. I can't imagine anything major comes out of it, but stranger things have happened and maybe he can give them some insight into KC and Pitt schematically or whatever.

This...

[berlin calling]

Bell will most likely not get much of an opportunity and i couldn't care less.

Neither of these 2 will make or break the Ravens season.

[43M]

17 hours ago, AngusMcFife said:

Likewise the Steelers haven't won a playoff game since Bell held out, and missed the playoffs 2 out of the 3 years altogether. 

Outside of one postseason, Bell did nothing as far as helping win postseason games.  He got injured late in the season....twice.

The Steelers have been choking away postseason games since 2010.  Bell has nothing to do with it.   Much more to do with coaching.

And one of those postseasons the Steelers missed, they went 8-8 with terrible backup QBs.  Still ALMOST made the playoffs despite having almost no offense.

Losing Mike Munchack hurt the Steelers more than losing Bell.  Munch coaching our OL had a huge impact on LeVeons success.     After Munch left, our run blocking turned to poo.

Bottom line, Bell was great for the Steelers, and I wish things had turned out differently...but he had ALOT of help in Pittsburgh that helped make him look better.   Take away Ben, Brown and the OLine with Munch, and Bell wouldn't have had near the same success. 

Edited September 9, 2021 by 43M

[jebrick]

On 9/7/2021 at 10:42 PM, DreamKid said:

It's not like he's hated for criminal stuff like some other players. It's just over the course of his career his attitude and actions have rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. Simply happens with some players(or really any public figure), and it's rarely anything but a natural response. There's no conspiracy or grand misunderstanding to me... he's just not likeable. 

Steeler fans will say that Bell does not want to play any more.  He wants to do his rap videos and live the lifestyle but not really play football.  I think other fan bases can see this as well as his talent has mostly fallen off a cliff and no team really wants him.

[AngusMcFife]

4 hours ago, 43M said:

Outside of one postseason, Bell did nothing as far as helping win postseason games.  He got injured late in the season....twice.

The Steelers have been choking away postseason games since 2010.  Bell has nothing to do with it.   Much more to do with coaching.

And one of those postseasons the Steelers missed, they went 8-8 with terrible backup QBs.  Still ALMOST made the playoffs despite having almost no offense.

Losing Mike Munchack hurt the Steelers more than losing Bell.  Munch coaching our OL had a huge impact on LeVeons success.     After Munch left, our run blocking turned to poo.

Bottom line, Bell was great for the Steelers, and I wish things had turned out differently...but he had ALOT of help in Pittsburgh that helped make him look better.   Take away Ben, Brown and the OLine with Munch, and Bell wouldn't have had near the same success. 

All I know is the Steelers made the playoffs 4 straight years and won the division 3 times from 2014-2017. (The one wild card year was when Bell missed time with injury).

Then in 2018, with a healthy Ben and Antonio Brown, Steelers couldn't even make the playoffs without Bell. They still had Munchack that year too. 

Bell may not have been the greatest, but it was a huge downgrade going from Bell to Connor. Maybe if they didn't replace him with such a garbage back, his absence would have been less noticeable. 

Schematically, Bell's ability to line up at WR and soundly beat LBs was a huge advantage. He is one of the greatest pass catching backs I've seen. From a Ravens perspective, it was a tough matchup because with Bell on the field, we had to keep our run defenders (esp. Brandon Williams) on the field. But then you could split Bell out wide and we didn't have the personnel to pass rush/cover. 

I agree Munchack did a great job with that line.