Le'Veon Bell was a dynamic dual-threat running back known for his explosive playmaking ability. He starred for the Pittsburgh Steelers, earning Pro Bowl honors and racking up impressive rushing and receiving yards. However, his career was marked by contract disputes and injuries, leading him to bounce around several teams after a holdout in Pittsburgh. Despite the later chapters, Bell's talent and impact on the Steelers during his prime remain undeniable.
Former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le'Veon Andrew Bell was selected 48th overall in the 2013 NFL Draft. Here are the 10 Facts You Didn’t Know About Le'Veon Bell.
10. Le'Veon Bell was born on February 18, 1992 in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, to Lisa A. Bell.
His mother and grandfather have been lifelong Pittsburgh Steelers fans. Throughout his childhood, his mother raised him and his siblings by herself, and his family struggled financially. He has two older sisters and two younger brothers, both of whom also play football.
9. Le'Veon Bell attended Groveport Madison High School in Groveport, Ohio, where he played football, basketball, and ran track.
He played running back for the Groveport Cruisers football team. In basketball, he earned second-team All-OCC Ohio Division honors as a junior.
In track and field, he ran the 100 and 200-meter dashes and was one of the state’s top performers in the high jump.
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8. Le'Veon Bell was considered a two-star recruit and was ranked as the 211th-best running back in the nation in 2010.
Although he was a three-year starter in high school, he had limited scholarship offers from Bowling Green, Marshall, and Eastern Michigan, but he hoped to attend Ohio State.
7. Le'Veon Bell’s high school principal, Donis Toler Jr., believed he was under-recruited and reached out to Michigan State’s head coach Mark Dantonio.
Although Dantonio had heard of Bell, they had never scouted him personally or had thought of offering him a scholarship.
With football season over, Dantonio sent his running back’s coach to scout Bell at his high school basketball game.
After Bell finished his senior football season, he finally received a scholarship offer from Michigan State, after a number of players had got into trouble and had open scholarships available with a need at running back.
In 2010, Bell graduated from high school early and began attending Michigan State that spring semester.
6. Le'Veon Bell played for the Michigan State Spartans football team from 2010 to 2012.
In his freshman season, he received All Big-Ten Freshman honors from ESPN.com and Rivals.com. He finished his junior season with 1,793 rushing yards, which led the Big Ten. He was voted to the First-Team All-Big Ten by the coaches and media, ESPN.com, “College Football News”, and Phil Steele.
After his junior season in 2012, he decided to forgo his senior season at Michigan State and enter the 2013 NFL Draft.
5. Coming out of Michigan State, Le'Veon Bell was projected by the majority of analysts to be a second or third-round selection.
Former All-Pro RB Le'Veon Bell was ranked as the fifth-best running back by NFLDraftScout.com and ranked the best overall running back by NFL analyst Bucky Brooks.
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4. Le'Veon Bell received an invitation to the NFL Combine and participated in all workouts and positional drills.
Former Steelers running back Le'Veon Bell was satisfied with his combine performance and only performed positional drills at Michigan State’s Pro Day.
He worked out in front of scouts and representatives from 29 NFL teams. The only head coach that attended was Pittsburgh Steelers’ head coach Mike Tomlin.
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3. Le'Veon Bell cites his high school principal, Donis Toler Jr., and his mother as the two people responsible for helping him achieve his success.
Toler was a father figure in Bell’s life. Bell has numerous tattoos including two scriptures. He has Jeremiah 1:5 on his left arm with a picture of his mother embracing him after Michigan State suffered a loss in the Big Ten Championship. He also has John 3:16 on his left arm, along with “That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”
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2. On August 20, 2014, Le'Veon Bell was driving with his then-Steelers teammate LeGarrette Blount and an unidentified woman, when he was pulled over by the police.
The officer searched the car after he claimed to notice the smell of Marijuana. The search yielded 20 grams of Marijuana, and the three were arrested for Marijuana possession.
Bell was surprised when the arresting officer mentioned DUI. He told the officer, “I didn’t know you could get a DUI for being high.”
Bell was sentenced to 15 months of probation, a 60-day suspension of his driver’s license, DUI education classes, and $2,400 in court costs.
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1. Before the start of the 2017 NFL season, Le'Veon Bell held out throughout all of training camp and the preseason.
On August 31st, while he was still holding out, he joked about being “jobless” and filled out an application to work at Dairy Queen. He got the job and worked at a Dairy Queen in Pittsburgh on September 12th. He learned how to serve ice cream to customers.
Bell is active in charity work and fundraisers. He works with PETA and posed for one of the organizations advertisements, which showed him without a shirt on with a caption saying, “I choose ink, not mink…Because animals deserve better!”
That’s all 10 Facts You Didn't Know About Le'Veon Bell, tell us if you think Le'Veon Bell is the best running back in the NFL!