Le'Veon Bell makes shocking admission about Steelers career

Retired two-time All-Pro RB Le'Veon Bell made a stunning admission about his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers on Friday morning, while also admitting he would like to retire with the team and get a couple of carries in a preseason game.

Let's start with that admission.

During an appearance on the "Steel Here" podcast Friday morning, Bell admitted that he used to smoke weed before Steelers games. 

Here is an excerpt of what he said on that subject (via Steelers Depot):

"I got a misconception about me with the whole weed thing. Regardless, I was wrong. Just because man, like I shouldn’t have smoke in the car regardless. But looking back on it, that’s what I did. When I was playing football, I smoked bro. Even before the games, I smoked. And I’ll go out there and run for 150, two touchdowns."

The NFL had a strict marijuana policy during Bell's time with the Steelers, but he said it was very easy to get around that because once you passed one test early in the season the league never tested players again for it. 

Despite that, Bell was still hit with a four-game suspension (later reduced to three games) for violating the league's substance abuse policy at the start of the 2016 season.  

Along with that admission, Bell also said that he would like to retire as a member of the Steelers and even get a couple of carries in a preseason game to show what he can still do. 

“I never officially retired. The day when I do retire, it is going to be with Pittsburgh. Before I do that, I may be like, hey, let me get a couple of carries in the preseason so I can show y’all something.”

Bell was drafted by the Steelers in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft and spent five years playing for the team. He was one of the NFL's best and most versatile running backs during that time, earning three Pro Bowl nods, but his career with the team ended at the start of the 2018 season when he sat out the year because he refused to play on the franchise tag. He became an unrestricted free agent after that and signed a lucrative deal with the New York Jets, but his career was never the same as it was with the Steelers. 

Bell said he has no serious plans about returning to the NFL on a full-time basis as he continues his transition to being a professional boxer. 

His most recent appearance in the NFL was with the Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the 2021 season. He rushed for 6,554 yards and 42 touchdowns in his career, adding 3,289 yards and nine touchdowns receiving.