From Killer B’s to Super Bowl backups: Le’Veon Bell, Antonio Brown vie for first ring – Pittsburgh Steelers Blog

Every single joined his new group, Bell with the Kansas Town Chiefs and Brown with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in the middle of the 2020 season. Neither player was lively in the conference championship game titles because of knee accidents, and every has been minimal in follow primary up to Sunday’s game (six:30 p.m. ET, CBS).

Bell, 28, has performed in ten game titles with the Chiefs this season, setting up two. In the normal season, he recorded sixty three carries for 254 yards and two touchdowns, together with thirteen catches for 99 yards, a significantly cry from the quantities he put up in Pittsburgh as the featured back again. Brown, 32, performed in eight normal-season game titles in Tampa Bay, setting up four. He experienced forty five catches for 483 yards and four touchdowns, also effectively off the rate he established in Pittsburgh.

Neither Bell nor Brown commenced the 2020 season with the teams who are using them to the Tremendous Bowl.

Bell begun off with the New York Jets, who gave him a four-year, $fifty two.five million agreement in free agency in 2019, but that finished with his launch right after a trade marketplace failed to materialize for the two-time All-Professional dual-menace back again. Following assessing his possibilities, Bell opted to sign a just one-year deal with the reigning Tremendous Bowl champions on Oct. fifteen, recognizing that he’d be using a lesser job in order to sign up for a winning group.

“I was so torn between how substantially of a workload did I really want vs. winning,” Bell stated, introducing he was close to signing with the Dolphins. “[Following my time] with the Jets, I was so centered on winning, I did not definitely treatment about how my generation would search. It acquired so annoying shedding. … I want to go someplace wherever I can still have my human body and still assistance the group get.”

Through the similar time, as their former group was cruising to an eleven- commence, Brown was also out of do the job as he served an eight-game suspension for a number of violations of the NFL’s personalized carry out policy.

Brown was the matter of a league investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct at his property by an artist who labored there in 2017. He also pleaded no contest in June to a felony burglary with battery cost and two lesser misdemeanors relevant to a January incident with a transferring firm. Brown’s former trainer also submitted a lawsuit alleging he sexually assaulted her, and a civil trial is scheduled for up coming December. Brown preserved the sexual romance was consensual.

“Antonio and I linked ideal away,” Brady stated. “He has a great adore for the game. He’s a perfectionist about how he plays, how he requires treatment of himself. He has an outstanding soccer IQ and then a great ability established as a player. He’s built outstanding strides the past 12 months to get from wherever he was at to wherever he is now.”

Brown, who was slice by the Raiders and the Patriots right after leaving Pittsburgh, stated his shot with the Buccaneers was his “only” prospect to demonstrate he could return to the league. Requested to make clear whether or not he experienced other gives right before signing in Tampa Bay or if he deserved a different probability in the NFL, Brown deflected.

“Suitable now, it can be about the Tampa Bay Bucs and the Tremendous Bowl. That’s my focus,” Brown stated. “I would be carrying out a disservice here to discuss about factors that will not matter. I am just grateful to be here. It’s a great minute for me, my teammates, Tampa Bay. The complete city. It’s a blessing to be here.”

When stars in black and gold, Bell and Brown both saw their professions in Pittsburgh appear crashing to an conclusion. Bell’s holdout through the 2018 season finished his tenure with the Steelers and failed to earn him a enormous pay day. Brown was a polarizing determine who was benched and traded by Pittsburgh right after he skipped procedures right before a will have to-get Week 17 game in 2018.

Bell doesn’t regret his time away from the Steelers through the 2018 season.

“That hardly ever crossed my head,” he stated. “I really feel like me sitting down out, how I search at it is it served me on the back again conclusion of my career. The year that I came back again (2019 with the Jets) I felt like was a reset, like I was a rookie all above all over again. I was capable to get my gatherings back again. It variety of reset my human body. I really feel like it can be heading to assistance me for the conclusion of my career.”

Brown took a conciliatory tone on Wednesday, declaring he stayed in touch with Steelers coach Mike Tomlin and some Pittsburgh teammates, even though acknowledging he has to retain his feelings in verify, a thing that’s gotten him in hassle in the earlier.

“It’s all about controlling feelings — bodily and mentally when you will not really feel very good,” Brown stated. “Will not be a slingshot when other folks appear at me. It’s studying how to regulate my mind-set, not letting my feelings get the finest of me.”

Simply because Bell and Brown are participating in backup roles, some Steelers supporters on social media are not all that upset about them participating in in the Tremendous Bowl with new teams. A lot of tweeted Wednesday night time that they ended up indifferent about the pair participating in Sunday, just one tweeting a clip of Tomlin declaring, “We do not treatment.”

Following twisting and tumultuous paths, just one of the original Killer B’s will, rather improbably, get his to start with Tremendous Bowl ring Sunday night time — with no the Steelers.