Steelers RB Bell Should Wait Until Next Season For Apology

On Wednesday morning, Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell waived his right to a preliminary hearing for possession of marijuana and driving under the influence of the drug.  He is hoping to enter a first offenders program rather than pleading guilty which would then result in a probationary program and no jail time.  That afternoon, Bell vowed he would stay out of trouble.

The arrest was made back on August 20th when Bell and fellow running back teammate LeGarrette Blount were pulled over when a motorcycle police officer smelled pot smoke coming from the vehicle they were in.  The arrest hit the news and became a distraction for a team already trying to work through numerous questions and issues during the preseason weeks.  The Steelers organization and Mike Tomlin stated that the issue would be dealt with internally.  The league will wait until a final conviction is made before a league punishment is rolled out – likely in 2015.

After Wednesday’s practice, Bell apologized for his arrest.

"It’s a mistake that obviously [I] can’t do it again.  It’s something I definitely regret doing but I apologized to my teammates for it."

While that apology might be sentimentally nice for his team and might warm the hearts of Steeler Nation to know he is full of remorse, it holds little water right now.  What Bell really needs to do is wait and hold onto this apology for next season…. when he’s actually suspended for two games.

The NFL will more than likely tag the young RB with a two game suspension per the new drug policy agreed upon a few weeks ago between the league and the NFLPA.  Bell has become the new stud for the Steelers running game, and that suspension will without a doubt hurt this football team when the open the 2015 season.  That’s when it matters.  That’s when he really needs to apologize to his teammates.  Drug arrests as a distraction? Nah.  Too many, too often for teams.  Suspensions of your top players? Yeah, that’s when it hurts.

I appreciate this young man’s efforts to let it be known that he’s sorry and wants to grow from this mistake.  But, I think he should apologize “for realzeez” when this Top 5 running offense could potentially come to a grinding halt to kick off the 2015 season.  Not the best way to start a season, and sucks players even put their teams into positions like this when they decide to make poor dumb choices.