Dave the dope fiend a no show

[RuthlessBurgher]

I hope Bell proves himself to be very valuable to his team this year.

The Jets play Cleveland in week 2.
Then they play New England in weeks 3 & 7.
They play Cincy in week 13 and Baltimore in week 15.

I hope he's healthy and productive for all of these games.

I won't complain if he's overused in those games and they run the wheels off of him before facing us in week 16, though.

[STH70]

2016 playoffs
2017 playoffs
2018 no playoffs.

The 20 yard stat is a silly one.

I believe Bell still has the most yards from scrimmage per game since he entered the league.

I’m just saying he doesn’t outrun many defenders and gave a comparison.
Sorry you think it’s silly but it’s a fact.

[Northern_Blitz]

I’m just saying he doesn’t outrun many defenders and gave a comparison.
Sorry you think it’s silly but it’s a fact.

I think he's kind of like Priest Hmes was. Solid average, low standard deviation.

But his average fell significantly the last year he played, then he took a year off.

We'll see.

[Shawn]

Agreed. Great back, but he wanted more than the Steelers were willing to pay. Good enough for me, we move on.

. Agreed. No need to minimize the guys talent. Feels like hurt feelings. He prioritized money over winning and frankly I don’t judge him for that. That’s his choice to make as I don’t have to feed his family. Will he be the same back in NY? Highly doubt it. Of course he benefited from a top 5 OL, and Ben. That’s a no brainer. Does that mean he isn’t a great back? Of course not.

[Oh wow]

. Agreed. No need to minimize the guys talent. Feels like hurt feelings. He prioritized money over winning and frankly I don’t judge him for that. That’s his choice to make as I don’t have to feed his family. Will he be the same back in NY? Highly doubt it. Of course he benefited from a top 5 OL, and Ben. That’s a no brainer. Does that mean he isn’t a great back? Of course not.

It goes both ways. Ben and the OL also benefited from having great protection and a reliable safety valve.

[Northern_Blitz]

. Agreed. No need to minimize the guys talent. Feels like hurt feelings. He prioritized money over winning and frankly I don’t judge him for that. That’s his choice to make as I don’t have to feed his family. Will he be the same back in NY? Highly doubt it. Of course he benefited from a top 5 OL, and Ben. That’s a no brainer. Does that mean he isn’t a great back? Of course not.

I agree that it feels like hurt feelings (even when I do it).

I also don't begrudge Bell the decision he made.

And, we talk about choosing money over winning like we've been bringing home a bunch of championships. Many posters on the board point to not winning a SB with Bell and AB as reasons that it's OK they are leaving.

Maybe they're both pointing to the Steelers not winning SBs as reasons to take the money if they're not going to get SBs either way? Even getting to a SB is a crap shoot (unless you're in NE). The guaranteed money is guaranteed.

[RuthlessBurgher]

I also don't begrudge Bell the decision he made.

This is how I feel about Bell as well.

It was a business decision, not personal.

He was not under contract, so he was entirely within his rights not to play for us last year.

We offered him a deal that was more than fair, but his preference was to test the open market, and that's fine. That's his prerogative.

I don't begrudge players when they make a career decision that is strictly business.

I do begrudge Antonio Brown, on the other hand, because he made things personal.

He purposefully submarined his trade value, taking a huge dump on whatever goodwill he had previously built up in Pittsburgh.

I have no ill will toward Bell. I do have lingering ill will toward Brown, though.

I'll have no problem with Bell coming back to Heinz Field for halftime ceremonies or pregame Terrible Towel twirls after he retires or announcing a draft pick for us some day like Santonio (who left our team on bad terms himself) just did.

But I'll have a big problem ever accepting Brown back again regardless. I don't think time will heal the wounds he inflicted.

[Shawn]

I agree that it feels like hurt feelings (even when I do it).

I also don't begrudge Bell the decision he made.

And, we talk about choosing money over winning like we've been bringing home a bunch of championships. Many posters on the board point to not winning a SB with Bell and AB as reasons that it's OK they are leaving.

Maybe they're both pointing to the Steelers not winning SBs as reasons to take the money if they're not going to get SBs either way? Even getting to a SB is a crap shoot (unless you're in NE). The guaranteed money is guaranteed.

the reason we didn’t win a SB with Bell and Brown had nothing to do with either and I think you would agree. It was our porous D and a secondary that couldn’t cover grandma and her walker.

[Jigawatts]

I was hoping he'd become a grammy winning rap artist and get assaulted by Suge Knight.

But if that doesn't work out we'll go with playing good against our rivals and bad against us.

[pittpete]

So which is it?
Bell wants a ring or Bell wanted the most $$$$?
I dont begrudge him either, but his comments are very hypocritical.
We will survive w/o him, we always do...