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If you do a quick Google search from Le’Veon Bell’s time with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Jets, you’ll be met with some unfavorable descriptors regarding the Kansas City Chiefs’ newest running back.
“Bell is a locker room cancer.”
“Bell is greedy.”
“Bell is an egomaniac.”
“Bell is delusional.”
“Bell is washed up.”
These aren’t exactly the types of things that you want to read about a player that is coming into a new locker room that has, by and large, been unaffected by the dramatics that often plagues the locker rooms across the NFL. One massive concern in his decision to join the Chiefs was his potential impact on rookie RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire. Not just from a snaps and touches standpoint, but off the field too.
On Thursday, Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy sought to dispel myths about Bell. Before choosing to sign with Kansas City, Bell showed the ultimate act of maturity and professionalism, reaching out to Edwards-Helaire for a heart-to-heart according to Bieniemy.
“Le’Veon (Bell) reached out to Clyde (Edwards-Helaire) and had a conversation with him,” Bieniemy said. “And (Le’Veon) told him basically, ‘I don’t want to step on your toes, I want to know if you’re OK with me coming in here.’ He’s a classy individual. It says a lot about the person, who does not want to come up and disrupt the chemistry that we have.”
Chiefs RB coach Deland McCullough took notice of this situation too. He also made his own determination on the character of Bell before he signed on with the team.
“That just lets you know that he’s a guy that has respect for what’s going on,” McCullough said. “He has a level of character that maybe people don’t know about, but obviously it showed itself in that situation.
“I know the conversation that I had with him, prior to him making his final decision, I was very impressed. Just with some of his goals and different things like that. And they meld into what we want to get done here and there was no level of selfishness or anything that I heard. He said, ‘Look, I’m coming in to get in where I fit in. I can help and I know you guys will use me the right way. And whatever that is, I’m going to do [it].'”
Bieniemy and McCullough, of course, only have first impressions to go on. They both also have some high expectations of Bell, not just in his ability on the football field, but in terms of the knowledge he can eventually pass on to the young running backs in the Kansas City locker room.
“I do know this, the kid is a football junkie,” Bieniemy continued. “He lives and dies for football. On top of that, we have strong enough leadership within that locker room to make sure that he’s doing it the way that we want it done. But what I expect from Le’Veon, I expect Le’Veon to be professional within this building. I expect him to represent the Kansas City organization. And also too — at times when he feels comfortable to do it — I expect him to provide some leadership and some knowledge and wisdom on what it takes to play at an elite level in this league, for a consistent amount of time. And I hope he passes that down through that room.”
The Chiefs aren’t just looking at Bell as a depth player on a one-year deal with an opportunity to revitalize his once-great career. They’re hoping that his impact on the young players within their locker room can last well beyond his stay in Kansas City. That’s not exactly something that you’d expect to hear about a player that has previously been called a locker room cancer or greedy.
But if you look beyond the tabloid headlines, you’d know.
You’d know that Bell tried to be a leader in the Jets’ locker room, but was often sabotaged or undermined by head coach Adam Gase.
You’d know that holding out for the most guaranteed money is the smart move for running backs seeking their payday in the NFL.
You’d know that Bell’s teammates and coaches have the utmost respect for his character, work ethic and charity work off the field.
So to see Bell extend an olive branch to his new teammate in Kansas City, maybe it’s not so out of the ordinary. Maybe it’s not Bell who needs to “reinvent” himself in Kansas City. Maybe instead he’ll get an opportunity to show us who he has been all along.
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