In case you haven’t found out by now, Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell has decided to make his Twitter account private after it was reported Friday morning that he’s now facing a four-game suspension to start the 2016 regular season for reportedly missing at least one drug test. While not overly surprising, Bell taking this course of action certainly appears to be an admission of guilt and thus the backlash, while already probably unbearable for him, will now likely be worse when it comes to the fan base and media.
Bell has made it a point to use his social media account this offseason to promote his fledgling rapping career/hobby along with using it to promote videos of injury rehab. Personally, I have had no issue with that.
Whether he likes it or not, Bell’s raps have been closely scrutinized this offseason and it’s easy to understand why based on the lyrical content and that will continue to happen moving forward should he drop any future tracks. While he enjoys the praise that he receives from the fan base for his musical abilities, he has to understand that he will also receive criticism for it as well and especially being as he now faces a second suspension.
I am not here to cast judgement on Bell, but must admit that I am very disappointed that he now faces a second suspension. Personally, I thought he had learned his lesson and was looking forward to him moving past his previous indiscretion and knee injury. He still very well might. I am also disappointed that Bell appears set to cut himself off from the fan base completely for a while.
Bell is a very talented running back and he has the ability to be one of the best to ever play the game. While he can’t control injuries, he can control what he does off the field. Personally, if I were him, I would take a complete sabbatical from social media and my music career and start focusing completely on repairing my image through my actions. I would open my Twitter account first, however, and let those who want to vent, vent.
Is Bell currently getting a bad rap? I’ll let each of you decide that individually, but if I were him I would hold off on releasing any future raps. Like it or not, he has to face the music from others if this latest suspension report winds up being true. I’ll root that Bell can overcome all of this and continue to make some beautiful music with the Steelers.
