So far as we know, fellow running back James Conner is the only teammate that former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell somewhat consistently stayed in contact with, even during his decision to stay away from the team last season. This came up a couple of times during the year, but Conner would only say that they didn’t talk about stuff like his situation.
It’s easy to believe that the two still to this day have a legitimate relationship that goes beyond what we’ve seen in the headlines over the past couple of months, even while other teammates have likely moved on from him by now.
But while Antonio Brown was sharing direct messages from former teammates, Bell decided to join in on the fun—with a twist. He shared a recent text message (in contract to the over 1000 unread texts he has in his phone) from Conner in which he expressed happiness that he found a new contract and appreciation of their friendship.
I usually don’t post private conversations…but this txt just hit me so differently…I love youu to death bro 🖤🙌🏾 @JamesConner_ #AllPositiveVibes pic.twitter.com/Bzwp9g5LO3
— Le’Veon Bell (@LeVeonBell) April 8, 2019
While the text was obviously private in nature, one would presume that Conner was fine with it being shared, as he responded positively to Bell’s social media post in which he shared it. I would hope that Bell sought Conner’s consent before posting it. But at the very least, we can say that the latter didn’t want to turn it into ‘a thing’.
My dawg! Love you too bro ! 🙏🏽🤞🏽
— James Conner (@JamesConner_) April 8, 2019
In so many words, Conner said that recent happenings on social media made him appreciate the fact that Bell was “always a real one”, at least with him, saying that he never spoke ill of anybody—although he did imply that his former teammates didn’t want to see him succeed and that the Steelers don’t treat their players like they’re human, but I digress.
Nevertheless, I’m pleased to see that there is at least one relationship that was salvaged through the rubble that has been the Steelers’ offseason, at least provided that Bell has no negative influence on Conner. Hopefully it remains at the level of the two mutually wishing each other professional success.
The rare instances in which Bell commented about the Steelers on social media last year was generally when he was praising Conner for big performances. His former backup put up nearly 1500 yards from scrimmage in 13 games along with 13 scores, the latter two better than the best he’s ever done in even a full season.
I think we can safely say that Brown’s relationship with JuJu Smith-Schuster is not going quite as well, as he seemed to take a flamethrower to the rope bridge that was keeping the two connected over the course of the past couple of days.
