If Patrick Queen’s grass is green, Le’Veon Bell’s time in New York was a muddy mess. As one of those cautionary tales of a player coming to regret literally green dollar bills, Bell still gets angry thinking back to his 1.5 seasons with the Jets. Taking to Twiter/X Thursday, he shared a series a tweets explaining how poorly head coach Adam Gase and the team ran the offense.
“I still randomly think about how PISSED I used to be in the huddle when Adam Gase would call “21 dive” on 2nd & 10 …,” Bell tweeted.
He clarified that play call was a HB Dive from shotgun. The plays were so conservative and predictable that Bell says QB Sam Darnold would shake his head after receiving the call.
After two years of contract disputes and sitting out all of 2018, Bell left the Steelers for the Jets ahead of the 2019 season. It marked the beginning of the end of his career. That year, Bell managed just 3.2 YPC and rushed for only 789 yards. He failed to rush for 100 yards in any game and found pay dirt on the ground just three times, failing to score over his final five regular-season games.
New York finished the year 31st in points per game. In 10 contests, the Jets were held to under 17 points and held to single-digits four times.
Bell tweeted Gase’s rationale was creating “manageable” third-down situations instead of playing for first downs and explosive plays.
Dubious as that strategy is on its face, Gase’s apparent plan didn’t work. New York also finished 31st on third downs, converting barely more than 30 percent of the time. Gase was fired after the 2020 season, going 9-23 as Jets’ head coach.
Le’Veon Bell played in just two games as a Jet in 2020 before being released and signing with the Kansas City Chiefs. He bounced around the rest of his career, spending 2021 with the Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In just two years, he fell from being regarded as one of football’s top backs to out of a job.
Since, he’s switched sports and began a boxing career. Bell, now 32, teased an NFL return early in the offseason but there was no further evidence he was looking to break back into the league.
His story is a reminder of what happens to some players who leave the Steelers. Realizing they’re not guaranteed to enjoy the same organizational stability and success Pittsburgh’s able to offer, though recent names like Kevin Dotson and Ahkello Witherspoon are proving it’s possible.
