Le'Veon Bell

Le'Veon Bell

Bell catching a ball during practice
No. 26  Pittsburgh Steelers
Position: Running back
Personal information
Date of birth: February 18, 1992
Place of birth: Reynoldsburg, Ohio
Height: 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight: 244 lb (111 kg)
Career information
High school: Groveport (OH) Madison
College: Michigan State
NFL draft: 2013 / Round: 2 / Pick: 48
Career history
Roster status: Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2014
Attempts: 534
Rushing yards: 2,221
Rushing TDs: 16
Stats at NFL.com

Le'Veon Bell (pronounced LAY-vee-on;[1] born February 18, 1992) is an American football running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Steelers in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He played college football at Michigan State.

Early years

Bell was born in Reynoldsburg, Ohio. He attended Groveport Madison High School in Groveport, Ohio, where he played football, basketball and ran track. He played running back for the Groveport Cruisers football team. As a sophomore Bell ran for 789 rushing yards and nine touchdowns. As a junior Bell ran for 1,100 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns, and as a senior Bell ran for 1,333 yards on 200 carries with 21 touchdowns. He was selected first-team All-Ohio Capital Conference Ohio Division as a senior. He ran as a junior, and added as a sophomore. In basketball, he earned second-team All-OCC Ohio Division honors as a junior. Bell also participated in track & field while at Groveport, where he ran the 100 and 200-meter dashes and was one of the state's top performers in the high jump (personal-best of 6-8 or 2.03 meters).[2]

Considered a two-star recruit by ESPN.com, Bell was listed as the No. 211 running back in the nation in 2010.[3]

College career

Bell enrolled in Michigan State University, where he played for the Michigan State Spartans football team from 2010 to 2012. As a freshman in 2010 he appeared in 13 games, rushing for 605 yards on 107 carries with eight touchdowns. As a sophomore in 2011, he rushed for 948 yards on 182 carries and 13 touchdowns.

On September 22, 2012, Bell ran for a career high 253 yards rushing while also claiming the Big Ten Offensive player of the week award.[4] On December 7, 2012, Bell claimed the 2012 CFPA Elite Running Back Trophy. He finished the 2012 regular season with the most rushing yards in the Big Ten.[5][6]

On January 3, 2013, it was announced that Bell would forgo his senior season and enter the NFL Draft.[7]

College statistics

Year GP–GS Rushing Receiving Kick Returns
Att Gain Avg TD Long Avg/G Rec Yards Avg TD Long Avg/G No. Yards Avg TD Long
2010 13–0 107 605 5.7 8 75 46.5 11 97 8.8 0 35 7.5 6 142 23.7 0 32
2011 14–6 182 948 5.2 13 35 67.7 35 267 7.6 0 45 19.1 1 31 31.0 0 31
2012 13–13 382 1,793 4.7 12 40 137.9 32 167 5.2 1 20 12.8 4 46 11.5 0 31
Total* 40-19 671 3,346 5.0 33 75 83.7 78 531 6.8 1 45 13.3 11 219 19.9 0 32

Professional career

2013 NFL Combine

Pre-draft measurables
Ht WtArm lengthHand size 40-yd dash 10-yd split 20-yd split 20-ss 3-cone Vert Broad BP
6 ft 1⅜ in 230 lb31½ in9⅝ in 4.60 s 1.52 s 2.60 s 4.24 s 6.75 s 31½ in 9 ft 10 in 24 reps
All values from NFL Combine.[8]

2013 NFL Draft

Bell was selected in the 2nd round, 48th overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2013 NFL Draft.[9]

Pittsburgh Steelers

2013 NFL Season

In his second preseason game against the Washington Redskins, Bell was tackled on a running play and suffered a mid-foot sprain. His injury did not require surgery, but made him miss the first three weeks of the regular season.

Bell appeared in his first regular season game with the Steelers in Week 4 in London against the Minnesota Vikings. He rushed for 57 yards on 16 attempts and scored two rushing touchdowns. On December 29, 2013, in a game against division rival Cleveland Browns, Bell set the Steelers record for scrimmage yards by a rookie, previously held by Franco Harris.

2014 NFL Season

Bell had his best game against the Titans on November 17, gaining 204 rushing yards as well as a touchdown. Le’Veon Bell became the first running back in team history to start the year with seven straight games of 100 yards of total offense during their game against the Texans on October 20.

On December 7, against the Bengals, Bell tied Walter Payton for most consecutive games with 200 or more yards from scrimmage with 3.

Bell finished the 2014 season second in the league for total rushing yards (behind DeMarco Murray).[10] He finished the season averaging 4.7 rushing yards per carry (YPC), up from 3.5 YPC in 2013.[11]

NFL statistics

Season Team Games Rushing Receiving Fumbles
GP GS Att Yds Avg Lng TD Rec Yds Avg Lng TD FUM Lost
2013 Pittsburgh Steelers 13 13 244 860 3.5 43 8 45 399 8.9 43 0 1 1
2014 Pittsburgh Steelers 16 16 290 1361 4.69 81 8 83 854 10.1 48 3 0 0
Total 29 29 534 2221 4.2 81 16 128 1254 9.6 48 3 1 1

Personal life

On August 20, 2014, Bell and then-Steelers teammate LeGarrette Blount were pulled over by a policeman who noticed an odor resembling marijuana coming from the vehicle.[12] Bell, Blount and an unidentified female were arrested for possession of marijuana. Bell was taken to a hospital, where he was tested for intoxicants.

References

External links