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Le'Veon Bell

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Le'Veon Bell
refer to caption
Bell with the Steelers in 2013
No. 26 – Pittsburgh Steelers
Position:Running back
Personal information
Born: (1992-02-18) February 18, 1992 (age 32)
Reynoldsburg, Ohio
Height:6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight:244 lb (111 kg)
Career information
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 4, 2015
Rushing yards:2,412
Average:4.1
Total TDs:21
Receptions:142
Stats at Pro Football Reference Edit this at Wikidata

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 played college football at Michigan State, and was drafted by the Steelers in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft.

High School Career

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] Although he was a 3-year starter in high school, Bell had limited scholarship offers. In 2010, he graduated from high school early and began attending Michigan State that spring semester.[4]

College career

Freshman Season

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. He received All Big-Ten Freshman honors from ESPN.com and Rivals.com.[5]

Sophomore Season

He rushed for 48 yards on 17 carries with 2 touchdowns and had a career high 5 receptions for 39 yards against #18 Georgia in the triple-overtime Outback Bowl win.[5] As a sophomore in 2011, he led the Spartans in rushing with 948 yards on 182 carries and 13 touchdowns.

Junior Season

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.[6] 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 [7][8] also winning the Big Ten rushing title with an average of 139 yards a game. Bell was voted to the First team All-Big Ten by the coaches and media, ESPN.com, College Football News, and Phil Steele.[5]

January 3, 2013, it was announced that Bell would forgo his senior season and enter the NFL Draft.[9]

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
Height Weight Arm length Hand span 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump Bench press
6 ft 1+3⁄8 in
(1.86 m) 		230 lb
(104 kg) 		31+1⁄2 in
(0.80 m) 		9+5⁄8 in
(0.24 m)		 4.60 s 1.52 s 2.60 s 4.24 s 6.75 s 31+1⁄2 in
(0.80 m)		 9 ft 10 in
(3.00 m)		 24 reps
All values from NFL Combine.[10]

2013 NFL Draft

Bell was selected in the 2nd round, 48th overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2013 NFL Draft.[11] He signed a 4-year rookie contract worth $4.12 million with $2.27 million guaranteed.[12]

Pittsburgh Steelers

2013

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

Le'Veon Bell broke out in 2014, going from rookie to All-Pro, finishing second in rushing yards, yards from scrimmage, and all-purpose yards to Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray. He led all running backs in receiving yards and yards per reception.[13]

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).[14] He finished the season averaging 4.7 rushing yards per carry (YPC), up from 3.5 YPC in 2013.[15]

2015

After being arrested with then-teammate LeGarrette Blount on DUI and marijuana possession charges, Bell was suspended by the NFL for the first 4 games of the 2015 regular season. As of April 9, 2015, it was reported that the suspension was reduced to 3 games. On July 28, 2015, Bell's suspension was reduced from 3 games to 2 following Bell filing an appeal.[16]

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 4.6 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

Le'Veon Bell was born February 18, 1992 in Reynoldsburg, Ohio to Lisa A. Bell.[5] His mother and grandfather have been lifelong Pittsburgh Steelers fans.[17] Throughout his childhood his mother raised Bell and his siblings by herself and struggled financially.[18] Bell has two older sisters and two younger brothers, both of whom also play football.

On August 20, 2014, Bell was driving with his then-Steelers teammate LeGarrette Blount and an unidentified woman, when he was pulled over by the police. The officer searched the car after he claimed to notice the smell of marijuana.[19] The search yielded 20 grams of marijuana, and the three were arrested for marijuana possession. Bell was sentenced to 15 months of probation, a 60-day suspension of his driver's license, DUI education classes, and $2,400 in court costs.[20]

Bell actively does charity work and fundraisers. He also works with PETA and posed for one of the organizations ads. The ad showed him without a shirt with a caption saying, "I choose ink, not mink... Because animals deserve better!" [21]

References

  1. ^ Steelers Le'Veon Bell on Spending Money, Transition to Physical NFL. SB Nation. June 5, 2013. Event occurs at 0:04. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
  2. ^ http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/eye-on-college-football/20062845/q--a-with-michigan-state-running-back-leveon-bell
  3. ^ Le'Veon Bell Recruiting Profile
  4. ^ "Le'Veon Bell: A Style All His Own".
  5. ^ a b c d "Michigan State Spartans Player Bio: Le'veon Bell".
  6. ^ Career high rushing and big ten offensive player of the week award.
  7. ^ http://www.msuspartans.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/120712aae.html
  8. ^ http://statenews.com/article/2012/12/bell-addresses-nfl-draft-rumors-in-accepting-elite-running-back-award
  9. ^ Bennett, Brian. "MSU's Le'Veon Bell to enter NFL draft".
  10. ^ http://www.nfl.com/draft/2011/profiles/le'veon-bell?id=2540175
  11. ^ http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/steelers-address-backfield-situation-select-rb-leveon-bell-000015196.html
  12. ^ "Overthecap.com: Le'Veon Bell Salary".
  13. ^ http://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/2014/receiving.htm
  14. ^ http://espn.go.com/nfl/statistics/player/_/stat/rushing/sort/rushingYards/seasontype/2
  15. ^ http://www.steelers.com/team/roster/Le'Veon-Bell/BEL474300
  16. ^ http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/13331825/leveon-bell-pittsburgh-steelers-suspension-cut-two-games
  17. ^ "Early Mother's Day Present for Bell's Mom".
  18. ^ "Ex-Michigan State RB Bell Gives Thanks to Mom".
  19. ^ http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/steelers-le-veon-bell-legarrette-blount-arrested-marijuana-possession-article-1.1911141
  20. ^ "Steeler's Le'Veon Bell focused on becoming role-model".
  21. ^ "Pittsburgh Steelers Le'Veon Bell shows off decision tp wear ink, not mink".

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