Dunlap: Open Letter To Le'Veon Bell
PITTSBURGH (93-7 The Fan) -Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le'Veon Bell could be facing a four-game suspension for reportedly missing a drug test.
As a result, Colin Dunlap has written the following open letter to the star running back.
Le'Veon -
Hey man, you got to understand something; and this is probably the first thing you should recognize.
The Steelers aren't the Jaguars.
And Pittsburgh isn't Jacksonville.
We care. We care a lot. We care probably more than any other town about our football team. You probably do understand that a little bit when all you want to do is fill up your gas tank at GetGo and no fewer than 14 people stop and talk to you.
You probably do understand that a little bit when people line up and jockey for space --- and pay money --- to get your signature on a picture of you.
You probably do understand that a little when you break the scrimmage line and that roar gets louder and louder inside Heinz Field as your pursuer gets further and further from you.
Oh yeah --- come to think of it, you probably do understand a little bit how much we care about our football team here in this brilliant city.
Know what else we care about? Counting on someone. Looking at that guy next to us and knowing he's giving as honest an effort as we are for the greater good. It's in our lifeblood; it is the basic human fiber of Pittsburgh and what molded this place.
Not to go all Andrew Carnegie and George Westinghouse and H.J. Heinz on you, but counting on that guy next to us --- in whatever industry we work in --- is what made that little slice of land where some rivers come together into a glorious and magnificent metropolis.
That same personality made, in what is most germane to you right now, a place called Steeler Country. I don't know if I believe in anything called "The Steeler Way" anymore, but again, this ain't Jacksonville and these ain't the Jaguars.
For all your teammates and those fans --- and chiefly for those people with the surname Rooney who care so much --- it feels like you owe some more back.
And perhaps that's what is most alarming, Le'Veon, about this latest incident where you are reportedly facing a four-game suspension for missing multiple drug tests under the NFL substance abuse policy. The most alarming part is we all thought this was behind you; we all thought you were a wide-eyed kid who latched on with the wrong guy and we gave you that second chance.
See, there you were on McKnight Road doing something you shouldn't have been doing not long ago and rather than come slamming down on you, we as a city looked at the older guy in the car with you and put the crux of the blame on him. Le'Veon, we as a city simply excused it away as a young kid playing the role of a follower to LeGarrette Blount, who was steering you down the wrong path.
And what happened from there?
Blount ran himself out of town.
You ran yourself back onto our good side.
You got your second chance because, just like demanding hard work from their neighbors, Pittsburghers are also the kind of folks to give that second chance.
But fool me twice …
You know, Le'Veon, that's where it all seems to be right now. Maybe I'm reading this situation wrong, but on the surface it seems like perhaps you had us fooled. We wanted you to succeed, we wanted you to get over that early-career speed bump on McKnight Road and we wanted like hell for LeGarrette Blount to really be the bad guy and you just have been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
But now…?
How do you excuse all this away now?
How can we look at this as anything but a selfish act?
You know, Le'Veon, there are teammates and coaches and front office staff that you are going to have to explain yourself to. There are a bunch of people with the last name Rooney, as well. That's all your private business; handle that as you please.
But, as I said at the beginning of this note --- and I still believe you are a good kid --- this city isn't Jacksonville. We care a lot about this franchise --- have for a long time and will for seemingly ever.
People pack the North Shore hours before game time.
People take vacation from work to fly to away games.
People spend thousands of dollars to buy Christmas presents emblazoned with that Steelers logo on anything you could imagine.
People who are displaced from this great city find other Pittsburghers in their current locale and rise at ungodly hours to watch you play as they have an Iron City that they had to pay import prices for, if they can get one at all.
So think of those people as well, Le'Veon. Think of all those people who have made and continue to make Steeler Country and how you have let them down.
They care.
They care a lot.
They care so much that you probably owe them an apology at some point.
Colin Dunlap
-Pittsburgher
Colin Dunlap is a featured columnist at CBSPittsburgh.com. He can also be heard weekdays from 5:40 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Sports Radio 93-7 "The Fan." You can e-mail him at colin.dunlap@cbsradio.com. Check out his bio here.
