Steelers RB Le'Veon Bell: Blount Is A Good Guy, And He Talks About His MVP Season
PITTSBURGH (93-7 The Fan) - Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le'Veon Bell joined The Cook and Poni Show on Friday from radio row at the Super Bowl in Phoenix.
Bell tells the guys that he still feels that if he could have played in the game against the Baltimore Ravens maybe things would have been different, but it's not something he and his teammates want to dwell on. He is just happy that his injury wasn't worse than it was.
"When I was on the ground the only thing I was thinking was, 'Please don't be my ACL, please don't be my ACL,'" Bell said. "That was the only thing that I kept repeating in my head. I was in so much pain."
He says he doesn't think the hit on his knee was a dirty one, but instead one being forced by the new safety rules.
"I wouldn't say the hit was dirty," Bell said. "Because the NFL has a new targeting rule, so guys are going to try and protect their paychecks you know, so they are not trying to hit high so they don't get a flag, a penalty or get fined or whatever it might be. They kind of go low now. It's really taken out guys ACLs and things like that. I think it's a rule that possibly should get reconsidered a bit."
Bell tells the guys that he is getting closer to 100 percent and his focus now is on getting healthy for next season. It's one he hopes leads him back to the Super Bowl as a player and not someone doing interviews on radio row.
"I think next year we are only going to be better," Bell said. "The way we finished this year if we take that same mentality we finished the season with into next year, man, I'm so excited about it."
Bell talked to the guys about his MVP season and how he never felt that he was overused in any part of the season. He says he needs more carries to get into the flow of the game.
"In the middle of the season, I started feeling really confident that I felt I can make plays whenever the team needs me too," Bell said. "I've always felt like I could make a big play or make a big run, make a big catch, whatever it may be. I started getting that confidence in myself. That is what you need as a runner is that confidence. You need to know you are able to make those plays and that is when the plays are made is when you have that confidence in yourself."
Bell also talked about his former running mate LeGarrette Blount, who walked off the team and into a chance of playing in the Super Bowl this Sunday with the New England Patriots.
He says that Blount is not a bad guy, just a bit misunderstood. He says he is a competitor who felt he wasn't getting enough carries here and that made him frustrated, but it doesn't mean he should have done what he did. It was a lesson learned for him.
Bell said he and Blount are still close and he was not a bad influence on him.
"It's not something you can do. It's unacceptable in any locker room, I feel like. I think he knows that he learned his lesson. No matter how upset you get, you can't walk off the field. You can't walk out on your team," Bell said. "Essentially, that is what you did and he learned from the mistake and he has obviously moved forward."
Bell said that he is happy for Blount that he was able to bounce back from it and has another chance.
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