Ex-Steelers 3-Time Pro Bowler Opens Up on Potential Return

Getty Former Steelers RB Le'Veon Bell is essentially shutting down a potential return.

A former Pittsburgh Steelers great is opening up on his potential chances of a return.

Former running back Le’Veon Bell, who is best known for his six-year tenure with the Steelers (2013-2018), is essentially shutting down the idea of a potential return to the football. The 30-year-old addressed the idea while speaking to Grant Gordon of NFL.com on Wednesday, October 26. Bell attributes his desire to continue his boxing career as the main reason why there’s only a “one percent chance” of him returning to the gridiron.

“I feel like it’s a one-percent chance,” Bell said. “It would have to be playoffs, and then like I got a starting job and it’s for a contending team – I have a chance win a Super Bowl. That’d literally be the only chance.”

Bell Reached Peak Early on in Career With Steelers

Bell last appeared on the field last season with the Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However, he appeared in just eight total games as a sparsely-used backup for both teams, posting just 39 carries for 101 yards and two touchdowns.

In fact, Bell hasn’t been a heavily-featured back in a team’s offense over an entire season since 2019 with the New York Jets. However, he averaged just 3.2 yards per carry on 245 rushing attempts during that season.

It was early on during Bell’s career with the Steelers that he established himself as one of the top backs in the league. Bell was a two-time First-Team All-Pro selection (2014, 2017) and a three-time Pro Bowl selection (2014, 2016 and 2017). During his Pro Bowl campaigns, he ranked in the top five in rushing in all three of those years.

Bell Says Boxing Became His Passion Over Football

Bell defeated fellow former NFL running back Adrian Peterson via knockout on Sep. 10 in a boxing exhibition. As noted by Gordon, he initially began boxing during his football offseason as a way of building cardio and staying in shape. However, boxing started becoming his passion.

“I started liking it, even more and more, so it became just not an offseason thing, but I started going in during season,” Bell recalled. “I started loving it even more. Then it had been offseason and during the season, but it’s like all right now, I don’t even know if I, I don’t want to play football no more. I think I do want to box.

Bell notes that he has still received calls to return to football — he didn’t specify which teams are calling — but that he’s rejected them as he continues his boxing career.

“During the season, I’ve been getting calls,” Bell said. “During the season so far, at the beginning of the season, asking me to come on [their] team, and I’ve just been declining, because I’ve been trying to take this boxing seriously.”

Bell mentioned that football was “slowing” him down as he wanted to make the transition to boxing.

“I think that’s kinda where I was right in that position where I want to box. And I still was playing football a little bit here and there, but it’s like, that’s what kinda was slowing me down,” Bell said. “I felt like football was slowing me down in that moment. I finished that football season, all the way up to February. And since February of 2022, I’ve been boxing nonstop.”

Bell is scheduled to face former UFC middleweight Uriah Hall this Saturday.