Pittsburgh Steelers former running back, Le'Veon Bell's rookie season didn't start off the way that he or the team had hoped. He suffered a mid-foot injury in the team's second preseason game and wasn't active until Pittsburgh had a big trip across the pond to play the Minnesota Vikings.
Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger hands off to Le'Veon Bell during a game at Wembley Stadium against the Minnesota Vikings in 2013.
The Steelers started 2013 off poorly without Bell. The rookie drafted in the second round from Michigan State was the expected starter and the group of LaRod Stephens-Howling, Isaac Redmon, and Jonathan Dwyer didn't do much to impress in his absence. As the team got beat by the Tennessee Titans, Cincinnati Bengals, and Chicago Bears, all in rather unspectacular fashions with the backs averaging just 77.4 yards on the ground. The team rushed for 75 yards total against the Titans and Bengals.
The team's next test, after a bye week, was to travel to London, England to try to end the losing streak in a matchup with the Vikings. The hero the team was looking for told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette at the time he was healthy and ready to go. During a recent episode of the Steel Here podcast, hosted by Barstool Sports' Jersey Jerry and Kevin Adams, Bell said his foot was "as good as it was going to be," before delving into his experience in his first NFL opportunity. He just didn't know how much of an opportunity he was going to get.
Steelers' Bell Recalls Intense Speech Before 1st Start
During the week of practices leading up to the game overseas, Bell told Steel Here that he was getting some occasional reps with the first team, but mostly it was Redman and Dwyer. He knew he was going to potentially play, but a pregame meeting with the running backs and position coach, Kirby Wilson showed him just how much.
"He looked at me and said, 'Are you ready f***?'" Bell recalled. "We’re all in a circle and I’m looking around kind of confused. Wilson straight up says, 'We know he hasn’t done anything yet. He hasn’t shown anybody anything yet, but we’ve got to see what this mother f***er can do. It’s his time, he’s going to start today.'"
Bell leaped into the endzone after evading a tackle in the backfield for an impressive first-ever score to get the Steelers within three points after the conversion by Shaun Suisham to make the game 10-7. He added a second score in the second half to get the score to 20-17 in the Vikings' favor. The Steelers never held a lead in the game, but managed to make the score look respectable, with a touchdown and a field goal in the fourth quarter, to lose 34-27.
When Wilson said it was time to see what Bell could do, he wasn't kidding. The rookie rushed 16 times for 57 yards to go with the pair of scores and added four receptions for 27 yards. Though Bell couldn't help the team win in London, he was a crucial piece as the Steelers went 8-5 following that game to finish at .500.
The other big memory for Bell in the game was facing off against future boxing opponent, Adrian Peterson, who gave the Pittsburgh defense tons of trouble as he ran for 140 yards with two scores including a 60-yarder in the first half.
What do remember about Bell's rookie season? Did you watch this game in 2013?
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