Le'Veon Andrew Bell Sr. ( ; born February 18, 1992) is an American professional boxer and former football running back. He played college football for the Michigan State Spartans and was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the second round of the 2013 NFL draft. Bell also played for the New York Jets, Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
After rushing for 860 yards in his rookie season, Bell broke out in his second season with the Steelers, totaling over 2,200 combined yards and making the Pro Bowl. Bell missed several games in the 2015 and 2016 seasons due to drug-related suspensions and injuries, but still put up solid numbers and was voted to the NFL Top 100 both times. In 2017, he had a league-high 321 carries for 1,291 yards, as well as 85 receptions for 655 yards, and made the third Pro Bowl of his career. The following season, Bell refused to sign the franchise tag placed upon him by the Steelers, resulting in him sitting out the entire 2018 season. Bell signed with the Jets the following off-season, but never regained his former level of success, and following less than two seasons, Bell was released by the Jets. He then signed with the Chiefs, where he finished the 2020 season. Bell spent his last NFL season in 2021 with the Ravens and Buccaneers before pursuing a career in professional boxing in 2022.
Early life Bell was born on February 18, 1992, in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, later attending 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, he 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. In basketball, Bell earned second-team All-OCC Ohio Division honors as a junior. He 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 feet and 8 inches or 2.03 meters).
Considered a two-star recruit by ESPN.com, Bell was listed as the No. 211 running back in the nation in 2010. Although he was a three-year starter in high school, Bell had limited scholarship offers from Bowling Green, Marshall, and Eastern Michigan, but he hoped to attend Ohio State. Bell's high school principal, Donis Toler Jr., believed he was under-recruited and reached out to Michigan State's head coach Mark Dantonio. Although Dantonio had heard of Bell, they had never scouted him personally or had thought of offering him a scholarship. With football season over, Dantonio sent his running back's coach to scout Bell at his high school basketball game. After he finished his senior football season, he finally received a scholarship offer from Michigan State after some players got into trouble and Michigan State had open scholarships available with a need at running back. In 2010, he graduated from high school early and began attending Michigan State that spring semester.
College career Bell enrolled in Michigan State University, where he played for the Michigan State Spartans football team from 2010 to 2012 under head coach Mark Dantonio.
2010 season Bell was an immediate contributor to the Spartans in their 11–2 campaign, which at the time was the most wins in a single season in school history. He made his collegiate debut in the Spartans' season opener against Western Michigan. In the 38–14 victory, Bell had 10 carries for 141 yards and two touchdowns. Two weeks later against Notre Dame, he recorded 17 carries for 114 yards and a touchdown in the 34–31 victory. On September 25 against Northern Colorado, Bell had 11 carries for 92 yards and three touchdowns in the 45–7 victory. Overall, he appeared in 13 games, rushing for 605 yards on 107 carries with eight rushing touchdowns. Bell also added 97 yards on 11 receptions and returned six kickoffs for 142 yards. In total, he had 844 all-purpose yards. Bell received All Big-Ten Freshman honors from ESPN.com and Rivals.com.
2011 season As a sophomore, Bell's role increased for the Spartans in their 11–3 season. He started the season with nine carries for 40 yards and two touchdowns in a 28–6 victory over Youngstown State. On September 24 against Central Michigan, Bell had eight carries for 81 yards and three touchdowns in the 45–7 victory. On November 5 against the Minnesota Golden Gophers, he had 165 all-purpose yards (96 rushing, 38 receiving, and 31 kickoff return yards) and two total touchdowns in the 31–24 victory. The following week against the Iowa Hawkeyes, he had 161 yards of total offense and a rushing touchdown in the 37–21 victory. During the Big Ten Championship Game against Wisconsin, he had 18 carries for 106 rushing yards and a touchdown in the 42–39 loss. Against #18 Georgia in the 2012 Outback Bowl, Bell rushed for 48 yards on 17 carries with two touchdowns and had five receptions for 39 yards in Michigan State's 33–30 double overtime victory. His second touchdown came very late in the fourth quarter and allowed the Spartans to force overtime. Bell led the Spartans in rushing with 948 yards on 182 carries and 13 touchdowns.
2012 season
As a junior, Bell got a majority of the carries in the backfield for the Spartans in their 7–6 season. He started the season with 44 carries for 210 yards and two touchdowns to go along with six receptions for 55 yards in a 17–13 victory over Boise State. Against Eastern Michigan on September 22, Bell ran for a career-high 253 yards on 36 carries in the 23–7 victory to earn the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week Award. Two weeks later against Indiana, he had 37 carries for 121 yards and two touchdowns in the 31–27 victory. The following week against Iowa, Bell had 29 carries for 140 yards and a touchdown in the 19–16 loss. On November 3 against Nebraska, he had 36 carries for 188 yards and two touchdowns in the 28–24 loss. Two weeks later against Northwestern, Bell had 32 carries for 133 yards in the 23–20 loss. On November 24 against Minnesota, he had 35 carries for 266 yards and a touchdown in the 26–10 victory. During the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl against TCU, Bell had 32 carries for 145 yards and a touchdown in the 17–16 victory. He earned Offensive MVP honors for the bowl game.
Bell finished the season with 382 carries for 1,793 rushing yards, which was the second most in the Big Ten Conference, and 12 rushing touchdowns. His 1,793 rushing yards ranked second in school history for a single season, trailing only Lorenzo White's 2,066 rushing yards in the 1985 season. Bell was voted to the First-team All-Big Ten by the coaches and media, ESPN.com, College Football News, and Phil Steele. He won the George Alderton Award, which is given to the top male athlete at Michigan State.
After his junior season in 2012, Bell decided to forgo his senior season and entered the 2013 NFL draft.
Professional career Pre-draft Coming out of Michigan State, Bell was projected by the majority of analysts to be a second or third round selection. He was ranked as the fifth best running back by NFLDraftScout.com and ranked the best overall running back by NFL analyst Bucky Brooks. Bell received an invitation to the NFL Combine and participated in all workouts and positional drills.
Bell was satisfied with his combine performance and only performed positional drills at Michigan State's Pro Day. Bell, Dion Sims, William Gholston, Johnny Adams, and five other Michigan State prospects worked out in front of scouts and representatives from 29 NFL teams. The only head coach that attended was Pittsburgh Steelers' head coach Mike Tomlin. Scouts considered Bell a big bruising back with quick feet and lower body strength and also gave him positive reviews for his ability to run north–south, for his strong cuts, and nice bursts through holes. The only negative reviews were based on his limited ball-carrier vision, inconsistent blocking, and his height that would possibly affect his speed and ability to dodge tacklers.
Pittsburgh Steelers
2013 season
The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Bell in the second round with the 48th overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft. He was the second running back to be selected that year, behind Giovani Bernard (37th overall, Bengals). On June 3, 2013, the Steelers signed Bell to a four-year, $4.12 million rookie contract that included $2.27 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $1.37 million.
Bell entered training camp competing with veteran Isaac Redman for the Steelers' starting running back position. 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 forced Bell to miss the first three weeks of the regular season.
On September 29, Bell appeared in his first NFL game at Wembley Stadium in London and rushed for 57 yards on 16 carries and a season-high two touchdowns while also catching four passes for 27 yards in a 34–27 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. His first NFL touchdown came on an eight-yard run in the first quarter of the game. The Steelers chose to release Isaac Redman on October 21.
During Week 13 against the Baltimore Ravens on Thanksgiving, Bell had 16 carries for 73 yards and a season-long 43-yard touchdown, while also racking up a season-high seven receptions for 63 yards in the narrow 22–20 road loss. Three weeks later against the Green Bay Packers, Bell had a season-high 26 carries for 124 yards and a rushing touchdown during the 38–31 road victory. For his Week 16 performance, Bell earned the Joe Greene Great Performance Award and the Pepsi Next NFL Rookie of the Week nomination. In the regular-season finale against the Cleveland Browns, Bell broke Steelers legend Franco Harris's rookie record for total yards from scrimmage with 1,259 yards.
Bell finished his rookie season with 244 carries for 860 yards and eight touchdowns to go along with 45 receptions for 399 yards in 13 games and starts. Bell became the first rookie to lead the team in rushing since Tim Worley in 1989. Among rookies, Bell finished third in rushing yards and second in rushing touchdowns.
2014 season
Bell began his second season as a starter in the season opener against the Cleveland Browns and finished the game with 21 carries for 109 yards and a touchdown to go along with six receptions for 88 yards during the 30–27 victory. Two weeks later, Bell and LeGarrette Blount both rushed for over 100 yards each against the Carolina Panthers. He finished the 37–19 road victory with 21 carries for 147 yards, including a career long 81-yard run. On October 20, Bell had eight catches for 88 yards and made his first NFL receiving touchdown in a 30–23 victory over the Houston Texans in Week 7. Bell became the first running back in Steelers' history to have seven consecutive games with 100 yards from scrimmage. He had his most productive rushing game of the season in Week 11 against the Tennessee Titans, gaining 204 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown on a season-high 33 carries in the 27–24 victory.