Le’Veon Bell’s ‘Farewell Tour’ is about to begin

Franco Harris Jersey , at some point The NFL season hasn’t even kicked off yet, and I’m already tired of all the Le’Veon Bell drama. Will he show up for Week 1 or won’t he? Will Mike Tomlin and the players get tired of answering the same questions concerning Bell, not so cleverly asked in a variety of ways,week after week? In a larger sense, are the Steelers and Bell simply in a no-win situation this season, which promises to be an even bigger distraction than last season’s circus? You better believe it. At least last season there was still hope Bell and the team might meet somewhere in the middle on a long-term contract deal during the offseason. Now we all know that, at the end of the season, he’s gone.One thing’s for certain, Bell’s contract drama has separated Steelers Nation in a manner similar to how the modern political landscape has divided our nation — definitely not in a good way.A large portion of Steelers Nation is beyond fed up with Bell’s antics and wants the Steelers to rescind his franchise tag or work out some sign-and-trade scenario. These options aren’t realistic, though, and they’re out of the realm of possibility. Like it or not, Bell and the Steelers are bound together at the hip this season. If he plays at all, it will almost assuredly be for the Steelers.Another portion of Steelers Nation just wants to see the situation work out for the best for all parties involved. They don’t begrudge Bell’s pursuit of a fat contract, any more than they accept the Steelers financially motivated decision not to budge on their contract offer they felt was mutually responsible.That leaves a small group of fans in a place where Mr. Le’Veon Bell can do no wrong. Salary cap be damned and screw the long-term success of the team — Bell deserves whatever his little heart desires and the mean ol’ Rooney family are a greedy bunch of rich jerks for refusing to give it to him. After all, he’s only trying to take care of his family.This might sound funny, but that rationale reminds me of my parents. Growing up, my friends and I would play football in the front yard. It was about the size of half a football field. It was a great place to play football, but my dad was always concerned we were going to break the picture window in the front of the house. He warned me one time that if we broke that picture window Donnie Shell Jersey , I could pack my bags and leave for good. Was he serious? I don’t think so, but I sure didn’t want to find out.Fast forward a couple of decades and suddenly my parents have become grandparents, and they’re singing a whole different tune. My son was the apple of my parent’s eye and could do no wrong. He could have stood in front of their house and threw the football straight through that window on purpose, and guess what my father would have said. “Did you see the arm on that boy?” That’s pretty much how some of Bell’s biggest supporters view his many questionable decisions. Maybe instead of allowing all this drama to separate us fans, we can actually have a little fun with it this season and even maybe let it have some kind of unifying effect. There are a lot of hilarious moments sprinkled through all this drama, if we will only take the time to look for them. Some of this stuff writes itself. Like Bell patronizing strip clubs with his significant other. Some great material came from that little adventure, but it’s been well covered.There are countless other moments that may have slipped under the rug. Like how Bell has been working on his street cred to gain acceptance in the rap community. He has been seen hanging out with many accomplished rappers like 50 Cent and Snopp Dogg. Bell has insisted that he doesn’t need to be shot to gain entrance into the esteemed fraternity, because he already bears the scars left behind from the Steelers insulting contract offers and the ultimate betrayal perpetrated on him by so many Steelers fans.There have also been reports of Bell working this offseason on his punting and place-kicking skills. This has been a concerted effort to assure Bell would never have to come off of the field for any offensive possession and therefore would increase his overall value to any potential suitor. Any franchise willing to run a wildcat package as their predominant offense may prove to be an attractive destination for Mr. Bell next season. Who needs a quarterback anyway? Just snap Bell the ball and get out of the way.Now before any of Bell’s biggest supporters get their bloomers in a bunch, I’m writing all of this tongue-in-cheek. This is an attempt to make light of a situation that has the potential to derail a promising season. Hopefully Bell will sign his contract, have a wonderful season, lead the Steelers to another Super Bowl title and, in the end, everyone gets what they deserve.Wouldn’t that be a happy ending? Now, have you heard the one about Bell, a nun, and Todd Haley walking into a bar? In case you didn’t know, the Steelers and Antonio Brown are on the outs. This has happened before between the two parties—the fights, the disagreements Rod Woodson Jersey , the hurt feelings—but the issues were always resolved. However, unlike real-life couples who vow to never go to bed angry at one another, the Steelers and their star wide receiver have spent many nights—weeks, actually—not only angry at each other, but engaging in the old silent treatment--at least the star receiver has.Brown is incommunicado with his employer at the moment, but, gosh darn it, he’s vowed to come out with his side of the story One. Of. These. Days. For their part, the Steelers don’t seem to be too emotionally distraught over Brown’s latest reason for giving them the old silent treatment, and it has been reported that parting ways with him via trade is something the organization is seriously considering. I get it, I really do. I’m getting fed up with Brown’s antics, too. Of course, I never thought these antics would tempt the Steelers to get rid of him, a legacy player, someone who is already one of the greatest in team history. But, then again, I don’t have to live with Brown. I don’t have to work with Brown. And, perhaps Mike Wagner Jersey , most importantly, I don’t have to reason with Brown on a seemingly endless basis. The Steelers owners, general manager, coaches and players must do all of these things, which is why they may be as willing to part ways with Brown as your average Facebook poster who says “Get rid of/fire him!” without really worrying about the consequences. And the consequences of parting ways with Brown may be huge. Sure, you’re losing a constant distraction, but you’re also losing the greatest receiver in the game. Sure, you might bet your jollies off watching a frustrated Brown fall to pieces on a totally horrible Jets team. But would you get your jollies off watching the likes of Eli Rogers and the totally unproven James Washington try to replace him?This is just a guess but probably not—not unless you have a different idea of what getting your jollies off means. They say you can’t win with a player like Brown, but I don’t buy that for a second. As far as I’m concerned, there are few players in team history more clutch in big moments than No. 84, and the number of times he’s come through with either a big catch or a big touchdown are just too numerous to document in this little article. But, again, I don’t have to live with Brown. Idon’t have to deal with a potential volcano erupting in 2019 and doing more damage to the Steelers Super Bowl chances than inserting Eli Rogers into the lineup ever could. So if you have to trade Brown, trade him, but, damn it, you better make it right. Apparently, the 49ers—particularly Jerry Rice—would love to have Antonio Brown come to their organization and catch passes from handsome Jimmy Garoppolo. Fine Rocky Bleier Jersey , but if I’m the Steelers, I want San Francisco’s premium first-round draft pick. None of this second-round pick business. As my brother tells me in every text involving a potential trade in whatever sport, “You gotta give to get.” Damn right, you do. As much as you might want to see Brown go, the chances of the Steelers being better off without him are pretty slim if they don’t get fair value in return. To sort of give what I said earlier a different twist, YOU don’t have to live with Antonio Brown. You don’t have to work with Antonio Brown. You don’t have to reason with Antonio Brown. And since you insist on putting your entire heart and soul into cheering for the Pittsburgh Steelers, you probably aren’t too eager to see a depleted edition in 2019. Therefore, shipping Brown off for anything below a first-round pick (and even that might be too low if the first-round pick belongs to a playoff team) is simply out of the question.Fortunately, unlike the fans, the Steelers aren’t in the business of making rash decisions. They are, however, in the business of winning. And if they don’t trade Brown away this offseason, they’ll still have the services of one of the NFL’s best play-makers next regular season. How will that work after everything that’s gone down? It’s way too early to know at this point. It’s amazing how a heart-to-heart conversation can really clearthe air and make things right. Speaking of making things right, if the Steelers really are thinking of shipping Brown off to the highest bidder, well, they damn well better make sure it’s the highest bidder. I’m certainly not in the business of watching inferior Steelers football in 2019.