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I don’t think it’s a huge stretch to assume most fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers would prefer to forget about the 2018 season thanks to the amount of drama involving two of its most formidable offensive weapons.
While Antonio Brown played for the bulk of that campaign, his long-running beef with Ben Roethlisberger and the coaching staff finally reached a tipping point prior to Week 17, which ultimately led to the wide receiver being sent to the Raiders in an ill-fated trade in the offseason.
The Steelers failed to make the playoffs that year, and it’s hard not to wonder if that would’ve been the case if they’d been able to deploy Le’Veon Bell, the running back who pledged to sit out after being denied the contract he felt he deserved and ultimately followed through on that promise before signing with the Jets after missing the entirety of the season.
Bell spent two years in New York, and after bouncing around the league a bit, his NFL career came to an unofficial end after he was released by Tampa Bay in 2022.
Earlier this year, Bell said he’d be open to taking some snaps in a preseason game for the Steelers before officially hanging up his cleats as a member of the team that scooped him up with the 48th overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft.
While you have to imagine there are more than a few Steelers fans who wouldn’t exactly be clamoring to welcome him with open arms in that scenario considering how his time in Pittsburgh came to an end, the 31-year-old did what he could to get back into their good graces over the weekend when he posted a video where he acknowledged he’d screwed up.
https://twitter.com/Luciow1992/status/1680672370208505857
Here’s what he had to say:
“I never apologized to the fans for sitting out or leaving the Steelers.
I never apologized. So I want to say I apologize for leaving the best damn fans there is in this damn world. I shouldn’t have left.
I apologize, I should never have left. I apologize. That’s my fault. That’s on me.”
It might be too little too late, but it’s certainly better than nothing.