OFFICIAL NEWS: Pittsburgh steelers HC is suspended for 3games because of…
Le’Veon Bell, the running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers, has been fined an extra game check and suspended for the first three games of the regular season for breaking the league’s substance usage rules, according to league sources who spoke with ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
According to the sources, Bell is contesting the suspension.
Following his arrest in August of last year on suspicion of marijuana possession and DUI with former teammate LeGarrette Blount, Bell was placed on probation for 15 months in February as part of a first-offender program.
Bell, 22, and Blount, 28, were taken into custody on August 20. This happened because, just hours before Bell’s team trip to a preseason game in Philadelphia, a motorcycle cop in Ross Township, a suburb somewhat north of Pittsburgh, smelled marijuana coming from a car Bell was driving.
Blount was suspended for the 2015 regular-season opener due to a policy violation pertaining to substance misuse. He was released by the Steelers after the 2015 season and signed with the New England Patriots.
Blount had just been charged with marijuana possession; however, it was dropped earlier this year following 50 hours of community service.
With 1,361 yards and eight touchdowns this season, Bell, 22, was the second-leading rusher in the NFL. Along with being the second-leading receiver for Pittsburgh, he had 83 receptions for 854 yards.
In 2014, Bell’s 2,215 yards from scrimmage set a franchise record for the Steelers and placed second in the NFL.
Using a platoon of rookie Josh Harris and free agency Ben Tate to replace the injured Pro Bowler, who was sidelined with a knee injury, Pittsburgh felt the loss of Bell during their playoff loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
In order to supplement Bell, the Steelers acquired free agent DeAngelo Williams this offseason. Williams, a former running back for the Carolina Panthers, will probably be counted on to lead Pittsburgh’s rushing assault while Bell is out.
In February, ESPN reported that Bell was expected to receive a two-game suspension.
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