Le'Veon Bell was cited for marijuana possession on Wednesday afternoon in Ross Township while on his way to the airport for the team's flight to Philadelphia. Bell was also cited for DUI.
Both are misdemeanor citations.
Running back LeGarette Blount was also in the vehicle but was not charged at this time and traveled with the team to Philadelphia. He could still face charges.
The issue for the Steelers will be what to do with their top two running backs.
Bell, since he was cited for DUI, had to go to a local hospital for a blood draw and missed the team plane.
The fact that Blount was in the vehicle with Bell cannot be comforting to head coach Mike Tomlin.
Presumably, since neither player has been suspended for violation of the substance abuse policy, this is their first offense. But we just don't know.
First-time violations put the player in the system. A second violation is an automatic suspension of up to four games.
Kansas City's Dwayne Bowe drew a one-game suspension from the league earlier this week for a traffic stop last November in which he was found to be in possession of a small amount of marijuana.
So any league action could be a long way down the road. And Bell, who was driving and charged with DUI, would presumably be in line for a harsher penalty.
Some will point to Santonio Holmes' traffic stop in 2008 when he was sent home by Mike Tomlin and not permitted to play in a game against the Giants as a precedent. But those were different circumstances.
Holmes' traffic stop came on a Thursday before a game. Tomlin sent him home Friday because he didn't want him to be a distraction.
The NFLPA likely won't allow for the team to suspend the players on its own - at least not without pay - because this incident happened so long before the start of the season. No punishment will be forthcoming until the matter is legally resolved.
It was a stupid move by both Bell and Blount.
43 comments:
How can they be so effing stupid!!!!!
It's not like half the team doesn't smoke weed, these two were just unlucky enough to get caught.
Never drive with a Blount in the car!
Bell and Blount seem to have bonded as new teammates.
I just hope they aren't suspended the same game/games. We could make it a few games without out one of them but both would be a problem.
Nothing will likely happen until next season. It took 10 months for Dwayne Bowe suspension to finally take place. He was cited last November. Average length of time for these things is about six months.
i'd be fine with Steelers suspending both of them for week 1. Send a message
Just a bad decision by them. People will be quick to say kick me off the team, we don't need them! But that is nonsense and people under 70 get that. Bell wd be signed before he left the facility. Blount soon thereafter. People smoke weed in all sports leagues. Just do it at home for Goodness sake!!'
NFLPA likely will not allow for suspension without due process.
Then let the NFLPA put up its fight, message still gets sent regardless of the outcome. I'm not disagreeing with you, that they both would prob end up playing, but this goes beyond stupid. Driving with 20 grams is one thing, driving and smoking WITH 20 grams is entirely another. its just too dumb to not require immediate discipline
Should have gone with Eddie Lacey
I have to say that my first reaction was to laugh, but what a couple of idiots
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-network-hard-knocks/0ap3000000380954/Hard-Knocks-J-J-Watt-is-a-monster
So cool
I just heard that Haley is putting in a package for both Bell and Blount to be on the field at the same time. It will be called the Cheech and Chong formation.
They were gonna be high on the team plane? Wonder if it's something that Tomlin allows
How would he know? You think this is like sneaking past your parents on a Friday night?
They get on the plane and go to their seats. There's 90 guys on the roster.
I might add that I can check the police report on any given day and find several incidents of people being pulled over for similar circumstances. Doesn't make it right. But it's not an end of the world thing.
It's not entirely clear if Bell was actually driving under the influence or not. Was the blood test for alcohol or marijuana? Is it generally the practice to wait until the results are in before charging or is it charge first and find out results later? Just curious.
regarding blount, does merely being in the car with someone else's weed violate the drug program? and what could the police possibly charge blount with since bell admitted it was his weed.
the idiocy is amazing. but, we really shouldn't be surprised by this stuff anymore. when you have access to anything and everything anytime you want and combine that with a 2 cent head then stupid things start happening.
Wonder if Blount is a bad influence on Bell or vice versa. Bell didn't get in any trouble before.
I doubt it. Recreational marijuana use is pretty common. Heck, even staid, conservative Pennsylvania is ready to ok medical marijuana and it's just a short hop from there to full legalization.
Lots of people in their 20s smoke weed; young and dumb but not the end of the world. They both learned a lesson.
time will tell if they actually learned a lesson.
Well, specifically Bell, learned that when you fuck up as an NFL player, everyone knows about it. I'm sure he's had people explain that but part of the learning process is experiencing it for yourself. He's 22; it doesn't excuse his actions but it does explain them. Blount shoulda known better at this point in his career.
Blount is a locker room cancer. That is why in spite of his talent he does'nt last anywhere
I don't know that he is a cancer Snarky. Seems to have bonded with Bell for better or worse
I mean they do seem to share quite a lot in common :P
There's an interesting piece on Shazier on pro football focus front page. Not posting the link because I don't think Dale likes that very much but I'm a Steelers fan and want to share something and I don't know of a Steelers sharing blog. Just a fan, you don't have to delete this I don't work for them
I like PFF but disagree on their scoring on shazier. It's like his INT barely matters but missed run tackles kill his score...
Boy, these games are unwatchable with a flag on nearly every play. Sure hope Rog is happy.
We look like crap!
Let me clarify, we really look like crap. 7-9.
I think they need more 3-4 and less 2 DL/nickel. At least 3 DL can tie up the OL on screens, dumps, etc and give the LBs a chance to make a play.
BR looks like he's sending a message to play exclusively no huddle because he's making some dumb decisions and bad throws despite decent pass protection and with a functional running game in regular huddle up mode.
Jarvis Jones is a bust. Out dline sucks too.
Why single anyone out? The whole team looks bad.
Jarvis looks like a huge bust though.
Excuse me, everyone is bad except Ben/Brown.
Ben tossed 2 picks and fumbled.
Can't really draw conclusions about the DL since there were in a 2-5 for most of the game.
Wow that sucked. Spence and Worilds with knees. Dale, are they serious?
Tomlin just said Spence has a "PCL", presumably a torn PCL ligament.
Sad to say but Spence just can't handle playing NFL ball. First his knee, then he broke his hand in practice and now this?
- OL played well overall. BR had time to throw and they got good push for the run game.
- Bell and Blount ran hard and found the holes. They sure looked as if they were trying to atone for their recent mistake.
- AB looks primed for another big year.
- Did Lance Moore play? Saw J Brown out with the 1s.
- BR made some poor decisions and held the ball too long resulting in sacks and fumble.
- The nickle defense continues to be exploited with runs. Very frustrating to watch LeBeau keep trying to plug the round hole with a square peg. They simply can't get to the qb from the edges fast enough. With only 2 DL, it's easy for the opposing OL to overpower them, then get a size mismatch with the LBs/DBs. A 5-2 might work better with the 3 DL plus 2 OLBs covering/engaging the TEs and freeing the 2 ILBs to make plays.
- The flags are to the point of ridiculous. No one cares about Arena football so not sure why the NFL wants to emulate that.
You would have been fine without the last part.
Apologies. Did not mean it to be a profane word. Lebeau's D has been, and will be the same always. It is time for him to move on. Players play, and his players are weak, but even the worst D's in an evolving nfl do not give cushions on the side, with zero help in the middle to "bend but not break". Retire DL....PLEASE
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