While some members of the Pittsburgh Steelers are clearly unhappy with Le’Veon Bell, one former NFL player — Emmanuel Acho — has his back.
Bell did not show up for practice on Wednesday, something his teammates reportedly expected him to do. As expected, plenty of people chimed in on the matter. This included some teammates, namely Maurkice Pouncey and Ramon Foster. Both players ripped Bell publicly (you can read the full comments here and here).
That did not sit well with Acho. In a series of tweets, the former NFL linebacker addressed the matter, chiding the negative comments made by Bell’s teammates.
Didn’t want to get into the Le’Veon discussion, but I got time today.
People are inherently close minded; therefore athletes, being people, are no different. Rarely does an NFL player have enough power to make a organization budge. However, Le’Veon w/ support of his team could.
— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) September 5, 2018
The #NFL owners are the bully. Not bc they’re bad people, they’re just human, therefore selfish. They won’t share until forced to & Le’Veon is trying to force them. His teammates comments undermine him, but also the greater player goal of GUARANTEED CONTRACTS. We must be smarter.
— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) September 5, 2018
This certainly is rare.
Players — especially teammates — publicly speaking out against another in a contract dispute is virtually unprecedented.
It’s also hard to dispute Acho’s point. If the ultimate goal is guaranteed contracts (for all players), these kind of comments certainly aren’t going to help.
It could potentially take weeks for this matter to be resolved. Certainly, we’re going to hear more criticism (and defense) of Bell the longer this goes.