Running back Le’Veon Bell is officially a member of the Buccaneers and Bell said their interest in signing him was the one thing that kept him from stepping away from football.
The Buccaneers had a need in their backfield with Leonard Fournette going on injured reserve and Bell told reporters on Wednesday that their call came as he was contemplating a switch in focus to boxing. When they did call, he said the chance to play for Bruce Arians and with Tom Brady and Antonio Brown helped convince him to keep playing after stints with the Jets, Chiefs, and Ravens bore little fruit.
“I got to the point where I had thought about calling it quits,” Bell said, via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. “It kinda wasn’t working out for me the last couple spots I’ve been at. This is literally the only spot that would make me want to play football and go out there and be excited. . . . This is a great opportunity, something you can’t really turn down playing with coach Arians, Tom Brady, obviously AB. They got a good thing going over here, just gonna come over here and try to help.”
Should Bell’s Buccaneers tenure fail to ignite a career resurgence, perhaps he will take up the mantle of NFL running backs from Frank Gore and step in the ring against Deron Williams.
Le’Veon Bell: I thought about switching to boxing, Bucs only team that excited me originally appeared on Pro Football Talk