The Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns played to a 21-21 tie in the regular season opener on Sunday afternoon, prompting a cryptic "monocle emoji" tweet from Steelers' running back Le'Veon Bell. It's unclear exactly what Bell was getting at with that message but he insists he wasn't throwing any shade.
When asked about the timely tweet, the 26-year old Pro Bowler responded, "no shade, just never witnessed a tie before..."
Of course, Bell was watching the game from home as he continues his holdout much to the dismay of some of his teammates. In Bell's absence, second-year running back James Conner shined, racking up 135 yards and two rushing downs on 31 carries in addition to five catches for 57 yards.
Bell still has not signed his $14.5 million franchise tag and can become a free agent in 2019 as long as he signs it by Week 11. Each week Bell skips, including Sunday's Week 1 opener, he forfeits $852,941. Bell's agent, Adisa Bakari, recently told NFL Live (H/T ESPN), "Le'Veon has several years left in football, we know his days in Pittsburgh are precarious at best, we also know how he's been utilized in the past by the Steelers organization." He added, "That's nothing to say negative about the Steelers. They had one of the best players to play the position and they used him heavily for the production he can provide, but in doing so you take away from his future years."
While it's clear some of Bell's teammates are pissed he has yet to report to camp, other current and former athletes have shown him support, including Steelers star wide receiver Antonio Brown. AB took to social media late last week with a message for Bell that reads, "We all we got, we all we need. Ready to roll whenever you get back with us, family @LeveonBell."