ESPN's Stephen A. Smith got under the skin of Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le'Veon Bell this morning which resulted in a little back and forth between the two on twitter. During today's taping of First Take, the discussion shifted to the Steelers' 25-year old running back who had sat out for all of training camp before finally accepting a one-year $12.1 million franchise tender.
Stephan A. said he knew Bell had to be productive, but that there were other components in Pittsburgh, and that Bell could be “an ideal decoy” and needs to be healthy. Le'Veon apparently wasn't too fond of those comments and took to twitter during the show to tweet at Stephen A., "lol it's crazy how much of a hater youu are @stephenasmith."
Naturally, Stephen A. Smith responded to Bell's comments on twitter, and also on the air while shooting today's episode of First Take. Check out the tweets, as well as Stephen A.'s response on First Take, below.
https://twitter.com/_/status/905075016525635585
https://twitter.com/_/status/905078937834975232
Bell was reluctant to sign the Steelers' one-year franchise tender because he feels he deserves a salary equal to the NFL's elite wide receivers, such as Antonio Brown, who make substantially more than the top paid running backs.
Bell has averaged 130 yards from scrimmage per game over the course of his four-year NFL career, including at least 75 receptions in two of the last three season. Because of Bell's abilities as a dual threat running back, he will likely become the NFL's highest paid running back once he signs a long-term deal - the only question is how much will the Steelers be willing to pay him compared to the NFL's elite running backs.
Pittsburgh will open up the NFL season with a matchup against the Browns in Cleveland this Sunday, at 1pm ET.