First Call: Le'Veon Bell's boxing match on hold; new head coaching job for Hines Ward; Daniel Vogelbach's Mets debut

Monday’s “First Call” relays some unfortunate news about Le’Veon Bell’s boxing match. Two former Pittsburgh Steelers are getting jobs in the coaching world. The Pirates are getting the Chicago Cubs while they are hot.

And Daniel Vogelbach makes his first start as a New York Met against another former Pirate.

Later for Le’Veon

Le’Veon Bell’s debut as a boxer is being put on hold.

The ex-Steeler was scheduled to fight another former All-Pro running back, Adrian Peterson, on July 30. But the organizer of the event, Social Gloves Entertainment, is postponing the match because one of the card’s headline fighters hasn’t been medically cleared.

According to a TMZ report from Wednesday, AnEsonGib, who is scheduled to fight Austin McBroom in the featured bout, is dealing with a head injury.

As a result, the fight may be pushed back until September.

Official statement. pic.twitter.com/hGCVfEFoPh

— Social Gloves Entertainment (@socialgloves) July 22, 2022

Another pro athlete was going to be on the undercard. NBA swingman Nick Young was scheduled to fight rapper Blueface.

Staying with the sport

Former Steelers defensive back Jordan Dangerfield is retiring from the NFL. But he’s not leaving the game.

Via HighSchoolFootballAmerica.com, Dangerfield is joining the football coaching staff at American Heritage High School in Delray Beach. He’ll be an assistant coach in charge of defensive backs.

We’re excited to announce the newest member of our staff! Welcome Coach Jordan Dangerfield to American Heritage Delray. Coach brings a wealth of experience after just completing a 7 year career with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He will be working with our DBs! #HorsePower pic.twitter.com/hUr2kKboM8

— AMERICAN HERITAGE FOOTBALL (@stallionsfb) July 22, 2022

After initially signing as an undrafted free agent with the Buffalo Bills, Dangerfield spent portions of seven seasons with the Steelers, spending most of his career as a special teams player and a backup safety. He played high school football in Florida at Royal Palm Beach High.

Hello, Hines

Another former Steeler who has dabbled in coaching is now becoming a professional head coach.

Former Steeler Hines Ward has been an offensive assistant for the New York Jets and Florida Atlantic University since retiring from the NFL after the 2011 season. Now he’s going to be the head coach of an XFL team.

This is the third iteration of the XFL. And this time, Ward will be the head coach of the newly created franchise in San Antonio.

The other XFL teams will be in Arlington, Orlando, St. Louis, Las Vegas, Seattle, Houston and Washington, D.C.

“When we come to Arlington, when we go to Houston, I want to hear all the boos because I guarantee you and Alamodome we’re going to boo the crap out of you,” Ward said at the MySanAntonio.com. “San Antonio, we’re going all the way.”

The team doesn’t have a nickname as of yet. The new league is supposed to begin in February 2023.

‘Bach’ to business

Daniel Vogelbach played his first game with the New York Mets after a trade from the Pirates. He went 1 for 3 with a walk, two strikeouts and a run scored as part of an 8-5 victory over the San Diego Padres.

The Mets got the win against former Pirate Joe Musgrove. The All-Star pitcher allowed four earned runs in 5⅓ innings to absorb the loss. Three runs were courtesy of Pete Alonso’s 25th home run of the season.

PETE. ALONSO. pic.twitter.com/nQGWpqc0Za

— New York Mets (@Mets) July 25, 2022

After going 8-0 with an 1.59 ERA through June 16, Musgrove has now lost three of his last five starts, and his ERA is up to 2.63.

More from Tim Benz:

• Tim Benz: Latest ESPN offseason poll frames a significant question for 2022 Steelers
• Tim Benz: Steelers may be a middle of the road team, but these aren't middle of the road predictions
• Tim Benz: Deciding on Tristan Jarry's contract may be on a shorter timeline than we think

Cubs are cookin’

The Pirates have a short two-game series against the Chicago Cubs on Monday and Tuesday. They enter Monday’s matchup at Wrigley Field 40-56. That’s 1½ games in front of Chicago (38-57) for third place in the National League Central.

The Cubs, Cincinnati Reds (36-58) and Washington Nationals (32-65) are the only teams in the National League with worse records than the Pirates.

The Bucs are catching the Cubs on a bit of an uptick, however. The Cubs just completed a three-game sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies, and they’ve won four in a row overall. Mt. Lebanon’s Ian Happ was 4 for 6 in the first game of that series against Philadelphia.

Chicago has been really poor at Wrigley Field this year, though. They are 18-32 at home. Only the Nationals (15-36) are worse at home so far this year.

The Pirates will start J.T. Brubaker in Game 1 of the series, followed by Bryse Wilson in Game 2. According to MLB.com, Chicago will counter Adrian Sampson on Monday and Keegan Thompson on Tuesday.