Former Steelers RB Le'Veon Bell doesn't mind taking backseat for Chiefs' Super Bowl run

Three years after last suiting up for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Le’Veon Bell continues to text and call some of his former teammates.

Antonio Brown is not one of them.

“We haven’t kept in contact like that,” Bell said Tuesday.

They’ll be close — at least from a physical standpoint — Sunday when Bell’s Kansas City Chiefs and Brown’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers meet in Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium.

It’s not lost on Bell that after he and Brown helped the Steelers reach the playoffs four years in a row and advance to the AFC championship game after the 2016 season, one of them will be fitted for a Super Bowl ring depending on the outcome Sunday.

And it will happen with a team that wears some version of red on its uniform — not black and gold.

“It’s crazy to think as long as we were playing together that we never made it to this point,” Bell said. “To face and play against each other is going to be fun.”

Even crazier is that Bell and Brown were out of work in October while the Steelers were chugging along to a perfect start that reached a franchise-best 11-0. Bell was released by the Jets, bringing an end to an 18-month saga in New York in which he underwhelmed on the field and reportedly clashed with coach Adam Gase off it.

Bell signed with Kansas City on Oct. 15. Brown signed with Tampa Bay about two weeks later, near the end of his eight-game NFL suspension.

Now, they each are one victory away from a championship while their former team sits at home after being ousted, 48-37, by the Cleveland Browns in the wild-card round to complete a late-season collapse.

Once he joined the Chiefs, Bell figured it was only a matter of time until his path crossed again with the Steelers.

“That was always kind of an idea,” he said. “We knew at the time we were a game behind the Steelers when they were 11-0, and we were thinking we were going to have to see the Steelers at some point. I was excited about it. Obviously, it didn’t end up happening, but it’s been a fun ride so far.”

Bell has no regrets about sitting out the 2018 season in a dispute over his contract rather than risk the Steelers trying to use the franchise tag on him again in 2019, which did not happen.

“That never crossed my mind,” he said. “I feel like sitting out, I look at it like it helped me on the back end of my career. The year I came back I felt like was a reset, like I was a rookie all over again. I was able to get my gatherings back. I feel like I reset my body, and it helped me for the end of my career.”

In his lone full season with the Jets, Bell rushed for 789 yards and averaged a career-low 3.2 yards per carry. This year, he spent time on injured reserve and appeared in two games with the Jets before being given his release.

With the Chiefs, Bell settled into a role backing up rookie Clyde Edwards-Helaire. When Edward-Helaire was injured, the Chiefs turned to third-year runner Darrel Williams in the postseason. Bell had just two carries for 6 yards in the divisional round against Cleveland, and he was inactive for the conference championship game against Buffalo.

“We’ve been very impressed with his professional disposition,” Chiefs running backs coach Deland McCullough said. “How hard he works — he just wants to work, that’s been most impressive to me. The guys in the room didn’t know what to expect with somebody with his ability and what he has earned over time and how that may have shaped him. But it didn’t shape him into anything except continuing to work hard and wanting to earn respect.

“We’ve been happy to have him.”

The feeling has been mutual. Rather than mope about his lack of playing time, Bell said he has embraced his role with the Chiefs.

“I came here to get to this game,” he said. “I’m here. I came to the right spot. I’m happy with where I’m at, now we just have to finish the job. I’ve played this game for so long and everybody who has played this game should play to get to the Super Bowl.”

And even though he doesn’t keep in touch with Brown, Bell is glad to see another member of the “Killer B’s” reach the Super Bowl, too. Brown had 45 catches and four touchdowns in eight games with the Bucs but missed the NFC title game with a knee injury.

“I’m been watching him from a distance,” Bell said. “I’m proud of what he’s doing.”