Le'Veon Bell

LE'Veon Andrew Bell Sr. (born February 18, 1992) is a former American football running back.

Bell was born on February 18, 1992, in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, later attending Groveport Madison High School in Groveport, Ohio, where he played football, basketball, and ran track.

He played running back for the Groveport Cruisers football team.

As a sophomore, Bell ran for 789 rushing yards and nine touchdowns.

As a junior, Bell ran for 1,100 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns, and as a senior, Bell ran for 1,333 yards on 200 carries with 21 touchdowns.

He was selected first-team All-Ohio Capital Conference Ohio Division as a senior.

In basketball, Bell earned second-team All-OCC Ohio Division honors as a junior.

He also participated in track & field while at Groveport, where he ran the 100 and 200-meter dashes and was one of the state's top performers in the high jump (personal-best of 6 feet and 8 inches or 2.03 meters).

Considered a two-star recruit by ESPN.com, Bell was listed as the No. 211 running back in the nation in 2010.

Although he was a three-year starter in high school, Bell had limited scholarship offers from Bowling Green, Marshall, and Eastern Michigan, but he hoped to attend Ohio State.

Bell's high school principal, Donis Toler Jr., believed he was under-recruited and reached out to Michigan State's head coach Mark Dantonio.

Although Dantonio had heard of Bell, they had never scouted him personally or had thought of offering him a scholarship.

With football season over, Dantonio sent his running back's coach to scout Bell at his high school basketball game.

After he finished his senior football season, he finally received a scholarship offer from Michigan State after some players got into trouble and Michigan State had open scholarships available with a need at running back.

In 2010, he graduated from high school early and began attending Michigan State that spring semester.

Bell enrolled in Michigan State University, where he played for the Michigan State Spartans football team from 2010 to 2012 under head coach Mark Dantonio.

Bell was an immediate contributor to the Spartans in their 11–2 campaign, which at the time was the most wins in a single season in school history.

He made his collegiate debut in the Spartans' season opener against Western Michigan.

In the 38–14 victory, he had 10 carries for 141 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns.

Two weeks later, against Notre Dame, he had 17 carries for 114 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown in the 34–31 victory.

On September 25, against Northern Colorado, he had 11 carries for 92 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns in the 45–7 victory.

Overall, he appeared in 13 games, rushing for 605 yards on 107 carries with eight rushing touchdowns.

He also added 97 yards on 11 receptions and returned six kickoffs for 142 yards.

In total, he had 844 all-purpose yards.

He received All Big-Ten Freshman honors from ESPN.com and Rivals.com.

As a sophomore, Bell's role increased for the Spartans in their 11–3 season.

He started the 2011 season with nine carries for 40 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in a 28–6 victory over Youngstown State.

On September 24, against Central Michigan, he had eight carries for 81 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns in the 45–7 victory.

On November 5, against the Minnesota Golden Gophers, he had 165 all-purpose yards (96 rushing, 38 receiving, and 31 kickoff return yards) and two total touchdowns in the 31–24 victory.

On November 12, against the Iowa Hawkeyes, he had 161 yards of total offense and a rushing touchdown in the 37–21 victory.

In the Big Ten Championship Game against Wisconsin, he had 18 carries for 106 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown in the 42–39 loss.

Against #18 Georgia in the 2012 Outback Bowl, Bell rushed for 48 yards on 17 carries with two touchdowns and had five receptions for 39 yards in Michigan State's 33–30 2OT victory.

He played college football for the Michigan State Spartans and was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft.

He also played for the New York Jets, Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

After a rookie season where he ran for over 800 yards, Bell broke out in his second season with the Steelers, totaling over 2,200 combined yards and made the Pro Bowl.

Bell missed several games in the 2015 and 2016 seasons due to drug-related suspensions and injuries, but still put up solid numbers and was voted to the NFL Top 100 both times.

In 2017, he had a league-high 321 carries for 1,291 yards, as well as 85 catches for 655 yards, and made the third Pro Bowl of his career.

The next year, Bell refused to sign the franchise tag placed upon him by the Steelers, resulting in him sitting out the entire 2018 season.

He signed with the New York Jets the following off-season, but never regained his old level of success, and following less than two seasons, he was released by the Jets.

Following his release, Bell signed with the Kansas City Chiefs where he finished the 2020 season.