Le’Veon Bell’s 17-game stint with the New York Jets didn’t go as planned for either side. The veteran running back rushed for fewer than 800 yards with just three touchdowns in his first season in 2019, then lasted just two games in 2020 before the Jets released him.
The Jets, meanwhile, went 7-9 in Adam Gase’s first season as head coach before going 2-14 the following year. Gase was fired after the 2020 season.
Despite signing a lucrative four-year, $ 52.5 million deal with New York following a full-season contract hold-out with the Steelers in 2018, Bell never returned to the All-Pro player he was with Pittsburgh. He bounced between the Chiefs, Ravens and Buccaneers and hasn’t played in the NFL since 2021.
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Bell still hasn’t forgotten his ill-fated time with the Jets, though. He posted a few thoughts on his short career in New York where he lamented Gase’s offense and gave a brief look at the tumultuous Jets’ season in 2019.
“I still randomly think about how PISSED I used to be in the huddle when Adam Gase would call ’21 dive’ on 2nd & 10,” Bell wrote on X. “That’s a HALF BACK DIVE FROM SHOTGUN for the people that doesn’t understand what that fully means … lol.
“LeV I just need you to get 3 for a third and manageable’ – Gase the reasoning behind the HB dive I kid you not.”
“LeV I just need you to get 3 for a third and manageable” – Gase
the reasoning behind the HB dive 😂 I kid you not
— Le’Veon Bell (@LeVeonBell) June 20, 2024
that’s a HALF BACK DIVE FROM SHOTGUN for the people that doesn’t understand what that fully means … lol
— Le’Veon Bell (@LeVeonBell) June 20, 2024
Bell added that former Jets quarterback Sam Darnold, who recently signed with the Vikings, would shake his head in the huddle when Gase made the call for Bell.
Sam would be saying the play out loud just shakin his head in the huddle .. lol
— Le’Veon Bell (@LeVeonBell) June 20, 2024
While Bell’s NFL career appears to be over, he’s re-invented himself as a professional boxer. Bell beat fellow ex-NFL running back Adrian Peterson in an exhibition match on Sept. 10, 2022. Bell went 2-1 in his next three boxing matches, including a win over Tristan Hamm on May 25, 2024.
The Jets appear to be in a much better spot, too, following the Gase era in New York. The team hired Robert Saleh as head coach, traded for Aaron Rodgers and added some young talent like Breece Hall, Garrett Wilson and Sauce Gardner over the past few years.