Le’Veon Bell’s patient, explosive running style has no modern comparisons in the NFL, so the Pittsburgh Steelers running back had to jump to a different sport to find a suitable equal.
Bell sees his style as transcendent and game-changing, similar to how Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry has revolutionized the NBA with his long-distance shooting.
“I think I’m changing the game,” Bell said, via Tyler Dunne of Bleacher Report. “In that sense, I’m what Steph Curry is to basketball. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t necessarily think Steph Curry is the best basketball player, but he changed the game so he’s going to always go down as being remembered. Now, everyone wants to shoot the three and shoot it from deep.”
Bell is patient and methodical like no other running back in the game. He often dances behind the line of scrimmage, buying time until he can map out a hole and then explode through it like a cannonball.
It isn’t for show. Bell is thinking ahead about every movement he makes.
“So the first guy, I make my move, I make him miss,” Bell said. “Now, I’m on my second guy. Before he closes on me, I already have my next move prepared. I think that’s what separates me. I don’t think a lot of people can process that in that split second you’re running the ball.”
The results speak for themselves. Bell rushed for 167 yards and two touchdowns during the Steelers’ 30-12 win over the Miami Dolphins in the AFC Wild Card round. Over his last six regular season games of 2016, Bell produced 835 rushing yards, 236 receiving yards and seven total touchdowns.
Draymond Green, once a friend of Bell’s from their time at Michigan State and now Curry’s teammate in Golden State, knows imitators are coming.
“No one else in the NFL runs like that, but I guarantee you, there will be some runners coming out—and there’s probably some in the NFL now—that’ll try to take on that technique,” Green said.
Sports are littered with copycats. Every young player wants to be the next Curry. Bell and his innovative approach to running the football will undoubtedly spawn a new generation of players trying to replicate his style.
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