Both Le’Veon Bell or Antonio Brown will secure a Super Bowl ring next Sunday.
It seems that the two will also participate in the big game.
According to ESPN’s Dianna Russini, Kansas City Chiefs ‘running back and Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ wide receiver are expected to be healthy for the February 7 game, having lost their respective championship games due to injuries.
This means that the famous former Pittsburgh Steelers stars will now face off for the biggest prize in football. It marks a height that none of them have managed to reach as members of one of the most explosive NFL attacks in Pittsburgh.
How did they get here
Each of them followed winding paths to reach this point after forcing their exits from Pittsburgh. Bell gave up a full season of his NFL career to secure his free agency in 2019. He had his pay on the New York Jets, but it lasted less than two seasons before being released after Week 5. The Chiefs then hired him as support for the first round rookie, running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire.
Since then, he has played a limited role in the charged attack from Kansas City, scoring 353 yards of scrimmage in nine games of the regular season. He secured just two runs for six yards in the Kansas City divisional playoff victory over the Cleveland Browns, before losing Sunday’s AFC championship win over Buffalo Bills due to a knee injury.
Brown’s troubled route
Brown’s journey to this point was – to say the least – more complicated. Here is the short version. He made enough noise in Pittsburgh to request an exchange with the Oakland Raiders before the 2019 season. He failed to make it to Week 1 in Oakland before Jon Gruden got tired of his antics and released him on the training ground.
The New England Patriots hired him in time to prepare for Week 2. He played a game with the Patriots before his former coach accused him of rape in a civil suit, which prompted New England to release him. He did not play again in 2019. While away from football, Brown had more legal problems, including more charges of sexual misconduct and a battery arrest and theft involving the driver of a moving truck.
The NFL suspended him in the first eight games of the 2020 season for the latest charges. When he became eligible, he signed with the Buccaneers. His brief period in New England paid off in the form of a relationship with Tom Brady.
His role in a loaded Bucs receiving body grew as the season progressed. He ended the regular season with 45 receptions for 483 yards and four touchdowns in eight games as a key player in Tampa’s attack. He lost Sunday’s NFC championship victory over the Green Bay Packers due to a knee injury sustained in the division round against the New Orleans Saints.
Like Bell, he is expected to dress next Sunday. This will mark an unlikely meeting of former superstars on the biggest stage of football.
It is not exactly a story of redemption. But it is certainly significant for the two former Steelers stars.
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