NFL running back Le'Veon Bell said he smoked marijuana before some of his biggest games
- Former NFL running back Le'Veon Bell says he used to smoke marijuana before games.
- Bell made the revelation while appearing as a guest on the "Steel Here" podcast.
Former NFL running back Le'Veon Bell says that he would sometimes smoke marijuana before games.
Appearing as a guest on the "Steel Here" podcast, Bell opened up about his pre-game habit.
"Looking back on this, bro that's what I did," Bell said. "When I was playing football, I smoked, bro. Even before the games, I would smoke. I'd go out there and run for 150, two TDs."
While Bell didn't identify any specific games that he smoked before, 150 yards and two touchdowns is a monster day for any NFL running back. In his breakout season in 2014, Bell broke 150 total yards in five of his 16 games, leading the Steelers to an 11-5 record. He was also named team MVP.
Bell's admission comes as leagues including the NFL and NBA have begun to soften their stances on marijuana usage, with the latter recently removing the substance from its drug testing program.
Bell is far from the only athlete to go public about his use of marijuana. Hall of Fame wide receiver Calvin Johnson even made marijuana his post-NFL career, founding his own cannabis business.
Johnson told Insider in 2021 that marijuana use was more widespread in the NFL than the league would have outside observers believe.
"The majority of the locker rooms, if they're not currently participating, they have smoked or used cannabis in some application," Johnson said. "If we're hanging, that was our preferred vice. I'm not a big drinker at all, but if we were hanging and it was a couple of fellas, that would be our first choice."
Bell, 31, hasn't played in the NFL since the 2021 season. But before leaving the Steelers over a contract dispute in 2018, he was one of the most dangerous weapons in all of football, proving himself a dynamic threat both on the ground and through the air.
Bell does not yet consider himself retired, although the thought of him making an NFL comeback will continue to grow more distant as he is further and further removed from his playing days.