Le'Veon Bell Says He Considered Retirement Before Buccaneers Signed Him

He was going to focus on boxing before the Bucs called him.

Running back Le'Veon Bell spoke to reporters on Wednesday for the first time since signing a deal with the Buccaneers on Wednesday. The veteran admitted that he considered retiring before Tampa Bay called his name and even considered another sport.

“I had thought about kind of calling it quits,” Bell said. “This was literally the only spot that I felt like. . . made me want to play football and go out there and be excited to play. . . I was gonna start boxing, focusing on boxing but I think this was like a great opportunity. . .it's something you can't really turn down, playing with coach Arians, Tom Brady and obviously AB.”

Le’Veon Bell talks here about just how close he was to retirement. He was ready to focus solely on boxing.

“This was literally the only spot that made me want to play football.” pic.twitter.com/mdZvCRrSax

— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) December 22, 2021

Bell was referring to his former Steelers teammate Antonio Brown, who is set to return from his three-game suspension for violating NFL/NFLPA joint COVID-19 protocols. Bell was signed to fill the hole that Leonard Fournette is leaving open, after he injured his hamstring this past Sunday. 

Bell sounded like he seriously considered hanging up his cleats for a pair of boxing gloves during media availability, although he doesn't have any professional experience. He did make headlines for a comment he made right before he signed, though.

After Jake Paul defeated former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley via knockout Saturday night, Bell issued a challenge on Twitter. 

“I'm tired of watching him out box ppl who don't even wanna box,” Bell tweeted. “If he wanna boxing match, a real one, he'd fight me...period, stop fightin small dudes who can't box.”

For more Buccaneers news, head over to All Bucs.