The Draw Play

Man this has been a hell of a week for the old guard of the NFL.

So lets talk the Killer B’s. Remember them? Antonio Brown, Le’Veon Bell, and Big Ben. More or less hyped to be the class of the AFC. The best WR in the game, the best RB in the game, and the fattest QB in the game. It was hard to not look at that trio and expect great things. Some claim Martavis Bryant was part of this crew, but let’s be real. Fuck that guy, he was meh.

They never really got to play together. Bell was injured and suspended for drugs. Brown mostly stayed healthy, but he took that one massive hit from Vontaze Burfict and also streamed Mike Tomlin’s “assholes” speech. Big Ben has been hurt off and on for a decade at this point. The trio rarely seemed to be on the field at the same time, and all that potential never fully manifested before trouble started brewing.

Now look at them. Bell decided he wanted to get paid more, and actually honest to god held out an entire season. Now he’s going to toil away his twilight seasons in the disaster that is the NY Jets. But in the end he might even still be the most likeable one. Bell made it about the money and only about the money, and he seems like he left Pittsburgh on reasonable terms. It might also be that he looks like a decent person compared to the nutcase that emerged as Antonio Brown. Brown got in a feud with Big Ben, forced a bad trade to Oakland, then caused even more drama and ended up a Patriot, burning about every possible bridge he could find. Big Ben is still supported by the Steelers, but it has always felt like a bit of an awkward support. Big Ben is probably the best QB the Steelers have ever had and maybe will ever have, but he’s also probably a rapist. Actually, so is Antonio Brown! I await the moment we find out Bell is also probably a rapist.

So Bell is cursed to play for the Jets, Brown sold his soul, and Big Ben is dead. We all knew Ben was going to die thanks to injury, it was only a matter of time. Now the speculation begins on whether he hangs it up. He just got an extension. But the Steelers also drafted his heir apparent and he already threatened retirement. There is a good chance we never see Big Ben take the field to fat his way through defenders again. From a football player perspective, that’s kind of sad. Ben was fun to watch in that frustrating way. He just would go down. He’d make the occasional bonehead throw. He’d pull miracles out of his ample ass. He was an entertaining watch.

But I also have like zero respect for him as a person so if this is the last we see of him, eh. Whatever. I won’t cry about it.