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Steelers' Le'Veon Bell has suspension reduced by one game, then apologizes

Eric Edholm

Le’Veon Bell has gotten a game back from the NFL. In this day and age, that should be viewed as a major win against the league.

The Pittsburgh Steelers running back had his suspension for a violation of the league’s substance abuse policy reduced from four games to three, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

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Pittsburgh Steelers running back LeVeon Bell had his suspension reduced (AP).
Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell had his suspension reduced (AP).

Bell was slated to miss the first four games, but now he is eligible to return in Week 4 against the Kansas City Chiefs, which could end up being a key game in the AFC pecking order between two 2015 playoff teams.

He will miss the Weeks 1-3 games — at Washington Redskins, vs. Cincinnati Bengals and at Philadelphia Eagles.

Bell had his suspension reduced by a game last year — from three to two games — but will start the season out of action again. He missed the first two games last season for an earlier substance abuse violation before being knocked out for the remainder of the campaign with a knee injury.

He then apologized via a Twitter video — and said it would be the final time he’d speak on the matter.

The Steelers were rumored to be discussing a long-term contract extension with Bell before the draft, and he famously dropped a $15-million-per-year hint over the summer. That feels far-fetched now. The team can’t be thrilled that its star back will start the season on the shelf for preventable reasons for a second straight year, this one heading into a contract season.

Bell disputed his reason this time around for reportedly entering Stage 3 of the NFL’s substance abuse program, which appeared to be over a missed test, and boasted that he would not miss any action. We know now that won’t happen. But is it possible that Bell proved that he lost his cell phone, which was the reason why he missed a scheduled drug test? That could have allowed the NFL to take slight pity on him and knock one game off.

Players are required to provide up-to-date contact information to the league to avoid such situations.

Three-game suspensions are rare in the NFL and typically not handed down for substance-abuse cases by themselves and often come when connected with DUI charges, or in violations of the personal conduct policy. So Bell was deemed a unique case.

This is good news for the Steelers, who will take any good availability news they can at this point. Wide receiver Martavis Bryant is currently indefinitely suspended, tight end Ladarius Green mysteriously remains on the PUP (physically unable to perform) list, and as gifted an offense as the team has it needs all of its playmakers to function at its highest level.

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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!