Le’Veon Bell has expressed confidence that he is going to win the appeal of his four-game suspension, and the reason for that could be that he feels his excuse for missing a drug test (or several drug tests) is a legitimate one.
Stan Savran of 970 ESPN Radio in Pittsburgh said on his show Monday that he was told Bell missed drug tests during the offseason because he changed his phone number. Therefore, the Steelers running back reportedly claims he was never informed he had to give a sample.
While Bell assured fans on social media that he is not going to miss games, that excuse is unlikely to hold weight with the NFL. As Shalise Manza Young of Shutdown Corner pointed out, Appendix E of the “Policy and Program on Substances of Abuse” very clearly states that it is the responsibility of the player to provide an up-to-date phone number and address where they can be reached for testing. If Bell is going to use changing his number as an excuse, the NFL will almost certainly say he should have provided the league with his new contact information.
Remember, Bell was suspended for the first three games of the 2015 season after he was arrested for driving while under the influence and possession of marijuana. He was likely already in the league’s substance abuse program because of that, so the leash on him would, in theory, be short.
While you may find it hard to believe that Bell would use a changed phone number as an excuse, we can’t rule it out. This is the same guy who made an incredibly boneheaded remark to police during his DUI arrest. He’s clearly not above petty excuses.
