Steelers RB Bell's patient approach elevates him among NFL's elite

It had to feel like an eternity for Steelers fans. When it comes to Le'Veon Bell, it often does.

As usual, Bell was in no hurry. But he proved again that, for NFL running backs, good things typically come to those who wait.

“Le'Veon's patience,” guard Ramon Foster said, “wow ... his patience is just something.

“It's a unique skill.”

Despite circumstances that could have compelled more veteran backs to rush things — or even panic — the 23-year-old Bell characteristically took his time on what proved to be the final play of Monday night's game at San Diego.

Trailing by three points with 5 seconds remaining and the ball inside the Chargers 1-yard line, the Steelers put the game in Bell's hands, lining him up in the wildcat to take a direct snap.

Bell's style has earned him the reputation as being one of football's most patient backs. But even with the stakes being so high — fall short of the end zone, and the Steelers drop to 2-3 — Bell didn't stray from what he has done since growing up in Columbus, Ohio.

“My uncle coached me, and he always told me, ‘Use your blockers. Use your blockers,' ” Bell said. “So I was never a kid who just would get the ball and kind of just outrun everybody because I was faster. I always just tried to use my blockers.”

On Monday night, that meant waiting for fullback Roosevelt Nix to take out safety Jahleel Addae. With 70,000 fans in the stadium and millions more watching on television anxiously anticipating a quick dive to the goal line, Bell added another subtle pause while waiting for right guard David DeCastro to finish pulling to the left.

Finally, Bell lunged into the end zone.

He made it — barely.

Bell's patience has grown to the point he doesn't even realize he is exhibiting it.

“Ben (Roethlisberger) was telling me before the play (Monday), ‘Don't dance around. Just get in there, just in case we might need another play,' ” Bell said. “And that's what I had in my mind, ‘OK, I'm just going to hurry up and get it in.'

“But as the play went, and I got in the end zone and scored, he was like, ‘You still were dancing around!' and I was like, ‘Oh, I didn't realize it.' I guess it just is the way I run.”

It always has been. The indelible image of a typical Bell carry? He stops before the line of scrimmage for an instant to take stock of the situation, evaluates running lanes and waits for blockers, often with an outstretched hand on a lineman's back as a guide.

It's a scene that teammates and coaches sometimes have found maddening.

“(Offensive line coach Mike Munchak's) first couple of games with him,” offensive coordinator Todd Haley said, “over the headset you would hear, ‘Hit (the hole)! Hit it! Hit it!' ”

“There were some times where our running backs coach and offensive coordinator said, ‘Hey, Le'Veon, would you just hit it up in there!' ” said Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi, who was defensive coordinator at Michigan State while Bell accumulated 3,346 career rushing yards there.

Bell insists his patient running style predates college. In fact, he said one of the ways in which he has improved most since being drafted in 2013 is he has learned to become less patient.

To teammate DeAngelo Williams, that's astounding.

A first-round pick in 2006 and now the second-oldest running back in the league, Williams followed a more traditional learning curve in the NFL: He acquired the finer points of patience as he aged.

“It took me years to learn that,” Williams said. “For (Bell) to show it in the first two or three years of playing in the National Football League, that's huge. That's going to take him a long way.”

Bell led the AFC in rushing yards and yards from scrimmage last season, and he was named first-team All-Pro. Since 2013, Bell's 3,883 yards from scrimmage are second most in the league.

Advanced metrics enhance his aura. Bell had the highest Defense-adjusted Yards Above Replacement (521) of any back in 2014, according to FootballOutsiders.com. And he by far outpaced the second-highest rated backs by Advancedfootballanalytics.com last season in Expected Points Added (61.4) and Win Probability Added (2.05).

Despite his running style, Bell didn't wait around when it came to attaining NFL stardom. He burst onto the scene by taking the fast track.

“His patience and the way he sets up his blocks that way, it's almost as if he's setting you up (as a defensive player),” Steelers inside linebacker Lawrence Timmons said. “He waits you out. He finds your (weakness) on that particular play.

“I don't know how he does it. It's crazy, though. He's a special type of athlete.”

Chris Adamski is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at cadamski@tribweb.com or via Twitter @C_AdamskiTrib.