Former All-Pro RB Le'Veon Bell has a date in a boxing ring against Adrian Peterson on July 30th. While most are viewing his bout as simply an exhibition, Bell seems to be taking the sport very seriously -- so much so that he says he will not be playing in the NFL this season.
While speaking at a press conference to promote his upcoming fight against Peterson, Bell made the announcement that he's done playing football for now. He even admitted to wanting to begin his dive into the pugilistic sport as early as last season.
"It's definitely been a grind. It's been a challenge I've been willing to accept, something I took on. Boxing is something that they always say it's something you can't play boxing," Bell said at the Crypto.com arena Tuesday evening. "Last year, I almost sat out the whole year to try to focus on boxing because I kind of knew that was what I wanted to transition to."
"This year, I know I'm not going to be playing this year, because I want to focus on boxing. So this transition for me has kind of been like another opportunity for me. I'm just ready to showcase what I'm about."
In this new fad of celebrities getting involved in boxing, we've seen a plethora of notable athletes try their hand at the sweet science, including Nate Robinson, Chad Ochocinco, and most recently Frank Gore. Bell made it known that unlike some of the others, his fight with Peterson will not be a "one-off" type of deal.
"This is, I guess like my introduction to kind of show what I'll be doing and how I'll be going about myself. Just an intro."
Also appearing at the press conference via video call, Peterson said boxing could also be in his future but unlike Bell, he still wants to play in the NFL this season.
"This is something that I definitely can see myself doing going forward as well, just depending on how things kind of play out for me," Peterson, 37, said.
Whether this is a harsh statement or not, the truth is that even if both running backs performed relatively well in 2021, the market for backs over the age of 30 will never be that high. Not to mention the last productive season for Bell was in 2017 -- the year before he was engaged in a contract dispute with the Pittsburgh Steelers, a move that saw Bell sit out the entire 2018 season.
Bell eventually led signed with the Jets who released him after only a season and a half in New York. As for Peterson, he's managed to stay in the league far after his prime but finished his 15th NFL season on injured reserve with the Seattle Seahawks.
Both players are currently free agents.
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