Ben. Bell. Brown. Even Bryant.
Personally, I would throw Boswell in there too despite his nightmare 2018 season that has proven to be just a blip on the radar of a fantastic career.
Even linebacker Vince Williams started calling himself "Bince" to try to be part of the Steelers' "Killer B's" that were taking the NFL by storm.
In fact, it was partly Bince that got me thinking about the Killer B's again. He went on a podcast with Arthur Moats and said they were ultimately struck down because the Patriots had Tom Brady aka Michael Jordan in his prime. It was also partly because of Le'Veon Bell, who is now going to box fellow former running back Adrian Peterson.
The Killer B's will always be that era that could have been…but never was. They were the most lethal offense in the league. Big Ben was still slinging it all over the field. Antonio Brown was at the top of his game as the best receiver in the league, at least in my opinion. Le'Veon Bell's patient yet effective and workhorse-like game was at its peak while also being a superior pass catcher, especially for a running back.
They could have won Super Bowls with that combination. Yes, Super Bowl(s). You could argue they should have gone to at least one. But as we know, they didn't. You can blame the defense for giving up 45 points to the Blake Bortles-led Jacksonville Jaguars and I certainly won't argue with you there. But Ben Roethlisberger also picked off and had a fumble returned for a touchdown.
Thinking about it now, that era could be and maybe should be in part, still happening in Pittsburgh. It took truly unprecedented things to break down the era that was capable of doing so much. It has shaped Steelers history over the past 5 years.
Le'Veon Bell took his contract dispute with the Steelers to lengths nobody had ever seen before. It started out as your traditional hold out, but then when the season started and he started to miss games, it was a whole new ballgame. His mind changed throughout the process apparently, originally saying to some of his teammates that he was going to come back during their Week 7 bye, only to not show up again.
Nobody ever had sat out an entire season, and nobody has since, due to a contract dispute. It seemed crazy at the time and you know what? It was crazy. And it ruined his career. He was never the same. He had one season in which he ran for 789 yards with the Jets and then he plummeted into NFL obscurity.
Truly unprecedented.
At the very same time, Antonio Brown embarked on his insane 2018 campaign. From trade talk via tweet to calling reporters racist to being jealous of JuJu Smith-Schuster to finally sitting out the last week of the season and giving up on the team. He ran himself out of town.
Nobody sits out and misses a game while healthy, just because they're upset with a team.
Truly unprecedented.
That's what it took to ruin an era in which the Pittsburgh Steelers could have legitimately realized another Super Bowl victory. That offense was that good. If they could have made some additions to the defense, they could have made championship runs.
In another world, Bell and Brown could still be in Pittsburgh. If Bell signed the long term offer that the Steelers tried to give him, maybe he would just be riding out the end of it now. Antonio Brown would have just finished off his 4-year, $68 million extension in 2021. Who knows what the Steelers could have done in 2020 or 2021 with Brown and Bell around?
The silver lining is that the extra cap space the Steelers have right now can be attributed to Bell not taking that long-term deal. A big chunk of that money would be going to him.
But in retrospect, it's all a giant missed opportunity. At least that's how I view it. A combination of rare and superior talent, in their prime, shot down because they couldn't keep things together. And, again, did unprecedented things to shut it down.
It changed Steelers history. It changed how the final years of Ben Roethlisberger's career played out. They never really came all that close to contending for Super Bowls again after that 2017 loss to the Jaguars.
It's a regretful "era" in Pittsburgh Steelers history.
