Le’Veon Bell compares NFL running back market to Disney’s ‘A Bug’s Life’
Le'Veon Bell says running backs are like the ants in the movie, while the owners are the grasshoppers.
NFL running backs are frustrated with the current conditions in their free agency market.
Saquan Barkley was unable to reach a long-term deal with the Giants. Dalvin Cook is looking for a new team after being released with two years left on his deal by the Vikings.
“At this point, just take the RB position out the game then,” tweeted Titans running back Derrick Henry.
Among those speaking out is former Steelers and Jets running back Le’Veon Bell, who compared the NFL running back market to the 1998 Disney movie “A Bug’s Life.”
“Disney a LONG time ago (1998) taught me a valuable lesson about sticking together. Go watch ‘A Bug’s Life,'” Bell wrote on Twitter. “It’ll put in perspective the running back market .. the running backs are the ants .. I’m Flik (The Inventive Ant) I took ALL the damage from the grasshoppers (Owners).”
Flik, the main character in the movie, is an ant who doesn’t follow the typical status quo. At first, he sets out to improve his colony’s food production efficiency to satisfy the demands of the villainous grasshoppers, who take a portion of the ants’ food in the form of an offering.
Flik ends up knocking over the offering by mistake, causing the food to roll away and the grasshoppers to demand even more food instead.
Flik eventually sets out to defend himself and the colony with the intention of hiring other bugs to fight the grasshoppers. The bugs Flik brings back to the colony turn out to be circus performers. Still, Flik and the circus bugs end up challenging the grasshopper leader Hopper, who is eventually eaten by a bird.
Bell sat out the first nine games of the 2018 season after the Steelers placed the franchise tag on him, which was worth $14.5 million over one season. He was ruled ineligible for the rest of the season after failing to sign his tender by the NFL’s deadline.
The Steelers declined to place the franchise tag on Bell after that, and Bell signed a four-year, $52.5 million with the Jets after going through free agency.
“At the time, no one could see my vision or what I was standing for,” Bell wrote. “But all I was doing was just preparing to go against the grasshoppers/owners .. but as a lone inventive ant/RB, I obviously couldn’t beat the grasshoppers/owners alone.”
Bell said he was the “lone ant” during his contract negations in 2017 and 2018. He said he notices more players willing to “join the fight” for better wages these days, but said that it won’t be enough without collective action.
“Once Flik helped the other ants realize that there are more of US (ants) than it is of THEM (grasshoppers/owners) they finally defeated the grasshoppers,” Bell wrote. “Ants are STRONG AS (expletive) together very weak when they are individuals.”
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