It’s still a few more weeks before the Indianapolis Colts and Green Bay Packers tee it up for the first onfield action of the 2016 NFL year but it’s already moron season for one of the league’s marquee players. The Pittsburgh Steelers – a team that is seen as a potential Super Bowl contender – has already taken a big hit with the impending four game suspension of running back Le’Veon Bell. If the suspension sticks, it would be the second consecutive season that the Steelers were hamstrung by one of their most potent offensive weapons which should give pause to those writing the checks within an organization that has long been one of the classiest in professional sports.

ESPN reports that “Steelers RB Le’Veon Bell facing 4-game ban for missed drug test”:

Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell is facing a four-game suspension for a violation of the NFL’s drug policy, sources told ESPN’s Dan Graziano.

The suspension is the result of a missed drug test, not a failed one, sources said. The appeals process is ongoing, which is why the suspension hasn’t been announced.

No date for Bell’s appeal has been set, though it’s expected that it will be heard before the regular season. If it isn’t overturned, Bell would miss the first four games of the season.

Bell was suspended for the first three games of 2015, which was later reduced to two games, for a violation of the NFL’s substance abuse policy after he was arrested on charges of marijuana possession and DUI in the summer of 2014.

While it’s important to note that Bell didn’t actually fail the drug test, the elephant in the room is why he didn’t drop the specimen as scheduled. A hard core cynic may believe that it would be to give the dude enough time allow the banned substance to get out of his system. At least that’s the way that I did it many moons ago when I occasionally imbibed on the devil weed, dodging a test is a surefire way to be able to invoke plausible denial rather than have pot show up in your pee.

The one piece of news that takes this mundane story of a pro sports figure ending up in the headlines for all the wrong reasons to another level is that the idiot actually recorded a freaking rap song to issue his ransom demands to the Steelers.

The details are provided by ProFootball Talk in the article “Le’Veon Bell unveils contract demands in unique way”:

Le’Veon Bell’s knee must be fine.

That’s the only explanation for Bell’s decision to address his contractual expectations, which he previously said he wouldn’t address until “my knee’s good.”

But Bell didn’t make his requirements known in an interview or a blog post or negotiations with the team or a leak to the media or any of the other traditional avenues for making his demands known. Instead, Bell slipped his minimum into the lyrics of a rap song.

Bell debuted on Twitter a tune called Focus. The folks at FOXSports.com heard this telling line in it: “I’m at the top and if not I’m the closest, I’ma need 15 a year and they know this.”

The Steelers are already missing the explosive wide-receiver Martavis Bryant who was banned for the season after yet another substance abuse violation and are on the brink of losing a big chance to get a head start on the New England Patriots who will be missing Tom Brady for four games and the Denver Broncos who will be breaking in a new quarterback. Pittsburgh remains solid but with Bell out they are losing out on a golden opportunity to run off some early wins and nail down homefield advantage in the playoffs.

For the obscene amount of $15 million a year for a guy who if he couldn’t play football would likely be working at McDonald’s the least that his employer could expect is that he would show up for his mandatory piss tests.