I found the last part of this comment by Jim Trotter in his
article on Bell's decision over on nfl.com to be utterly risible:
What's interesting is how some fans have turned on Bell. I've always found it fascinating how the public is quick to side with owners and teams when it comes to a negotiation involving players. Why is that? Stripped down, I believe they feel players should be grateful for being paid so much money to play a kids' game. I also believe there's a racial component; African-Americans comprise roughly 70 percent of the players, and there is a segment of the population that views them as highly paid field hands who don't deserve what they're getting.
The reason fans have turned on Bell is really quite simple: They are passionate about their team and expect the players to share that passion, especially when they're getting paid millions of dollars.
It's no different to any other popular sport played anywhere else in the world. It has absolutely nothing to do with race whatsoever. Outside of a small minority of racist turds, people don't care about the colour of a player's skin, only what they do for the team they love.
If the player plays well then, whilst always believing players are overpaid in general, nobody objects to them earning big money commensurate with their performance level. In fact, if a player has played well and is coming out of contract fans will rail against owners if they don't stump up a generous contract offer. Fans do object if a player under-performs, particularly if they're on a big contract, or they don't turn up to perform at all as Bell has chosen to do.
This current propensity to bring race into every issue is pathetic and detracts from and devalues genuine instances of concern. This is a clear example. This is all about Bell believing he's worth more than the Steelers do and turning down both a big multi-year offer and a lucrative one year contract in the expectation that he can make even more millions. Frankly I'd be very surprised if he does end up getting a better deal that more than makes up for the $14m he's passed up this season.
Ultimately it's his choice, but you can't expect Steelers fans to be happy about it and side with the player over their hopes for their team.