Le'Veon Bell compares NFL running back market to 'A Bug's Life' movie

The Pixar classic movie A Bug’s Life apparently taught Le’Veon Bell a very important lesson many years ago. And in a long Twitter thread, the former NFL star explains how the movie can actually relate to the current running back market.

Seriously.

Bell compared himself to Flik — the main character in the movie — in a lengthy thread on Twitter. He says his holdout back in 2018 was the first instance in which an “ant” was willing stand up to a “grasshopper.”

Disney a LONG time ago (1998) taught me a valuable lesson about sticking together, go watch “A Bug’s Life” … 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)

— Le'Veon Bell (@LeVeonBell) July 18, 2023

Bell claimed he was the only one (at the time) willing to go against owners and hold out for what, he thought, was right.

at the time, no one could see my vision or what I was standing for 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 .. ‼️

— Le'Veon Bell (@LeVeonBell) July 18, 2023

In today’s NFL, there’s been a higher value placed on the quarterback, wide receiver and other positions. As a result, running backs have been battling tougher contract situations in recent years.

Most notably, Las Vegas’ Josh Jacobs, New York Giants’ Saquon Barkley and others have failed to reach contract extensions with their respective organizations. And now, Bell says more “ants” are joining the fight.

in 2017 & 2018 I was the lone ant, I was Flik .. it was literally ONLY ME .. fast forward 6 years later, now you have multiple ants tryin join the fight against the grasshoppers …

— Le'Veon Bell (@LeVeonBell) July 18, 2023

So, there you have it. If you thought lessons in Disney movies and Pixar films only applied to children, you were wrong. Bell laid out a pretty strong argument as to why A Bug’s Life is applicable in the situation.

And, to be totally honest, it’s really not that much of a stretch.

Miles Sanders says it ‘sucks’ to be an RB in today’s NFL

One player who might echo Le’Veon Bell’s sentiment is Carolina Panthers running back Miles Sanders. The former Philadelphia Eagle has been pretty vocal about the contract situations regarding his position group.

“We’re doing everything that we have to do as far as on the field and stuff like that,” he said during an appearance on the Rich Eisen Show. “For people and GMs or owners to think that running backs are not as valued as much is a lie because you’ve got to see how everything plays out. You’ve got to see what guys like Christian McCaffrey, the stuff he does, things that Saquon Barkley do, the things that Josh Jacobs do consistently each year.”

Because of the emphasis on the passing game, the running back position is valued as highly. It’s a narrative that Sanders doesn’t appreciate.

“You want to franchise tag and create a certain market for running backs just because you have this way of thinking that they only last three or four years. I think it’s B.S., honestly,” he added. “Almost every running back is underpaid right now. I don’t know what it’s gonna take. That’s a topic that needs to be brought up a little more because it sucks to be a running back right now, honestly.”