How Steelers TE Darnell Washington overcame homelessness to reach his NFL dream

Darnell Washington tossed and turned in the passenger seat of a U-Haul truck, with the oppressive Las Vegas heat building like a pressure cooker.

Already 6-foot-4 by the end of his freshman year of high school with growing tree trunk legs that would carry him to the NFL, he struggled to find a comfortable sleeping position with his older brother, Ezekiel, in the middle seat and his mother, Katrina Graves, behind the wheel.

The Pittsburgh Steelers had one of the best offenses in the NFL during the Killer B’s era during the mid to late 2010s. The B’s were quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, wide receiver Antonio Brown, and running back Le’Veon Bell. Sadly the trio, along with the rest of the team, never made it to a Super Bowl as a unit. The three went their separate ways in 2019 when Brown was traded to the then-Oakland Raiders and Bell left in free agency for the New York Jets.

Unfortunately for Bell and Brown, they were never able to recapture the magic they had in Pittsburgh, despite Brown winning a Super Bowl during his first season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. These two had some of the saddest exits from professional sports of almost any player, sans catastrophic injury. Once Brown was no longer under the Steelers umbrella, his true colors began to show and he created drama and chaos everywhere he went. Bell’s ego was never satisfied with his playing time or the way he was utilized. After two seasons with the Jets, Bell went to a different team every year for three years – Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens, and Tampa Bay.

Now Bell is 31, Brown is 35, and both talk about how they could still play in the NFL if they were given the chance. Bell was reunited with Brown during his season with the Buccaneers in 2021. He says now that he was hoping to be able to finally get a Super Bowl win by working with quarterback Tom Brady. However, he only played three total games and caught just one touchdown. The Buccaneers released him in January of 2022. Brown showed himself to the door after having an on-field freak out during their Week 17 game and was also released by the team in January of 2022.

Former Steelers Great Le’Veon Bell Said He’s NFL Game Ready 

Recently, Bell appeared on the podcast It Is What It Is and was asked about his retirement. Since leaving football Bell has been focused on his boxing career. He said in the past that he would welcome a return to Pittsburgh. Despite leaving the Steel City in a bit of a huff, he has since made nice with Steelers fans and apologized, going so far as to admit he made a mistake by not working out a deal.

One of the show’s hosts, rapper Cam’ron Giles brought up the fact that the Cleveland Browns recently signed running back Kareem Hunt out of retirement. Hunt was drafted by the Chiefs in 2017, but was released in 2019 after a video of him physically assaulting a woman came to light. He was never charged with a crime and was signed by the Browns in February 2019.

During his time in Cleveland, he served an eight-game suspension for violating the league’s conduct policy for the assault incident. He also suffered multiple injuries including a hernia and a calf injury. When he was on the field, Hunt proved to be an effective and dangerous running back.

After serving as the backup to Nick Chubb in 2021, Hunt requested a trade in 2022. Despite meeting with several teams, he was not signed to a contract and did not play at the start of the season. Now with the devastating injury to Chubb, the Browns have phoned their old friend and brought him back on a one-year $4 million contract.