When Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell took a mysterious Thursday off for what was deemed “personal reasons” by coach Mike Tomlin, there was lots of speculation about the reason. Bell was asked after he missed practice if he took the day off because he became a father and he said that was not the case. But now according to Steelers writer Mark Kaboly via Tim Benz, that was the case after all.

According to @MarkKaboly, on L.Bell-He DID become a father,& flew to California when the baby was born.That was the excused absence THURS… — Tim Benz (@TimBenzPGH) January 24, 2017

…he thought it would cause a distraction (in the wake of the NYG boat party) if he flew out of town. So he kept it quiet. But… — Tim Benz (@TimBenzPGH) January 24, 2017

…it ended up BEING a distraction because now it looks like PGH covered up his groin injury and that's why he wasn't on injury report… — Tim Benz (@TimBenzPGH) January 24, 2017

The mother of Bell’s baby, Mercedes Dollson shared this tweet which removed any doubt about what kept Bell from practice. For reference, the time stamp on that tweet is UK time.

This whole situation becomes very convoluted not only because it is yet one more thing that could have potentially been a distraction before the AFC Championship game, but also calls into question whether or not the Steelers violated any of the rules of reporting when it comes to this situation. That doesn’t even scratch the surface of any potential problems if they chose to connect the dots of this and Bell’s groin injury.

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Regardless, congratulations to Bell for becoming a dad. It’s a far better job than professional football player but takes much more work.