New York Jets running back Le'Veon Bell attended his first-ever Super Smash Bros Ultimate tournament on January 21 and did surprisingly well all things considered.

The 27-year-old decided to register for Ultimate Pizza 30 in Ohio which consisted of 44 players in a double-elimination bracket and posted about it on his Instagram story.

“This is my first Smash tournament,” the caption read as he showed off the venue and setups where players gathered around, likely participating in friendlies before the start of the event.


Bell came well prepared to show what he was made off too. After filming the venue, he changed his camera to a selfie mode, revealing he came with a Gamecube controller. While tournaments do allow the use of pro controllers, many Smash players view the Gamecube controller as the best possible way to play the game.

Unfortunately, Bell didn’t upload any of his gameplay, but according to the tournament’s bracket, he did a lot better than many may have expected.

Under the tag “Juic326”, Bell appeared to 2-0 his first opponent before dropping his next match 2-1 to a player named Wizard Guy. While on the lower bracket, he defeated a player named Kal in a close set but eventually lost 2-0 to Pig333, ending his run in losers round 3.


Still, to come 17th place at your first tournament is a pretty big accomplishment for any Smash player.

Over on Reddit, Lunicktmm, a user who appears to be familiar with the local scene praised Bell’s play. Notably the fact he took a game off Wizard Guy, one of the better local players.

Additionally, according to Lunicktmm, the NFL star mains Mega Man. Now if only Bell would come to his next weekly cosplaying as the Capcom protagonist, that would be amazing.


It’s always interesting when traditional sports players venture into esports. Hopefully, we get to see more from him and his Smash skills in the future.

The only question is: what will he win first? A SuperBowl ring or an Evo Championship?