New Jets running back Le’Veon Bell takes a run at some Q&A with Post columnist Steve Serby.

Q: What drives you?

A: I just want to win a Super Bowl, to be honest. Ever since I was growing up, since I was 6, 7 years old, every time I watch the Super Bowl, you see guys got the confetti, when it’s like raining on you, holding the championship trophy and kissing it and stuff … you want that feeling. That’s a feeling I want, like I gotta feel it, you know?

Q: You’ve been close.

A: I’ve been close, I’ve been to the AFC Championship game … and it’s crazy how like I was so close, but it felt I was so far away at the same time.

Q: Because of the groin injury?

A: Yeah. Even that whole playoff series, I wanted it so bad so I was playing hurt through the groin. I ended up having to get surgery on the groin, whatever, but yeah, I was so close but so far away.



Q: Jets fans have been waiting 51 years for a Super Bowl championship. What would you say to them?

A: I’m gonna grind and do what I can, give literally everything I got, ’cause I’m definitely not trying to retire, be done with the game and not have won a Super Bowl. Playing in one, I’ve always told my mom, like, “If I make it to the Super Bowl, there’s no way I’m losing it.” I understand how hard it is to get there. College it was so hard to get to a national championship, in high school it’s so hard to get to a state championship, so it’s like I know when I get to that championship game, there’s no way I’m losing it.

Q: Do you expect to get to the Super Bowl with this team?

A: That’s the goal. … We got the weapons, we got the talent, we got the coaching staff, we got the defense. As long as I’ve been playing, I’ve never really played with so much talent on defense, too. We got the team. We just gotta obviously put everything together, everything gotta be flowing right, we gotta work together as a team. I made it to the AFC Championship game, right? And if I compare that [2016 Steelers] team to this team, the talent’s there. … If we all get on the same page, we stay on the same page with the talent that we have, I don’t see why not.



Q: Describe your on-field mentality.

A: I’m competitive, right? I’m relaxed, I’m calm … but I run angry, if that makes sense.

Q: Why do you think you run angry?

A: I don’t want to get tackled. So it’s like, OK, I try to run through guys — don’t get me wrong, I’m shifty — but when it’s time for contact, I’m trying to like throw a guy off me. It’s not like I’m trying to push him off, it’s like I’m trying to run through him. But at the same time, It’s like I pick and choose my battles. So if I know a guy wants to hit me hard, or if I know a guy bigger than me, I try to go around him or I try to make him miss. Watching film, it’s like I pick my guys, like, “Oh, he really don’t want to tackle,” so I’m gonna try to run through him, you know? Watching on film, you could see their mentality, like, OK, some guys are good at covering guys, they’re not in the league to tackle.



Q: So if you have Aaron Donald on the other side, you won’t try to run him over.

A: I’ll run around him, yeah, yeah.

Q: What is the criticism about you that has bothered you the most, or that you thought was the most unfair?

A: People say I’m a distraction. I feel like the fans don’t really know or people outside of the building don’t really know me, right? So they only can go off of what they hear. So when they hear I’m holding out ’cause I [want] more money, they’re not really understanding what I’m doing or why I’m doing it. That’s the only thing that kind of frustrates me a little bit. But when people talk about me and say I made a bad decision, it doesn’t bother me at all ’cause I know what I was trying to do, and they’re not understanding what I was doing, or why I was doing it.

Q: What do you think the public perception of you is?

A: You got some people who love it. And then you got people, I see on Twitter, “Oh, you’re so dumb for walking away from this amount of money.” I think it’s like divided. I just started really understanding that I can’t really make everybody happy. I can’t satisfy everybody. I kind of look at LeBron James, he’s one of my people I kind of idolize, and I see how he moves and how he wins, and there’s still people who don’t like him. Even though he’s done nothing wrong, but it’s like people just don’t like him because … they don’t want to like him.



Q: What are reasonable goals for you this season?

A: Man, I want to get out of the season healthy.



Q: Do you feel better than you’ve ever felt?

A: Easily.

Q: So the year off did you wonders?

A: I’ve been playing since I was 5. When you’re younger, you don’t feel it as much. But in high school, when you really hit and stuff, you got your nicks and bruises, you play basketball, track, you come back for the next football season, your body never really fully recovers to 100 percent. Over the course of my NFL career, maybe a shoulder or my knee or ankle may not fully ever heal for that next season, so I’m kind of dealing with it, just playing with it, and then when I took all last year off and I literally took six months off where I didn’t do nothing. I didn’t play basketball, I didn’t run — I did a little light jogging whatever, but nothing serious. And I didn’t hurt nothing, I didn’t hurt my finger, or wrist. And I really feel refreshed. So I’m coming into the season really a full 100 percent healthy. I can’t remember the last time I felt like that.

Q: Describe coach Adam Gase.

A: He’s my first offensive-minded coach I’ve ever played with. He understands football like no other person I’ve ever played with, the way he can put guys in position to make plays. ’Cause when he was with the Dolphins, I remember one time when I was with the Steelers, we were playing them in the playoffs. And I was thinking like, “How are the Dolphins in the playoffs?” Cause they didn’t really have crazy talent, [Ryan] Tannehill was hurt. … [Gase] may not [have had] the crazy weapons at the time, but he put all his guys in the right position to make plays. He’s making it simple and easy for guys, and making it so complex for defenses.



Q: Did you ever talk to him about the reports about him not being crazy about signing you in free agency?

A: We both laughed about it. Let’s say for the sake of argument he did say it: He definitely do a great job of acting as if he likes me (laugh). I got a great relationship with him. He FaceTimed me [Monday] out of the blue, like, “I’m so ready, are you ready?” Like getting hyped for the season. [Pittsburgh coach Mike] Tomlin never FaceTimed me, or [Michigan State coach Mark] Dantonio or my high school coach. … It’s just never happened. ’Cause our relationship is like deeper than football already. I’ve never met somebody like him. He genuinely cares about the person, not just the football player, but me as a person.



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A: A quiet assassin. ’Cause he don’t say much, he ain’t gonna be yelling, he’s just gonna go out there and play football and be great at it.

Q: Leonard Williams.

A: He’s not as quiet as C.J., but he’s not as loud as Jamal [Adams] either. He plays chess, and it all makes sense as to why he plays how he plays, ’cause he’s like literally playing mind games with the guys in the backfield.

Q: Quinnen Williams.

A: You could just tell he’s a joyful, happy big kid. He’s so humble, he doesn’t really understand how great of a player he is yet, it’ll take some time for him to do that. He’s a special player. A guy like that in your locker room, you always want that.

Q: Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.

A: I love Gregg to death. I’ve played against him, and he’s schemed against me so many times, so many years, so to actually be on his side, and I see his personality, how he gets the defense going, it all makes sense now. He’s gonna say whatever comes to his head (chuckle).



Q: If you could test your skills in the open field against any linebacker in NFL history, who would it be?

A: Everybody says LT’s the best, right? So I would love to go against him, see how I would fare against him.

Q: You don’t want to be blocking him.

A: Why not?

Q: Nobody could block Lawrence Taylor.

A: But I would. He’s a linebacker, if he blitz, I got to.



Q: Whose brain would you want to pick?

A: I’ve met him before and I’ve talked to him before, but I never really got to pick his brain, but Barry Sanders. He’s my favorite player to ever play. … It was just something special about him. I’d just want to know is he running off of instincts or is he actually just understanding the play. You can tell with a lot of guys if they’re running strictly off instincts and God-given ability. But Barry Sanders wasn’t bigger, stronger, faster. He was quicker, don’t get me wrong, he changed directions unbelievable, but he wasn’t like blazing speed even though he had speed. He definitely wasn’t the biggest, strongest guy, but his legs were powerful enough to keep his balance, break tackles. But I’m saying like physically gifted, he wasn’t like Eric Dickerson or Herschel Walker, those were like gifted dudes. Barry Sanders wasn’t like that. But the way he ran the ball … I wish I could ask him, I don’t really know if he like really understood what the play was and just like perfected it, ’cause you see him waiting at the line, waiting for something to open up, then “All right, now I got it.”

Q: Do you think about the Hall of Fame?

A: Yeah, of course. I think all that takes care of itself if you’re winning games. I kind of look at my position: If you get 10,000 yards, you’re in. So I feel like if I play 10, 11 years, with 1,000-yard rushing, everything’ll take care of itself. I played half my career in Pittsburgh, and half or more will be here, and I feel like I’m on pace for that.

Q: Do you have a pregame routine?

A: I do. It’s a little different now because … I took a whole year off, and I’m in a whole new situation, so I gotta find my new thing now.

Q: What was the old one?

A: Superstitions, is that what you’re asking? In warmups, I always got my long sleeves on. When the sleeves come off, and I got the mismatch gloves on … I know it’s go-time. I remember I used to always have to change my cleats, so I warm up in a certain pair of cleats, and then when it’s game time, I’ll change my cleats. I change my socks. Certain music I’ll listen to, some music.

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A: Now I’ll listen to me the whole time.

Q: What was the origin of calling yourself Juice as a rapper?

A: My rookie year in Pittsburgh [2013], we were in practice, and over the course of the season, Coach Tomlin just kept calling me Juice. “You know who Juice is, right?” I’m like, “O.J. Simpson, right?” Then like everybody in the building started calling me that. I kind of liked it.



Q: Do you see the comparison?

A: I mean, personally, watching highlights, I can’t really tell. I just know he was a great player. Of course he had the moves, he was powerful and fast … running style, I’m not sure. Coach Tomlin would know better than me.

Q: How would you compare your style to Saquon Barkley’s style?

A: I think he’s the closest to running like how I run that I’ve seen in person.



Q: As far as what specifically?

A: Patient … like setting up his blocks … understanding the run schemes and things like that. Obviously, once we’re in the open space, we’re different. He depends on more like his speed. He’s a little shorter, stockier. Open-fieldwise, he kind of reminds of Barry Sanders a little bit, the way he runs. I run a little taller.



Q: Are you Eddie George-like?

A: I’ve heard that a lot. We’re different in the open field, but I think reading the blocks and like in the tackle, he runs the closest like me. It’s not the same, but it’s like when I watch him play, I can understand that he understands the play. A lot of running backs, they kind of need a hole for them to be successful — he don’t.

Q: And you don’t either.

A: I feel like I don’t either.





Q: Three dinner guests?

A: LeBron, Denzel [Washington], Muhammad Ali.

Q: Favorite movie?

A: “Scarface.”



Q: Favorite actor?

A: Denzel.

Q: Favorite actress?

A: Viola Davis.



Q: Favorite singers/entertainers?

A: Michael Jackson and 50 Cent.

Q: Favorite meal?

A: My mom’s chicken alfredo.

Q: What have you learned about New York-New Jersey?

A: I’ve never lived in a city like New York. It’s a lot different than what I’m used to. Something bad gets blown up, something good gets blown up. They got pros and cons to it, but that’s one of the reasons why I chose the city, because I know it’s gonna put me in the spotlight. I can really show people how good I am in football, and this is one of the teams I grew up liking.

Q: You love the big game and the big stage and the bright lights?

A: I love it, I love it, I love it to death, ’cause it makes me a better player, it makes me be a better me. Everybody watching me I want to go crazy.

Q: When Jets fans leave the stadium and are in the parking lots, what do you want them to be saying about you?

A: You had a great game, I’m glad we won.



Q: What do you want them to say five years from now about you?

A: You’re a great player, I’m glad you brought us the championship.