The story of course is that both Brown and Bell lost interest in football in 2011. Since a lot of other things went wrong in 2011 too, the accumulative effect was bad.
Bell had offers after 2011 but declined—he had injury concerns.
Brown was always shaken up by his brother’s death in Iraq. He found peace with that by quitting football and taking up farming…plus the donations. He had offers, but he walked away.
========================
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/03/jason-brown-quits-nfl_n_6263288.html
In 2012 — after seven years in the NFL –- Jason Brown was let go from the Rams. Though other teams were interested in signing him, he left his career because he felt he had found a higher calling. Brown went on to become a farmer and to help the hungry with the fruits of his labor, CBS reported.
“My agent told me, ‘You’re making the biggest mistake of your life,'” Brown told CBS. “And I looked right back at him and I said, ‘No I’m not. No I’m not.'”
…
He connected with a number of relief groups, including the Food Bank of Eastern North Carolina, and got hands-on help from local farming experts and 600 volunteers, according to his site.
This year he donated more than 10,000 pounds of cucumbers and 100,000 pounds of sweet potatoes to local pantries.
“When I think about a life of greatness,” Brown told CBS, “I think about a life of service.”