It's not every week that two of the NFL's most irresistible stars on and off the field drop their own rap projects. For Steelers running back Le'Veon Bell (aka Juice), it's his long-hyped debut album Post Interview. Released on March 24, Post Interview reached No. 9 on the iTunes hip-hop album chart, in the company of catalog titles from rappers like J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar. Now-Packers tight end Martellus Bennett (aka Martysaurus Rex) chose to expand his creative empire (he also has a successful children's book called Hey A.J., It's Saturday!) with an EP entitled I'm Not A Rapper But Some of My Friends Are… that hit SoundCloud last Wednesday (March 29).

To commemorate this momentous event in the history of athlete rap, B/R compares the two albums (and players/rappers/producers) head-to-head to see if their playmaking ability is as good in the studio as it is on the field. Plus, the non-NFL members of each track list offer some behind-the-scenes insights.

Album Art

Bennett's album cover is bound to tug at some '90s kids' heartstrings—he offers himself as Quailman, Doug's alter ego from the classic Nickelodeon cartoon, complete with a Porkchop-esque sidekick. Given his experience as an illustrator, it's fair to assume Bennett crafted the image himself, adding a little swagger with a crotch-grab that would probably make Doug blush.

Bell goes a more traditional route, offering a black-and-white image of himself over a graphic treatment of his album title. Hardly groundbreaking, but solid.

Winner: Martysaurus Rex

Title

Bell keeps things simple with an album title that nods to his day job. Post Interview is a nice, not-too-literal way of conveying the project's interview-esque subject matter: Bell, and the people who don't yet understand just how awesome he is.

With I'm Not A Rapper But Some Of My Friends Are… Bennett goes super literal, if perhaps overly self-effacing. He raps on the album, even if he doesn't consider himself a rapper per se.

Winner: Juice

Beats

Almost all 16 tracks of Bell's album are backed by serviceable trap beats. Instead of exploiting each song's dynamic range, Juice elects to create a vibe—the tempos are all fairly similar, suitable for after-party ambiance (in keeping with the album's title). "Maybe a year ago, Le'Veon tweeted out that he needed beats," says Charm, a Florida producer responsible for some of Post Interview's most memorable grooves. "At the time Le'Veon was my favorite player. It was, like, I'd be stupid not to try and send him a few."

Interestingly, Bell claims one of the production credits for himself on "They Know What We About," which is grounded in an unexpected backward doorbell-sounding sample. Juice might even have more promise behind the boards than on the mic.

Though there aren't as many songs to choose from on the brief INARBSOMFA, Martellus keeps things short but sweet with a diverse mix of tracks, from pregame bangers ("Shaqfu") to R&B-laced, club-ready grooves ("I Love Cali"). By picking beats that are both polished and dynamic (the production credits haven't yet been released), Martysaurus Rex delegated some of the musical heavy lifting, which made it a little easier for the athlete-rapper to wile out.

Winner: Juice, for taking matters into his own hands. Also, definitely here for samples of game commentary on rap records.

Flow

Even though Bennett insists he's not a rapper, his flow is certainly competent and, at times, even compelling (see his verse on "100%"). Bell's studied nonchalance occasionally sounds a bit apathetic—adding a little of his on-field vigor would perk things up considerably. Bennett's enthusiasm, even if it's amateurish, gives him an edge.

Winner: Martysaurus Rex

Guests

Bell shoulders the majority of the lyrical duties himself, inviting only two guests: Columbus rappers (Bell is from the Columbus, Ohio, suburbs) named Bizzoe and Rico Music. Their presence prompts Bell to up his game—who'd have thought a professional football player would be competitive? "Me and Le have been doing music together since we were like 13 or 14, because we grew up in the same apartment complex [in Columbus]," Bizzoe says. "He was always gonna do music, it's been one of his passions since he was a kid. We've been able to grow together as artists—it's fun to see things come full circle."

Bennett also returned to his home state for inspiration, bringing a Texas crew aboard that includes R&B artist Keith Jacobs, who has his own EP out. "I met Marty when he was [with the Cowboys], and we've been hanging ever since," says Jacobs, who's managed by one of Bennett's close friends, Dessie Brown. Bennett's EP came together one semi-wild weekend in Dallas, during which Brown and Bennett celebrated their birthdays with a couple days in the studio. "We literally spent 10 hours a day creating and building—there was no plan to it."

"I didn't know he was so into the music—he takes it really seriously. That was refreshing," adds David Allen Dope, another R&B/hip-hop artist who appears on INARBSOMFA. "It was definitely a weekend for the books."

Winner: Martysaurus Rex

Lyrics

Le'Veon, please don't rhyme bag with bag ("Why You Mad"). Also, misogyny in rap is hardly an innovation at this point. For merging the worlds of sports and music, though, it's hard to find someone who does it better (maybe Drake): "He had all kinds of sports references—no other artist out, in my opinion, compares," says producer J.I. Retro, who also contributed to Post Interview. "Then in the same song, he'll also say real life stuff that everyone can relate to."

Bennett offers "in a Trump Tower counting dead presidents" and "when you're black and intelligent, it's hard to be American," which are pretty tough to beat as far as dropping knowledge. "Whole Foods," a song about the virtues of eating healthy that manages not to sound like a PSA, is just icing on the cake. "Marty's always been a rapper—he's always had bars," Jacobs adds. "He really likes to study lyrics, he just loves the culture."

Winner: Martysaurus Rex

Pre-Mixtape Yardage

Bell had 2,244 yards from scrimmage during the 2016 season (including the playoffs). Bennett had 809.

Winner: Juice

Pre-Mixtape Team Record

In 2016, Bell's Steelers went 11-5, while the Patriots (Bennett's team at the time) went 14-2, won the Super Bowl and beat the Steelers twice along the way.

Winner: Martysaurus Rex

Disses

There has never been a person in as dire need of a diss track as sports commentator Skip Bayless, and Bell fills that void with the delightful "Shrimp Bayless." "Skip was talking about Le'Veon, and he mentioned his music—someone I work with told me he specifically brought up one of my songs," Charm says, explaining the song's genesis. "He was taking shots at Le'Veon, so I took them and put them into that beat, and sent it to him. Immediately Le'Veon texted me, like, I'm gonna call it 'Shrimp Bayless.' Right off the bat, he knew it was gonna go viral."

Bennett, on the other hand, doesn't really take shots at anyone.

Winner: Juice

Endurance

Bell goes for 16 songs, and he's rapping almost the entire time on every single one—even "Migos," which is inexplicably not about and does not feature the rap trio Migos. "I'm surprised by how much he raps—to be as good of an athlete as he is and still put in so much time in the studio is amazing," Charm adds. "During the suspension last season, he wasn't sitting in the studio—he was working hard on the field the entire offseason. Any time he has to relax, he's working in the studio, not taking away from football."

Winner: Juice

Listens to date

Looking at SoundCloud alone, Post Interview tracks are already in the tens of thousands ("Shrimp Bayless" is closing in on a million), while INARBSOMFA songs are mostly below the 10K mark. "He had everyone anticipating it for a minute, so I wasn't surprised that it did numbers when it dropped," Retro adds.

Winner: Juice

And the winner is...

Bell takes the crown, but by a hair. Both releases show how athletes in 2017 are taking the rapper/athlete trope far beyond its humble beginnings, seeking Dame D.O.L.L.A.-esque heights.

"He's a stellar artist—he hasn't been able to prove that as much as he has that he's a great football player, but I really believe he will," Bizzoe says about Bell. "Seeing comments like 'stick to football' is really hard for me to swallow, because they don't even know this guy. He's a pure soul, and an all-around hard worker."

And there is more on the way.

"I know he was in the studio with Mac Miller a little while ago, I know he's got a track with Snoop coming out soon—plus he's working with mainstream artists that people aren't even gonna see coming," says Charm of what's to come for Juice.

Bennett's collaborators also say he has more music in the works.

"Whenever we're around each other for longer than an hour, we usually start talking music," says Jacobs of the potential for future collaborations with Bennett. "I just put out an EP, and Marty's creative ear and eye really helped me with my project. We're always sharing ideas."

The real winner-takes-all challenge? A Stephen A. Smith diss track. Le'Veon, Martellus—you know what to do.