Tatum Bell Was Presumably Angry Over Rudi Johnson's Signing
Published on October 20th, 2024 10:33 am ESTWritten By: Dave Manuel
At the end of 2006, Tatum Bell's NFL career seemed like it was on a real upswing.
After rushing for 921 yards and 8 touchdowns with the Denver Broncos in 2005, Tatum Bell followed this up with 1,025 rushing yards and 115 receiving yards in 2006. Bell was a certified threat in the backfield.
The Broncos elected to trade Bell to the Detroit Lions during the 2006 offseason, instead of inking him to a new deal.
In 5 games with the Lions, Bell rushed for 182 yards and scored 1 touchdown. Bell groused about his declining role with the Lions.
During the offseason that year, the Lions brought in Rudi Johnson for a workout.
Johnson, the former Cincinnati Bengal, made a favorable impression and the Lions signed him to a deal.
With Rudi Johnson and Kevin Jones on the team, Tatum Bell was released from the team, despite having signed a one-year deal in March of that year.
So what did he do? He decided to steal Rudi Johnson's belongings.
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Bell took two of Johnson's Gucci bags from the locker and passed them off to a female accomplice, who later returned the bags empty.
In addition, Bell also took $200 in cash from Johnson's money clip.
Johnson reported the theft to team officials, who quickly pulled up the video tape. Team official quickly discovered that Tatum Bell had stolen the bags, unaware that he was being watched by cameras.
Bell proclaimed that it was all a "misunderstanding". Rudi Johnson elected not to involve the police. The matter was eventually settled.
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Nobody initially wanted to sign Bell, so he had to get a job working at a cell phone store in a mall.
In November of 2008, the Denver Broncos came knocking, signing Bell to a cheap deal. The Broncos elected not to re-sign Bell at the end of the year, and he never played in the NFL again.