http://www.midwestsportsfans.com/2008/09/detroit-lions-tatum-bell-steals-bags-of-rudi-johnson/
Guess he's annoyed he lost his job :mj07:
Guess he's annoyed he lost his job :mj07:
Tatum Bell steals Rudi Johnson's bag
- Thread starter Blackman
- Start date
A strange thing happened to running back Rudi Johnson when he visited with the Detroit Lions on Monday.
Someone stole his stuff.
Seriously.
Specifically, and as we?re told by a reliable source (i.e., not the person who told Mort that Joey Harrington had agreed to terms with the Ravens on Monday, or the person who told John Clayton that Todd Bouman had agreed to terms with the Ravens on Tuesday), Johnson left his bags outside CEO Matt Millen?s office while he met with team officials and, ultimately, worked out a deal with the team.
So when Johnson came back to get his bags, they were nowhere to be found. Johnson and Millen were stumped.
Enter the eye in the sky.
The team checked the videotapes generated by the team?s in-house surveillance system, and they quickly identified the culprit.
So who might it have been? None other than Tatum Bell, who lost his gig with the Lions after Rudi arrived.
Per the source, Bell took the bags to the house of a female acquaintance. When confronted on the matter, Bell offered up some cockamamie story that he thought the bags belonged to someone he knew. The girl, however, said that she hadn?t seen Bell in several months and he showed up out of the blue and asked her to keep the bags for a while.
Johnson has retrieved the bags, and it?s our understanding that charges won?t be pressed.
Tatum apparently didn?t know that he was being monitored.
Someone stole his stuff.
Seriously.
Specifically, and as we?re told by a reliable source (i.e., not the person who told Mort that Joey Harrington had agreed to terms with the Ravens on Monday, or the person who told John Clayton that Todd Bouman had agreed to terms with the Ravens on Tuesday), Johnson left his bags outside CEO Matt Millen?s office while he met with team officials and, ultimately, worked out a deal with the team.
So when Johnson came back to get his bags, they were nowhere to be found. Johnson and Millen were stumped.
Enter the eye in the sky.
The team checked the videotapes generated by the team?s in-house surveillance system, and they quickly identified the culprit.
So who might it have been? None other than Tatum Bell, who lost his gig with the Lions after Rudi arrived.
Per the source, Bell took the bags to the house of a female acquaintance. When confronted on the matter, Bell offered up some cockamamie story that he thought the bags belonged to someone he knew. The girl, however, said that she hadn?t seen Bell in several months and he showed up out of the blue and asked her to keep the bags for a while.
Johnson has retrieved the bags, and it?s our understanding that charges won?t be pressed.
Tatum apparently didn?t know that he was being monitored.
A source close to the situation confirmed that it did happen. Whether it was a prank or misunderstanding or something else, that has yet to be determined, but Johnson was "pretty miffed'' according to the source.
Lions president Matt Millen and Johnson, who had been meeting in Millen's office, searched all over the building for the bag. When they couldn't find it, Millen offered Bell several hundred dollars to tide him over until they could figure out what happened to the bag. As the story indicates, they finally found out what happened and recovered the bag.
An interesting twist is that, earlier on Monday, Bell and Johnson had a good conversation about the city of Detroit, the team, practice schedules, etc. According to the source, though, that was before Bell "put two and two together'' about Johnson's presence in Detroit.
Lions president Matt Millen and Johnson, who had been meeting in Millen's office, searched all over the building for the bag. When they couldn't find it, Millen offered Bell several hundred dollars to tide him over until they could figure out what happened to the bag. As the story indicates, they finally found out what happened and recovered the bag.
An interesting twist is that, earlier on Monday, Bell and Johnson had a good conversation about the city of Detroit, the team, practice schedules, etc. According to the source, though, that was before Bell "put two and two together'' about Johnson's presence in Detroit.
Bell: 'I ain't no thief;' Lions' Johnson won't press charges
Here?s Johnson?s full version:
Johnson left his bags in the Lions? locker room Monday while he was in president Matt Millen?s office. They were two Gucci bags he had gotten at the Pro Bowl a couple of years ago. They were filled with undergarments, his identification, credit cards and a money clip with a couple hundred dollars.
When Johnson returned to the locker room Monday night, they were gone. The first thought was that a janitor picked them up and stored them. Johnson still wasn?t sure what happened when he spoke to the media Tuesday afternoon and told reporters Bell had been one of the players to which he had spoken about Detroit.
But Tuesday night, Ricky Sandoval, the Lions? director of security, showed Johnson a surveillance video of Bell swiping his bags. How did Bell look?
?Suspect,? Johnson said.
Bell brought the bags to a woman?s house, and she dropped the bags off at Lions headquarters ? empty. The undergarments were gone. So were the credit cards and the ID. The money clip was empty.
Johnson said he spoke to Bell afterward, and Bell said there was a mixup. He didn?t believe Bell, but he does not plan to press charges.
Here?s Bell?s full version:
He was doing a favor for DeGrate and didn?t realize the bags were Johnson?s.
?I wasn?t thinking or nothing,? Bell said. ?I just grabbed the backpack and grabbed the other bag. They weren?t in nobody?s locker or nothing like that. They were just sitting there by the computer area right there. I grabbed them and put them in the car.
?They said they got me on film taking the bags. I said, ?If you look on film, I wasn?t in no hurry or nothing.? I was just going about my day.?
Bell said he took them to DeGrate?s friend.
?I tried to talk to Rudi yesterday, but he was pretty upset, so I let it go,? Bell said. ?I come to find out the bags weren?t whose I thought they was. It was just an honest mistake.?
Here?s Johnson?s full version:
Johnson left his bags in the Lions? locker room Monday while he was in president Matt Millen?s office. They were two Gucci bags he had gotten at the Pro Bowl a couple of years ago. They were filled with undergarments, his identification, credit cards and a money clip with a couple hundred dollars.
When Johnson returned to the locker room Monday night, they were gone. The first thought was that a janitor picked them up and stored them. Johnson still wasn?t sure what happened when he spoke to the media Tuesday afternoon and told reporters Bell had been one of the players to which he had spoken about Detroit.
But Tuesday night, Ricky Sandoval, the Lions? director of security, showed Johnson a surveillance video of Bell swiping his bags. How did Bell look?
?Suspect,? Johnson said.
Bell brought the bags to a woman?s house, and she dropped the bags off at Lions headquarters ? empty. The undergarments were gone. So were the credit cards and the ID. The money clip was empty.
Johnson said he spoke to Bell afterward, and Bell said there was a mixup. He didn?t believe Bell, but he does not plan to press charges.
Here?s Bell?s full version:
He was doing a favor for DeGrate and didn?t realize the bags were Johnson?s.
?I wasn?t thinking or nothing,? Bell said. ?I just grabbed the backpack and grabbed the other bag. They weren?t in nobody?s locker or nothing like that. They were just sitting there by the computer area right there. I grabbed them and put them in the car.
?They said they got me on film taking the bags. I said, ?If you look on film, I wasn?t in no hurry or nothing.? I was just going about my day.?
Bell said he took them to DeGrate?s friend.
?I tried to talk to Rudi yesterday, but he was pretty upset, so I let it go,? Bell said. ?I come to find out the bags weren?t whose I thought they was. It was just an honest mistake.?
