Tatum Bell Denies Taking Rudi Johnson’s Personal Items From Duffel Bags

Rudi Johnson knew there’d be a little extra film work involved after signing a free-agent contract to play for the Detroit Lions on Monday.

He just couldn’t have imagined it would be surveillance tape.

And his predecessor, running back Tatum Bell, can’t believe he’s caught up in a locker-room caper that has put his career in jeopardy.

Johnson confirmed after practice Wednesday the mystery surrounding his missing duffel bags, which he said contained a money clip with about $200, credit cards and other personal effects — including his underwear — really wasn’t much of a mystery at all.

Bell walked off with them — accidentally, Bell insists — shortly after learning he was going to be released by the Lions as a result of Johnson’s signing.

The Lions contacted Bell, and the bags were later returned by an unidentified woman. But Johnson, who also spoke to Bell by phone Tuesday night, said Wednesday the bags were empty. Or almost empty, he said.

“He left my money clip, but he didn’t leave no money in it,” said Johnson, walking off the field Wednesday following his first full practice with the team. “He could’ve taken the clip, too, you know what I mean? It was quite stupid, if you ask me.

“All this happened once he got released. He came in, got some stuff out of his locker. And that’s when he scooped the bags up — some real shyster, conniving stuff.”

Bell tells a different story. Reached by phone late Wednesday afternoon, he vehemently denied the insinuation that he’d stolen the bags — “First thing is, I’m no thief,” he said — and said he mistakenly picked up Johnson’s bags for another teammate. Bell said defensive end Victor DeGrate, his ex-roommate who was cut by the Lions on Saturday, asked him to retrieve his bags from the locker room and deliver them to a friend.

“I took the bag, I called Vic and told him I had it, and he said, ‘OK, take it over to my lady friend’s house,’ ” Bell said. “Then (the Lions) called me yesterday and they said, ‘What’d you do with those bags?’ And I said, ‘What bags?’ I had no idea what they were talking about at first.

“It’s crazy. I wouldn’t just steal somebody’s stuff on purpose. I’m no thief, and I’m not stupid. I know they got cameras at the facility. I mean, I parked right in the front. It wasn’t like I was sneaking out of there or nothing.”

Bell said he spoke to Cedric Saunders, the Lions’ director of football operations, who then passed the phone to Johnson on Tuesday.

“I didn’t believe nothin’ he said,” Johnson said. “(His excuse) was that he took it to somebody’s house and he got the bags mixed up. But I don’t believe that.

“He knows how I feel. He knows where I stand with it. It is what it is.”

Asked to explain the missing items, specifically the money and credit cards, Bell insisted he never opened the bag.

“My agent talked to Victor and talked to the female, but there’s nothing I can do,” he said. “I can’t get ahold of them.”

Bell’s Houston-based agent, Kennard McGuire, didn’t respond to messages left for him Wednesday. But McGuire did call Johnson’s agent, Peter Schaffer, to discuss the incident Wednesday afternoon. Schaffer declined to reveal what was said, only to remark that “It’s a shame. It’s funny.”

Earlier Wednesday, though, when asked how his client felt about the matter, Schaffer said, “How would you feel if someone stole your stuff?”

Bell said: “Why would I take the bag? I could go buy the bag. And I don’t need $200 or $300 or whatever they said it was. But I’m disappointed with the Lions. I’ve never had no problems with anybody in the organization. And it’s not anything about being released — it’s about having my name thrown around like that. They don’t even want to listen to my side. They just want to say I stole the bag.

“I asked them what I needed to do to reimburse him or clear my name. But they’re not telling me anything. What am I supposed to do?” Lions officials — and coach Rod Marinelli — declined to comment on the incident.

Bell, now a free agent hoping to land another job, worries the incident will hurt his career.

“A lot of teams backed out when they heard that news,” he said. “They’re like, ‘We don’t want no thief in our locker room.’ It’s out on ESPN. My family’s calling. It is hard, man. But I’m dealing with it the best way I can, and that’s to try to stay positive.”

According to Johnson, after a long meeting in team president Matt Millen’s office Monday evening, he returned to the dressing room to find his bags missing.

“The cleaning people were here, so we thought they might’ve just moved it, sat it in the room and locked it up,” Johnson said.

When he returned Tuesday, though, there was still no sign of his Gucci bags — a gift from the 2005 Pro Bowl. And later Tuesday, Ricky Sandoval, the Lions’ director of security, reviewed surveillance tape that showed Bell taking the bags. Johnson watched the video, too.

“It looked suspect, you know what I mean?” said Johnson, adding that he had no plans to file a police report. “I’m not going to the police for this one. I don’t need anybody else, I can handle it.”

Asked about his missing items, Johnson said he had canceled his credit cards and joked, “So he’s got a bunch of my underclothes. What he’s gonna do with that, I don’t know. Underwear, socks and tank tops. If anybody’s got some Perry Ellis boxers for sale, you know where they came from.

“It’s funny, and it’s crazy. That’s something I’ve never experienced. I’m sure it’s an all-time classic.”

- John Niyo, Detroit News