Tatum Bell found he’s going to be replaced permanently by free-agent Rudi Johnson when the 2008/2009 seasons starts. Rather than take the news in stride, with a protruding chest and embracing integrity, Bell did something else. He took off with Rudi Johnson’s underwear-filled luggage to prove he’s the man. Yes, Tatum. You’re the man.

“All this happened when he got released,” Johnson said. “He came in to get some stuff out of his locker and that’s when he scooped up the bags.” After being cut by the Cincinnati Bengals, Johnson came to Detroit to work out for the team and meet with Lions president Matt Millen on Monday. During the meeting, which ended with Johnson agreeing to a free-agent contract, the two Gucci bags that he had received as a Pro Bowl gift were taken from inside the team’s headquarters.

Well, maybe it was a practical joke?

Johnson met with the Detroit media for the first time Tuesday, and talked about Bell in a positive manner — saying they had discussed the Lions and that Bell, also a running back, had given him advice on the team and the city.

However, shortly after Johnson praised Bell, team security director Ricky Sandoval showed him footage from the team’s surveillance system.

“Ricky showed me the tape Tuesday afternoon,” Johnson said. “What makes this crazy is that I’ve talked to him after games, and I talked to him a couple hours prior to this — I guess it was before he found out he was going to be released.”

Johnson said a woman returned the bags to the practice facility Tuesday evening, but that the contents were gone.

“I got the bags back — empty,” he said. “So he’s got a bunch of my underclothes. What he’s going to do with that, I don’t know. He’s got some socks and boxers.”

Johnson said he was also still missing about $200 in cash along with his ID and the credit cards, but said that he did not plan to involve the authorities.

Lets give Tatum the last word.

“I ain’t no thief,” Bell told the Free Press in a phone interview. “I ain’t never been one, and I ain’t never going to be one. It was all a misunderstanding. “You can ask anybody I played with for all my years or anybody that know me, man. They know I ain’t never stolen nothing from nobody or had those kind of intentions.”

Hey, we’re unaware of his track record as a thieving bastard, so he could be telling the truth. But, it could have been worse. He could have stolen Rudi Johnson’s girlfriend. Or wife, if he has one. That’s the word. Thank be to Machochip. We’re out!

Lions RB Rudi Johnson says Tatum Bell took luggage [Boston]
Bell: ‘I ain’t no thief;’ but Lions’ Johnson doesn’t believe him [Freep]
Image [Deadspin]