But Sometimes He Does Get the Carry

More and more frequently these days, I find myself reading a story that makes me say "what the **** is wrong with people?" Today, of course was no exception.

No, I'm not talking about the message of hope spread during the Republican National Convention Wednesday night. This is a sports blog, after all.*

Recently released Detroit Lions (who for the last, oh, 20 years have provided more heartbreak than happiness to their "fans") running back Tatum Bell had seemed so welcoming to the man who he knew was replacing him - Rudi Johnson. The Lions didn't bring Johnson in just for kicks (no pun intended), so Bell knew his time was up. He helped Johnson get settled, gave him tips for living in (I know some of you might have said "surviving") Detroit, and generally didn't seem to harbor any ill will.

Now for those of you who did not have the misfortune of having Bell on your fantasy team last year, at this point, you should be saying "Ok, he sounds like a good guy." Not to say he's not (I don't know him but he seemsed nice enough) but he left something to be desired last season . . . namely, points. I think I dumped him midway through the season but not before he'd already cost me a few key wins after Maurice Jones-Drew went down. I'll leave it at Mr. Bell didn't have his best season. Hence, it surprised few that when Johnson, a former RB for the Cincinnati Bengals who has had his share of injuries but is still solid (and definitely much probably better than Bell) became available, the Lions jumped at the chance to pick him up.

Enter jealousy. I've always thought that if you are up to no good, the least you can do is scope the scene for cameras. We had a kid get suspended from school for doing something quite untoward on camera (I'll let you use your imagination but, trust me, it's way worse than you think) and to this day, I'll never understand why he didn't look up. The cameras weren't half spheres like they are now, they were giant camcorders on a tripod hanging from the ceiling. But I digress.

With the wide-spread use of cameras, people just can't lie like they used to (unless you hire the best attorneys in the country to help you lie . . . no offense to my people). Apparently Bell didn't consider this possibility when he hoisted Johnson's belongings away - apparently around the same time he was cut from the team - like a thief in the night from the Lions headquarters. Bell claims he thought that he was picking up bags for another (now former) teammate, and a woman did later return the bags (Gucci bags!), minus its contents . . . contents like Johnson's "draws" and socks, and some money and credit cards, too. For his part, Bell had this to say in his defense:

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," he said.

Bell said he delivered the bags to a female friend of [former teammate Victor] DeGrate's without opening them. Bell told the Free Press that he did not have anything of Johnson's and wanted to clear his name.

"I ain't no thief," Bell told the Free Press. "I ain't never been one, and I ain't never going to be one."

Note to Bell: the "Cool Hand Luke" defense is not your best move. Not surprisingly, Johnson's not buying his explanation, and was not welcoming when Bell tried to reach out to him:

"I didn't want to talk to him, but I let him know where I stand," he said.
"He knows how I feel about it, and it isn't anything positive."

Nothing nice. When I was in middle school, I temporarily carried away the school bag of my crush at the time, preventing him from doing his homework for the evening. He was mad but he got over it, and we dated afterward so it worked out for me. For Bell? Thankfully for him, Johnson decided not to snitch so this probably means "Takum" will avoid any legal troubles. It's unclear how this will affect his chances of getting picked up by another team (unlikely) or of his teammates asking him to grab their bags (yes).

I don't even know what to say about this one. It's funny and really sad at the same time. I laughed for about 10 minutes in my office when I read it but then I thought man, some (ok, a lot) of these guys just really don't grow up. These folks comments on ESPN.com didn't help. From one of those heartbroken ones I mentioned before:

Sadly, Bell now has more picks in the pre-season than our entire secondary.

And from another:

At first nobody believe it was Tatum on the surveillance footage because he
didn't get knocked down 1 yard into his escape. But then the bags slipped out of
his hands.

Quite creative. Clearly, there's some maturity issue here, and as I have said in the past (way, way, past), it's not all the player's fault. Somewhere along the line, someone let him get away with this type of behavior, and now you have a grown man seemingly acting like a child. If we don't start putting our proverbial feet down when people start acting up, this is the result. I do hope it really was a misunderstanding . . . but more than that, I want to see the tape!

*Did anyone else catch the New York Republican delegate at the RNC? In an attempt to extol the virtues of NY, he rattled off the "World Champion" Yankees (really? still?), the "soon to be" champion Mets, and forgot - until reminded by someone nearby - that the Giants *are* actual champions. ". . . and oh yeah, the Giants . . . and can't forget the Jets! We love our Jets!" Poor Eli and his Giants just can't shake that chopped liver status, even at the RNC.