Tatum Bell
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| College: | Oklahoma State | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 2004 / round: 2 / pick: 41 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2007 | |||||||||
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Tatum Antoine Bell (born March 2, 1981 in Template:City-state) is an American football running back who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the second round of the 2004 NFL Draft. He played college football at Oklahoma State.
Bell has also played for the Detroit Lions.
Bell has a reputation for costly fumbles, including 5 fumbles in the 2006 season, all ending in turnovers. These fumbles led to the Oakland Raiders naming their fumble recovery drill "The Tatum Bell Drill".[3]
Early years
Tatum Bell grew up in DeSoto, a suburb of Dallas, and attended DeSoto High School.
Professional career
Denver Broncos
Bell was drafted 41st overall in the 2004 NFL Draft, after attending Oklahoma State University for four years and finishing sixth on the school's all-time career rushing yards list. He debuted with the Denver Broncos in 2004, and led all AFC rookie running backs in rushing yards. In 2005 he was the second part of a dual running back system with Mike Anderson and rushed for 920 yards.
Detroit Lions
On March 1, 2007, Tatum was traded along with George Foster and a draft pick to the Detroit Lions for Dré Bly.
On October 12, 2007 it was revealed that Tatum Bell had asked the Lions to trade him earlier in the week, due to the re-emergence of Kevin Jones and his diminished role at tailback. Bell has since told the media that he didn't demand a trade, but that he simply was disappointed in his diminishing role on the team. [1]
On March 10, 2008, Bell re-signed with the Lions on a one-year contract. He stated that his goal for the 2008 NFL season was to rush for 1,300 yards and 15 touchdowns. However, he was released by the Lions on September 1 after the team signed running back Rudi Johnson. Tatum Bell took Rudi Johnson's bags after he was released, allegedly on purpose. [2] Bell responded by saying, “I ain’t no thief.” Rudi Johnson's then referred to Bell's actions, "All of this happened after he got released and came in and got some stuff out of his locker, "Johnson said. "That's when he scooped the bags up, some real shyster, conniving stuff." Johnson alleges that Bell stole his underwear.[3]