Thursday Notes: Even More on "Bag-Gate"

by Sean Yuille on Sep 4, 2008 12:00 AM EDT in Notes Comment 0 comments

Tatum Bell attempted to get in contact with Rudi Johnson yesterday to "talk to him man-to-man," but didn't have any success in doing so. Bell has taken an aggressive approach in trying to clear his name as he is currently a laughing stock all across the country.

The story of him stealing Johnson's bags spread like wildfire after Pro Football Talk first broke the news Tuesday night. In a matter of hours it began to spread across the Internet, and by the morning it hit the mainstream media. By then it was only a matter of time until ESPN and other major outlets picked up the story, putting Bell in a very tough spot.

Bell continues to call this one big misunderstanding and maintains that he thought the bags belonged to his friend and recently released Lion Victor DeGrate. However, that doesn't explain why they were returned to the Lions without Johnson's stuff. The blame could be put on the mysterious woman that somehow got the bags, but no one really cares about her as Bell is without a doubt the focus of this story, and it doesn't seem like it's going away anytime soon.
Only tight end Dan Campbell and quarterback Drew Stanton are currently listed on the Lions' week 1 injury report. Campbell is still dealing with a nagging hamstring injury that just seems like it will never go away (he did fully practice the last two days, though), and Stanton, as we all know, has a hurt right thumb.
Three Falcons players -- center Alex Stepanovich, linebacker Coy Wire, and safety Thomas DeCoud -- are listed on the Atlanta's injury report.
Rudi Johnson will play on Sunday and Rod Marinelli said that Johnson's hamstring didn't appear to be bothering him. (Johnson recently had a hamstring injury)
ESPN's Kevin Seifert wrote a great piece on Calvin Johnson and how he should have an amazing season this year.
The director of security for the Lions, Ricky Sandoval, is going to be featured on a show called "Stand Up To Cancer" that will air on NBC, ABC, and CBS this Friday at 8 p.m. 27 months ago Sandoval was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer, and he and Rod Marinelli were interviewed for the show.
On a side note, Sandoval was the one that showed Rudi Johnson the surveillance video of Tatum Bell taking his bags.
Tickets are still available for the Lions' home opener on September 14 against the Packers.
The Free Press has a photo gallery from yesterday's Lions pet calendar photo shoot. The gallery opens with a picture of Ernie Sims and his two pit bulls, and honestly I'm a bit surprised he didn't bring any of his reptiles to the shoot. I guess they didn't want those kinds of pets roaming around Ford Field. Then again, go to picture #9 and take a look at what one of Mike Furrey's dogs appears to be doing right on the 50-yard line.
Along with wearing a patch, the NFL will honor Gene Upshaw by stenciling his initials and number on the fields of all 16 week 1 games.
Redskins tight end Chris Cooley had to explain how to play fantasy football to many of his teammates.