FanHouse VictorDegrate

Throughout this whole Tatum Bell/Rudi Johnson saga (creatively called "Bellhop"; I would have gone with "Bellhopgate" myself), I wondered one thing: where is Victor DeGrate in all of this?

DeGrate is, if you're unaware, the guy Bell name-dropped when feeding everyone his tale of misunderstanding and wrongly-identified luggage. Bell claimed he thought the bags he picked up were DeGrate's, as DeGrate had recently been cut by the Lions and asked Bell, a longtime friend, to deliver his things to him. So, I thought, wouldn't the whole situation be solved (as if it needed to be) with some sort of word from DeGrate?

"I just know I had nothing to do with it. What he did is his business. Why he said what he said, I don't know. I can't do nothing for you or for him as far as that goes. ... The way I just figure, he got caught up in a jam and that was the best thing going at the time, was to say what he said. ... sometimes it takes stuff like that to happen for you to find out how people are."

Well, then. That about settles it.

I think the only people who believed Bell to begin with were Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic who, on one of the eight days a year they actually appear on the radio show that bears their names, were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. I don't think that's possible for even them anymore. And so Bell, who wants to clear his name in order to find an NFL job again, has probably fumbled away his last official NFL game ball.

Way back in April, I wrote that the Patriots might've found a viable replacement for Asante Samuel, who had recently inked a big-money contract to play for the Eagles, when they signed Lions castoff Fernando Bryant.

I based that not on the fact that head coach Bill Belichick must know something the rest of us don't because HE'S A FREAKING GENIUS (New England signs a boatload of defensive backs every spring, and inevitably, most of them aren't around by the start of the season), but because Detroit head coach Rod Marinelli spoke in glowing terms about Bryant, and stressed that the decision to release him was strictly a financial one.

Maybe that's true, and maybe Marinelli really does think Bryant is "very physical" and "a tough tackler," but I'm guessing Belichick disagrees.

Here's what we know: Tatum Bell isn't very smart, and we have the video footage to prove it. Beyond that, there's really not much to say. Which is why Bell has decided to speak up on the accusations that he purposely stole Rudi Johnson's luggage about 30 seconds after the Lions released him.

Yesterday Bell declared that he "ain't no thief" and that "it was all a misunderstanding," which I take to mean: "Yeah, I did it, but I got caught so I have to make up this lame excuse." Fine. It happens. You were mad about losing your job and this was the cleverest thing you could think to do on your way out the door. Whatever.

But instead of saying as much, Bell has decided to drag this out as long as possible. Good thinking.

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