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There are times in sports when having something named after you is considered an honor, such as the Heisman Trophy, the Stanley Cup or the Cy Young Award.
Then there are times when having something named after you isn't such an honor, such as the Tatum Bell Drill.
The Oakland Raiders took a swipe at the Lions' running back this week by naming a fumble-recovery drill after him. Last year, while playing with Oakland's AFC West rival, Denver, Bell had a career-worst five fumbles - all of which he lost.
News of the dubious honor didn't sit well with Bell on Friday.
“I'm still pissed off. I'm a little ticked off,” he said. “Maybe it's motivating (for) them. I don't know why. I ain't never had a fumble against them, so I don't know why they feel it's a problem. Oh, well. I'm going to look forward to playing them.”
Bell pointed out that in his three seasons with Denver, the Broncos had a 5-1 record against the Raiders. Bell's fumbling history isn't a concern for him or, it appears, for Lions coach Rod Marinelli, who said Friday that Bell likely would start Sunday.
“No, it ain't an issue at all,” Bell said. “I'm not thinking about it or nothing. I'm just going to go out and play my game, get a couple of dirty words in to some of the players.”
And he might not limit his discourse to guys in black jerseys.
“From the beginning of the game to the end of the game you might catch me out there jawing with a lot of those guys, maybe the coaches, too,” he said. “I'm going to find one of the defensive coordinators and tell him how I feel about it.”
Actually, there's only one defensive coordinator and Bell knows him well. Rob Ryan was the coordinator at Oklahoma State when Bell played for the Cowboys, and Ryan even showed Bell around the campus during a recruiting trip.
“So I know him and I always talk to him before the game,” Bell said. “This time it's going to be a little bit hard for me.”
Lions RB Bell 'ticked off' about Raiders' trash talk
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