Tatum Antoine Bell (born March 2, 1981) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Oklahoma State Cowboys The Oklahoma State Cowboys and Cowgirls are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Oklahoma State University, located in Stillwater. The program's mascot is a cowboy named Pistol Pete. Oklahoma State participates at the National ...

and was selected by the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

in the second round of the

2004 NFL draft The 2004 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held from April 24–25, 2004, at the Theate ...

. Bell also played for the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

and

Florida Tuskers Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Early life

Bell was born in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and grew up in DeSoto, a suburb of Dallas. He is the son of Tony and Terry Bell, and has a younger brother, T.J., and an older sister, Latrice Coleman. He attended DeSoto High School. In high school, he was considered one of the fastest high school players in the nation, he was clocked running 4.34 in the 40-yard dash, and 10.26 seconds over

100 meters The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

. He was hampered by a hip pointer and sprained ankle as a senior, but still rushed for 1,225 yards and 19 touchdowns. He was also an effective kick and punt returner. In addition to his 19 rushing touchdowns, he had three touchdown passes and returned one kickoff for a touchdown. He was listed as a Top 100 Texas player by First Down Recruiting, PrepStar, the Dallas Morning News and David Garvin. He was a two-time all-district selection at running back.

College career

Bell played for

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

from 2000 to 2003, and was a starter for three years, rushing for a total of 4,285 yards. The schools 4th all-time leading rusher. Tatum Bell's Rushing Touchdowns places him 4th all-time in school history with 43. In 2000, as a

true freshman The following terms are used in American football, both conventional and indoor. Some of these terms are also in use in Canadian football; for a list of terms unique to that code, see '' Glossary of Canadian football''. 0–9 ...

, he made an impact by rushing for 251 yards on just 49 carries. He followed the regular season with an impressive spring during which he showed the new OSU staff he had the ability to run the ball inside. He was OSU's leading rusher in both major spring scrimmages. His spring numbers included 14 carries for 110 yards and three touchdowns in the first scrimmage and 15 carries for 80 yards and a touchdown in the second. Showed most of the country what he was capable of with an incredible long-distance run against Oklahoma in a nationally televised season finale on Lewis Field. Oklahoma State won the services of this highly recruited running back over Nebraska, Texas and Oklahoma. He was a starter for three years, rushing for a total of 4,285 yards. In 2001, he carried the ball 237 times for 1,052 yards and eight touchdowns. He averaged 87.6 yards per game and almost four and a half yards per carry. Bell eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark twice last season, including a career-high 117 yards against Missouri. He had 102 yards in Oklahoma State's win over Louisiana Tech on Lewis Field. The last four games of the 2001 season were particularly impressive for Bell. Against Colorado, Texas Tech, Baylor and Oklahoma, Bell carried the ball a combined 80 times for 333 yards. That's a four-game average of 83.25 yards per game and 4.16 yards per carry. In 2002, he carried the ball 215 Times for 1,454 yards and 15 touchdowns. In 2003; Bell's senior season he rushed for 1,528 on 253 carries including a total of 19 touchdowns.

Professional career

Denver Broncos (first stint)

Bell was drafted in the second round with the 41st overall pick in the

, after attending

for four years and finishing 3rd on the school's all-time career rushing yards list. The Broncos originally acquired the pick along with cornerback Champ Bailey in a trade that sent

Clinton Portis Clinton Earl Portis (born September 1, 1981) is an American college football coach at Delaware State University and former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons. He played col ...

to the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

. He debuted with the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, and led all AFC

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience, a rookie is typically considered needing more tra ...

running backs in rushing yards. In

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

he was the second part of a dual running back system with Mike Anderson and rushed for 921 yards (gaining 5.3 yards per carry) and eight touchdowns. In 2006 Bell rushed for 1,025 yards and two touchdowns.

Detroit Lions

On March 1,

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, Bell was traded along with George Foster and a draft pick to the

for Dré Bly. On October 12, 2007, it was revealed that 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 did not demand a trade, but that he simply was disappointed in his diminishing role on the team. 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 The yard (symbol: yd) is an English unit of length in both the British imperial and US customary systems of measurement equalling 3 feet or 36 inches. Since 1959 it has been by international agreement standardized as exactly ...

and 15

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

. However, he was released by the Lions on September 1 after the team signed

Rudi Johnson. The following day Johnson accused Bell of stealing his luggage. Bell insisted, "it was just an honest mistake."

Denver Broncos (second stint)

Bell signed with the Broncos on November 11, 2008. (He had spent the previous three months working in the

T-Mobile T-Mobile is the brand of telecommunications by Deutsche Telekom Deutsche Telekom AG (, ; often just Telekom, DTAG or DT; stylised as ·T·) is a partially state-owned German telecommunications company headquartered in Bonn and the largest telec ...

store at

Town Center at Aurora The Town Center at Aurora (formerly known as Aurora Mall) is an enclosed, two-level Regional mall#Regional, regional shopping center located in Aurora, Colorado, Aurora, Colorado, and covers a leasable area over 1 million square feet. It lies a ...

.) He was not re-signed following the season.

Florida Tuskers

Bell was signed by the

of the United Football League on September 3, 2009. He wore #25. During the week of November 19 he ran for 365 yards and set a UFL record. He was released on August 24, 2010.

UFL records

* Most rushing yards in a single game: 365 (2009)

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

References

External links

Stats Crew profile

Twitter.com: @tspeedtx (Tatum Bell's Official Twitter Page)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Tatum 1981 births Living people Players of American football from Dallas American football running backs Oklahoma State Cowboys football players Denver Broncos players Detroit Lions players Florida Tuskers players Players of American football from DeSoto, Texas