Bell Glad to Put Up Without Shutting Up : Raiders: Former Ram happy to be away from Anaheim and label of malcontent.
Greg Bell, the new Raider tailback, reached out and grabbed the underthrown pass to score a touchdown as teammates and coaches stared in amazement during a drill at training camp.
Raider owner Al Davis, watching from the sidelines, thinks Bell’s catch was evidence that he made a good deal by acquiring the outspoken running back from the Rams in an off-season trade. The deal could be a steal if Bell produces as he did for the Rams, who reportedly got no higher than a fourth-round draft choice.
“I don’t know what they don’t like about him,” Davis said. “Maybe it’s us.”
Although Bell said he was misunderstood during his two seasons with the Rams and four previous years with the Buffalo Bills, Davis says he understands Bell, who alienated teammates and coaches in Anaheim and Buffalo by speaking his mind.
“Some of us are misunderstood,” Davis said. “It’s a free country. You can speak your mind.”
Does Bell think he was mistreated by the Rams, who unloaded him despite consecutive 1,000-yard seasons?
“No, because that’s the way the Rams generally treat everybody,” Bell said. “(Quarterback) Jim Everett is the exception. They treated him very nicely and he treated them very nicely.
“I don’t think they treated me any differently than they treat everyone else. Do I think they treat most of their players fairly? No, I don’t. They don’t treat you like Al Davis or (San Francisco 49er owner) Eddie DeBartolo. Heck, you can name every team. Even Green Bay treats their guys a lot better.”
Believing he was underpaid and unappreciated after gaining 2,349 yards and scoring 33 touchdowns in two seasons with the Rams, Bell asked to have his contract renegotiated after last season.
He held out for 36 days last summer before the Rams signed him to a two-year contract that paid him $475,000 in 1989. But instead of renegotiating, they traded him to the Raiders, who signed him to a reported one-year contract worth $850,000.
“Most people think the Rams told me, ‘We’re getting rid of you,’ ” Bell said. “They can say that, and people are going to believe them. I asked for a trade two years ago, and last February I went to the Rams and said I didn’t want to be there because they didn’t want to compensate me fairly.
“I didn’t ask for them to compensate me greatly. I just wanted them to compensate me fairly, based on what I’d done. And they said, ‘No way.’ ”
Bell thinks Ram executives John Shaw and Jay Zygmunt mishandled his contract negotiations.
“They (Shaw and Zygmunt) tried to demean Greg Bell,” Bell said. “I produced for them, but they never produced for me. I don’t hate John Shaw or Jay Zygmunt. I don’t trust them, but I don’t hate them. This has nothing to do with (Coach) John Robinson or the players. They were all class people. But the class stops on the field.”
Bell did not have kind words for Ram owner Georgia Frontiere, saying: “She told me things were going to work out for the best and she was right, because I’m not there anymore.
“But I really didn’t talk to Georgia that much. With the Raiders, Al Davis is right here with us. If he has something he wants to tell me that might improve something I’m doing, he tells me.”
The Raiders don’t care what Bell says off the field, as long as he produces as he did for the Rams in the last two seasons, when he rushed for 1,212 yards in 1988 and 1,137 yards in ’89. In fact, Bell said Davis has told him to speak freely.
And Bell loves to talk.
“People say I’m a malcontent,” Bell said. “But Mr. Davis has gotten guys like that before. My situation is a little different because I’m proven and I’ve been successful. I’ve been at the top and it’s not like they’re going to be rejuvenating my career. In this case, it may be a reversal because maybe I can help rejuvenate them.
“Being a malcontent is a title that every guy could get. If you ever told management, ‘No,’ one time, then you’re a malcontent. I never once heard ‘malcontent’ come out of John Robinson’s mouth. How management can know that I’m a malcontent is beyond me, since their office is in Beverly Hills and our office is in Anaheim.
“If I’m a malcontent at the bargaining table, then I can live with that, because some of the greatest people in this world are malcontents at the bargaining table because that’s bargaining. I’m never going to be the kind of guy that’s going to jump over a cliff because a management guy says there’s water down there. I’m going to be the one who’s going to look down. That’s the way I was raised. I’m not a fool and I don’t like being led like one.”
After Bell was traded to the Raiders, the Rams shed no tears. In fact, one player told The Times’ Chris Dufresne: “He wasn’t the kind of guy you’d want to have a beer with.”
Responded Bell: “I don’t drink, so why would I go to a bar to have beers? They make it sound like I didn’t get along with anybody, but you can go ask anybody and they’ll tell you it’s not true.”
Ron Brown, a Raider defensive back and also a former Ram who played with Bell, said: “Everybody on the (Rams) liked him.”
Asked if he thought he’d be as productive playing for the Raiders, with whom he doesn’t figure to get as many carries as he did with the Rams, Bell said: “People will try to weigh my production with the Raiders against the Rams, but these are two different systems. Here, you’re going to have to weigh my total package. Will I get 20-25 carries like I did with the Rams? There’s a possibility I might not, but I might touch the ball 25 times.
“The Rams wouldn’t throw (to me) because they thought I couldn’t catch the ball over the middle. I’ve got over 100 catches in my career and probably 80 came in 2 1/2 years in Buffalo. People who know football know that when Greg Bell was in a passing scheme where the running back was included, he caught the ball and produced yards. I’ve got great hands. I really believe in my hands.”
Joe Scannella, who coaches the Raider running backs, believes in Bell.
“I don’t know about Greg Bell’s history because I’m not interested,” Scannella said. “I’m only interested in watching him play, and when I watched him on film, he’s a productive player. He runs well and he’s got speed and he catches the ball well. From what I’ve seen so far, I’m pleased with our trade.”
Bell doesn’t think he’ll notice much difference running behind the Raiders’ offensive line after having the Rams’ All-Pros blocking for him.
“If you look at my career and weigh the two teams I’ve played for,” he said, “you’ll see that I’ve been productive behind what people said was no line (at Buffalo) and I was productive when I had a line (with the Rams).”
Bell will have more competition for his job on the Raiders, where he will battle Bo Jackson and Marcus Allen to start at tailback.
“I don’t think it’s a logjam,” Bell said. “Sure, I’d like to go out and lead the league in rushing and scoring but I’ve passed the time where most people thought I’d be out of this league, and I still don’t have a Super Bowl ring and that’s more important to me than being a star.”
Asked about the overabundance of tailbacks, Coach Art Shell said: “Eventually, one of them will have to start. Each of them will have an opportunity to make our football team. Everybody’s going to make a contribution.”
Raider Notes
Raider veterans are due in camp by 5 p.m. today. Will tailback Marcus Allen, who missed training camp last year because of a contract dispute, report on time? “I expect him to be here,” Coach Art Shell said. . . . Defensive tackle Mike Charles suffered a hip flexor injury in practice Thursday.