For whom does the Bell roll? For Denver. It's Tatum Bell we're talking about. He's wrested the starting running back job from upstart rookie Mike Bell and the 25-year-old is doing significant work for the 3-1 Broncos with 387 yards on 77 carries (5.0 average). Explosive (4.2 40 time) and hard-working, Bell is not too fast to outrun Tom Curran's Irrelevant Questions.

Q: Do you feel badly for the Raiders?
TB: I know how things can be sometimes when you're on a team that has talent and you can't get things to go right. Honestly, all I can do is worry about us. Believe me, we are not sleeping on them. They have talent

Q: Your brother T.J. is a corner at Oklahoma State. What advice do you give him?
TB: All I do is encourage him. When he came out to OSU he knew all the players because he used to stay with me every summer so fortunately he didn't go down there with a big head. But he doesn't listen to me for advice because he doesn't think I know anything about defense.

Q: Four players from DeSoto are in the NFL -- aside from you there's Ellis Hobbs of the Patriots, Patrick Crayton of the Cowboys, Marcus Tubbs of the Seahawks and Anthony Schlegel of the Jets. What's in the water down there?
TB: We just have a ton of talent down there. If everyone went to high school in DeSoto we'd be No. 1 in the country every year. It starts in Pop Warner down there.

Q: How often do you use your status as an NFL player to get stuff?
TB: I've never done that. If someone recognizes me and wants me to cut the line at a club or give me a good seat in a restaurant, I might take it but I wouldn't seek it. We're just regular people just like everyone else. We just play football.

Q: Were you a good trick-or-treater or a bad one?
TB: I was good. I enjoyed it too much not to be.

Q: Anything you were scared of as a little kid?
TB: The boogeyman. But everyone was scared of the boogeyman.

Q: What time was lights out when you were a kid?
TB: I pretty much went to bed whenever I wanted to.

Q: Are you a late sleeper now?
TB: Nooo. I have a little girl that's 10 months and I can't even take a nap during the day anymore. Plus I've been getting up early for the past four or five years. I'm just conditioned to.

Q: What percentage of sportswriters do you think you could beat in the 40-yard dash -- while running backwards?
TB: The ones up here in Denver, I could probably beat all of them.

Q: What kind of car would never, ever buy?
TB: That little SUV. Not a Cooper. I can't think of the name but it's a little SUV. It's just about the ugliest car I've ever seen.

Q: What is character?
TB: How people see you. How you carry yourself. I try to carry myself the best way possible on and off the field especially around little kids. Being a role model is important to me.

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