Plenty of negative things have been said about former number one overall pick Jamarcus Russell’s play at quarterback with the Oakland Raiders and his lack of work ethic, but no one had any reason to question his moral character. Until now that is. The former Raiders gunslinger was arrested and charged with the possession of a controlled substance in his Alabama home on Monday. Codeine syrup is the substance in question for Russell and when mixed with a soda such as Sprite it forms a concoction typically known as sip-sip. This particular beverage was just featured on an Outside the Lines piece done by ESPN recently and is said to give the user an altered feeling of consciousness. More »

0 Comments

With a number of offseason image problems plaguing the NFL from the Ben Roethlisberger scandal to the collective bargaining agreement being in limbo, the last thing that the league wanted was one its young up-and-coming stars to test positive for a banned substance. Unfortunately that is exactly what happened when Houston Texans linebacker and 2009 Rookie of the Year Brian Cushing was officially suspended for the first four games in the 2010 season after testing positive for a non-steroidal banned substance. It was revealed that Cushing appealed the failed test in February, but the NFL found that the test was legit and went ahead with the announcement to suspend Cushing. More »

0 Comments

The inevitable has finally turned into reality as the Oakland Raiders decided to officially cut ties with their former bust, errr 1st overall pick Jamarcus Russell on Thursday. Much of Russell’s pre-draft hype was a result of his phenomenal workout during which he threw a 60 yard pass from his knees and made the ball whistle through sound barriers. Raiders owner Al Davis has long been known as a sucker for the workout warriors and Russell won the heart of the old softee with his cannon arm and imposing physique.

Things really got off to a rocky start in Oakland for the number one overall selection as he held out for all of training camp and the opening weekend of the season after failing to reach a contract agreement with the team. His rookie campaign was brief considering he got little work with the team, but even years two and three were nothing to write home about as the strong armed signal caller has completed just 52.1 percent of his passes during his career. What has often been the most criticized aspect of the promising young player is his work ethic (or lack thereof) as Russell often arrived at camp out of shape and not at all ready to work on his craft.

There have been quarterbacks with difficult first chapters to their careers only to bounce back after a change of scenery and perhaps that can happen for Russell. At only 24 years of age, some team is going to take a chance on signing him to a league minimum deal and get him into camp for competition. One potential fit is with the Arizona Cardinals where the team is not sold on former 1st round selection Matt Leinart and the Derek Anderson signing certainly isn’t a long-term solution either. Many have also floated out the possibility of a landing with the Washington Redskins where there new head coach Mike Shanahan has done wonders with different quarterbacks in the past and could reinvigorate Russell’s work ethic learning behind Donovan McNabb for a year or two. Even the New England Patriots have been discussed as potential suitors where Bill Belichick is no stranger to reclamation projects and learning behind one of league’s best in Tom Brady could be a humbling experience for an athlete with tremendous potential.

All of there stops of possibilities, but none of them will be willing to bring Russell into the fold unless he shows some sense of understanding his past mistakes and willingness to correct those shortcomings. It will be a long road back to what was expected of him just three short years ago as the number one overall pick, but stranger things have happened. There is a ton of football left in Russell’s future if he chooses to rededicate himself and shows a selfless love for the game again as a competitor.

Picture Source

0 Comments

The end appears to be near for Oakland Raiders former number one overall pick Jamarcus Russell as the club appears ready to sever ties with the much maligned signal caller in the near future. There are plenty of comparisons for Russell who was highly touted after leaving the LSU Tigers a year early as a junior and hurling the ball 60-plus yards from his knees in workouts. None of the strong armed, gunslinger comparisons panned out at the next level, but now many liken Russell to the former San Diego Chargers bust Ryan Leaf. More »

0 Comments

It may be a bit premature to try and determine the winners and losers from this year’s NFL Draft, but that doesn’t stop the pundits nor myself from doing just that. With a number of teams trying to build for the future and turn their franchise histories around, the draft is the best way to go about doing just that. There are always a few teams that tend to excel more than others during the process and contrastingly there are a few franchises that just don’t seem to have a clue. This particular piece is going to focus on the positives and dissect just which teams had the best three days during the draft process and why. More »

0 Comments

With the draft now a three day televised spectacle showcasing more genuine human drama than any episode of Survivor or Amazing Race could ever possibly hope to provide, the extreme highs and lows need to be treated equally as surprise events. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell made the continuous trek to the podium to announce names during the first, second, and third rounds, but for some once projected first round talents those rounds just weren’t enough for them to hear their names called. More »

0 Comments

This is the NFL Draft’s 75th anniversary and one thing has remained constant throughout the evolution of the draft process; once one position starts to come off of the board, teams tend to go crazy and trip over one another to line up and snag the next available. That could very well be true for the offensive tackle spot in this year’s installment as there are a number of high quality tackles in the upper echelon of the class, but once they are all gone, teams might be left wishing they had made a move. More »

0 Comments

With the value of a good NFL kicker increasing with every “wide right” or “wide left,” the good kickers are almost impossible to find. With that being the case, the kickers who are considered to be the top kickers in the league are going to cash in big time. That point became even clearer this morning.
Sebastian Janikowski of the Oakland Raiders, who has been booming kicks with his left leg for ten seasons, just received the highest kicking contract in NFL history. The deal is a 4-year contract for $16 million, with $9 million guaranteed. More »

0 Comments

The Oakland Raiders had a end of season meeting yesterday and two notable players were absent: Richard Seymour and JaMarcus Russell. Coach Tom Cable told the press that Russell was excused for personal reasons, that’s fine. We learned from PFT.com (among other sources) that Russell was in Las Vegas. That’s a far cry from the “personal resons” excuse that Coach Cable gave. More »

1 Comment

The 2009 season hasn’t gone the way Baltimore would have liked. They expected to be atop the AFC North by this time of the season, but now, they are battling for their playoff lives. Despite all this, they can still wrap up a playoff spot today with a win over the Oakland Raiders. But we all know that Oakland can be a tough matchup depending on what team shows up, so lets not give this win to the Ravens just yet. More »

0 Comments