Not to pile on Raiders destined to be released quarterback JaMarcus Russell, but allow me to pile on. Russell has taken heat for spending “more time in the jewelry store than the film room” and for being the biggest bust this side of Ryan Leaf, but even more details to his flakiness were revealed over the weekend. The San Francisco Chronicle via Rotoworld has some details on Russell as revealed in an episode of Outside the Lines:
One anonymous ex-coach calls Russell a “binge eater”
Jon Ritchie, a former Raider who didn’t play with Russell, said he heard that Russell fell asleep in meetings. Former teammate Dominic Rhodes verified that, and it also came out the Russell would sometimes take breaks from meetings, forget to come back and need to be fetched. “I don’t think he has the mindset to be great,” Rhodes said.
That last quote from Rhodes is like the understatement of the century. The surprise isn’t what these people said but rather the reports over the weekend that Russell was the best looking quarterback at Oakland’s minicamp (after the first day). At least that’s some good news; you figure if Russell had any modicum of pride he’d be out to prove everybody wrong. I sure hope so.
Sources:
Ex-teammates rip JaMarcus [San Francisco Chronicle]
