JaMarcus Russell Works in Houston for 2nd Chance In NFL

[Kulluminatii]

Full article at http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/spor...-chance-in-nfl

HOUSTON - Former Oakland Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell remains confident in his ability, convinced he will get a second chance in the NFL and remains committed to turning his football career around when he spoke with FOX 26 Sports Wednesday in Houston.

Russell has been working for the past two and a half months with former NBA head coach John Lucas in Houston.

As a player in the NBA Lucas had his own share of issues and has developed a tremendous track record for helping troubled athletes get back on track.

"He said he saw the devil and been back," Russell said. "Anybody that can get themselves out of that situation I think can go and tell me about it and warn me from the things he did done wrong and make sure I don't make those same mistakes.

"He came to Mobile, Alabama, take time out of his schedule just to come get little old me. I kind of say he's like my angel. God brought him to me."

The Raiders released Russell in May after three unsuccessful seasons in which he compiled a 7-18 record as a starting quarteback.

"I went and got him," Lucas said in an interview with FOX 26 Sports. "What I saw in him was me 33 years ago when I was out (playing in the NBA) in Golden State. "His troubles started there and so did mine after I left the Houston Rockets.

"I saw a lot of common denominators. We were both number one (overall draft) picks, but JaMarcus is working hard and doing really good."

One blip on Russell's radar concerns his arrest in Alabama in July for possession of codeine, a controlled substance.

However during a hearing in August a friend of Russell's took responsibility for mixing a drink with codeine that was found in Russell's home.

To date no one connected to the case has been indicted.

"That's something that's long gone," Russell said. "Guys in the NFL that came back had some things more serious than that. I think that's a minor setback."

All I can really say is I wish he had this type of dedication going into the NFL. He would have never been in this position had he been dedicated to playing professional football and improving himself as a quarterback. I think the guy should give the UFL a shot to show that he is dedicated to football, not money, and that he still has potential. It seems like he is hellbent on playing in the NFL, and only in the NFL...and I can't really bring myself to wish him well, but I do hope he at least gets a shot.

He does look considerably slimmer in this video.

[Rey]

I forgot he even existed.

[Kulluminatii]

Originally Posted by Rey

I forgot he even existed.

Well he does, and he is in Houston...and your guys' backup QBs suck...and if Matt Schaub ever goes down....




...you guys see where I'm going with this right?

[Rey]

Originally Posted by Kulluminatii

Well he does, and he is in Houston...and your guys' backup QBs suck...and if Matt Schaub ever goes down Kubiak will re-activate himself before he puts Russell on the field..

Finished it for ya'...

[DexmanC]

Interview Lady: "There are 32 teams in the NFL..."

Jamarcus: "31."

[Kulluminatii]

Originally Posted by Rey

Finished it for ya'...

But...but...Kubes can't throw a ball 70 yards on his knees!!!

The dude has a chip on his shoulder, thats for sure. When asked by the reporter what he would say to the 32 teams out there about how he's changed, he "corrected" her and said 31 .

[Goatcheese]

I get the impression he's not a Raiders fan.

[Kulluminatii]

Originally Posted by Goatcheese

I get the impression he's not a Raiders fan.

Hell, he should be our #1 fan after all that cash we gave him for doing practically nothing .

[phantom17]

Originally Posted by Kulluminatii

Hell, he should be our #1 fan after all that cash we gave him for doing practically nothing .

I feel your pain!

[powerfuldragon]

john lucas is one of hte nicest guys you'll ever meet. good luck to JaMarcus Russell.

[Señor Stan]

Well the Texans did work out Defensive Tackles yesterday....maybe he's on to something...

[Thorn]

If Russell gets his head togeather, and thats a very big IF, he could be a player. There have been stranger things happen in the NFL than Russell making a come back. Just stack this one on the "I'll believe it when I see it" file.

[thunderkyss]

People are different.

Some people play football their whole lives, because they're good at it. They are treated special if they are really good, from a very early age. Can you imagine the life of the starting QB at the leading party school in the USA?

So imagine being treated uber "special" & then getting millions upon millions to be treated uber "special" on a whole other level.

Around the high school age.. definitely during the college years, football becomes a means to support a certain lifestyle. I don't fault guys who enter the NFL for the money. Not even a guy like Jamarcus. I don't respect them or anything, but you definitely won't hear one condescending remark from me.

But he was able to continue that "party" life after college because of the money he was given, & just like in college, he really didn't have to do much to get it. I don't think he was a guy who played the game, because he wanted to prove anything, to be known as one of the best, to win a championship, to lead a team...

If he's got something to prove & wants back in, I'll watch & cheer him on. But if wants to come back because his nest egg is drying up... I won't have to watch long.

[BigBull17]

Originally Posted by Kulluminatii

But...but...Kubes can't throw a ball 70 yards on his knees!!!

The dude has a chip on his shoulder, thats for sure. When asked by the reporter what he would say to the 32 teams out there about how he's changed, he "corrected" her and said 31 .

Cause a 70 yard bomb from your knees is a great NFL skill...Al Davis is a nut, BTW.

[silvrhand]

I saw the interview last night on inside the NFL.

- still won't admit to drug usage
- still doesn't or won't admit what went wrong with his NFL career
- refuses to play in the UFL
- refuses to play anything but QB..

Again the guy is shutting out all avenues of showing that he's committed to doing whatever it takes to play the game he says he wants to play...

[BIG TORO]

Originally Posted by Kulluminatii

But...but...Kubes can't throw a ball 70 yards on his knees!!!

The dude has a chip on his shoulder, thats for sure. When asked by the reporter what he would say to the 32 teams out there about how he's changed, he "corrected" her and said 31 .

That right threse shows me he had'nt changed much! If he had changed he would have recognized that the Raiders wanted and picked him number one over all, Invested alot of time and money on him and he threw it all away. If he had changed he would recognize he screwed up not the raiders and maybe he would show some respect for a team who once believed in him.

[HOU-TEX]

The dude makes Vince Young look like a Rhodes Scholar by how dumb he is. IMO, an NFL QB must have the brains to be successful. Russell is a moron with a few talents that will end up wasted due to not taking advantage of yet another free ride for an athlete through College.

*Disclaimer: Dunno if I made sense or not, don't care. Got too much on my mind right now

[Kulluminatii]

Originally Posted by BigBull17

Cause a 70 yard bomb from your knees is a great NFL skill...Al Davis is a nut, BTW.

Can't say I disagree with you. I wasn't into CFB back in '07 when Russell was drafted, so I'm not sure if people expected Russell to be a #1 pick or if it was just Davis being Davis and reaching for a project player. What I do know is the Raiders skipped on players like Calvin Johnson, Adrian Peterson & Patrick Willis.

Originally Posted by BIG TORO

That right threse shows me he had'nt changed much! If he had changed he would have recognized that the Raiders wanted and picked him number one over all, Invested alot of time and money on him and he threw it all away. If he had changed he would recognize he screwed up not the raiders and maybe he would show some respect for a team who once believed in him.

I partly blame the Raiders for what happened with Russell. Like thunderkyss said, Russell has been treated differently throughout his entire life...and that didn't change when he was in Oakland. The guy was given an extremely long leash and he had a different set of rules set aside for him than the rest of the team. I'm pretty sure the Raiders knew about his codeine addiction, but they kept it a secret. When JaMarcus would show up late for practice, the Raiders would make an excuse. The guy was heavily spoiled in a dysfunctional organization that was desperate to find their next franchise QB.

Originally Posted by HOU-TEX

The dude makes Vince Young look like a Rhodes Scholar by how dumb he is. IMO, an NFL QB must have the brains to be successful. Russell is a moron with a few talents that will end up wasted due to not taking advantage of yet another free ride for an athlete through College.

Well, judging by the guys' wonderlic scores, he's "smarter" than quite a few NFL QBs.

40 - Alex Smith
39 - Aaron Rogers
39 - Eli Manning
38 - Charlie Frye
37 - Tony Romo
36 - Drew Bledsoe
35 - Matt Leinart
35 - Kellen Clemens
33 - Tom Brady
33 - Steve Young
32 - Joey Harrington
32 - Patrick Ramsey
32 - Sage Rosenfels
31 - J.P. Losman
31 - Matt Schaub
30 - Phillip Rivers
29 - Brady Quinn
29 - Rex Grossman
29 - Marc Bulger
29 - Matt Hasselbeck
29 - Troy Aikman
29 - John Elway
28 - Drew Brees
28 - Peyton Manning
27 - Kyle Boller
27 - Ryan Leaf
26 - Jay Cutler
26 - Kyle Orton
26 - Carson Palmer
26 - Akili Smith
25 - Ben Roethlisberger
25 - Byron Leftwich
25 - Chad Pennington
24 - JaMarcus Russell
24 - David Carr
23 - Jason Campbell
22 - Tim Couch
22 - Trent Dilfer
22 - Brett Favre
20 - Michael Vick
19 - Tarvaris Jackson
19 - Bruce Gradkowski
19 - Derek Anderson
19 - A.J. Feeley
18 - Daunte Culpepper
17 - Aaron Brooks
17 - Vinny Testeverde
16 - Vince Young (6 on first try)
15 - Steve McNair
15 - Randall Cunningham
15 - Dan Marino
15 - Terry Bradshaw
14 - David Garrard
14 - Donovan McNabb
11 - Marcus Vick
10 - Jeff George
8 - Chris Leak

I'm guessing its his southern drawl that makes him sound dumber than he actually is. Then again, these scores don't mean much at all when it comes to playing QB in the NFL, as you can see by some of the great QBs who scored lower than Russell.

[BigBull17]

Originally Posted by Kulluminatii

Can't say I disagree with you. I wasn't into CFB back in '07 when Russell was drafted, so I'm not sure if people expected Russell to be a #1 pick or if it was just Davis being Davis and reaching for a project player. What I do know is the Raiders skipped on players like Calvin Johnson, Adrian Peterson & Patrick Willis.



I partly blame the Raiders for what happened with Russell. Like thunderkyss said, Russell has been treated differently throughout his entire life...and that didn't change when he was in Oakland. The guy was given an extremely long leash and he had a different set of rules set aside for him than the rest of the team. I'm pretty sure the Raiders knew about his codeine addiction, but they kept it a secret. When JaMarcus would show up late for practice, the Raiders would make an excuse. The guy was heavily spoiled in a dysfunctional organization that was desperate to find their next franchise QB.


.

Yeah, there was very good talent in the top of that draft, sadly we passed some ourselves for the 14 year old "phoneme" Amobi Zerokoye. They never had a good coaching network, never held him accountable for anything, and he wasn't #1 overall pick material.

[Goatcheese]

Originally Posted by Señor Stan

Well the Texans did work out Defensive Tackles yesterday....maybe he's on to something...

He's too slow and lacks the upfield quickness to play in our scheme.