Raiders release JaMarcus Russell

[freddyg12]

If the nfl & players assoc. come up w/a rookie pay scale similar to the nba, don't be surprised if they call it the "JaMarcus rule." This guy is the poster child for the risk & systemic flaws of having a high draft pick. It may be hard to feel sorry for the raiders usually, but you kinda have to feel for them on this one.

I actually also feel sorry for JaMarcus. I know it's ultimately his fault he's fat & doesn't work hard, but he didn't make the raiders pick him at #1. He obviously was not ready for what he was getting into & he made it worse by not taking care of himself. I wondered if he was smart enough to be a qb the first time I heard him interviewed. Now I think the answer is no, he's not. Again, not his fault there, he can only make himself so much smarter.

I read somewhere that a raiders coach (or someone like that) said that it was sad how his family was such a bad influence on him. I don't ever recall hearing that about a player's family. It must be pretty bad for someone to say that. If it's true that he couldn't handle the bad influences around him, that's sad in itself, but worse if it's his family.

I wouldn't mind JaMarcus in b&g, but not as a qb. The only position I think he could transition to is a fullback/TE/H-back. Given time & coaching he might develop into a decent player in a role where the spotlight isn't on him. Don't get me wrong, his chances of making any team in any role seem very bleak at the moment.

Right now I agree w/Matty, he might be better off taking a year to train.