JaMarcus Russell seeking redemption. Will work for free.

[ReMeDy]

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000656168/article/jamarcus-russell-clinging-to-nfl-comeback-dream

The dream is still alive ladies and gents. Last year, he sent letters to all 32 teams, saying he would do anything, including join the scout team, and work for free. Of course, if he works for free, he won't have enough money to eat, meaning he will lose weight -- smart man.

[IinD]

Is he even considered nfl news??

 

Bro, go away and try to do something else with your time because you blew any NFL job opportunity years ago (player or organization wise).

 

Just stop man....it's over

[Clem-Dog]

Suddenly the light comes on and he cares about football?  Russell is obviously desperate.  

[crazycolt1]

I wonder if his new found desire to re enter football has anything to do with his bank account?

[MPStack]

How do you spell thief in the dictionary? JaMarcus Russell. Just ask the Raiders!

[Buck Showalter]

Hey, the Colts need o-line help right???

 

j/k...

[Coffeedrinker]

1 hour ago, MPStack said:

How do you spell thief in the dictionary? JaMarcus Russell. Just ask the Raiders!

Why?  He didn't ask the Raiders to draft him, they did that on their own.  Nor did he force them to pay him $70+ million, that was his agent.

[MPStack]

Just now, Coffeedrinker said:

Why?  He didn't ask the Raiders to draft him, they did that on their own.  Nor did he force them to pay him $70+ million, that was his agent.

 

Really? 

[Coffeedrinker]

Just now, MPStack said:

Really? 

Really, what?

 

[MPStack]

Just now, Coffeedrinker said:

Really, what?

 

 

So he`s the victim? He didn`t force them to draft him, but they did and he didn`t have to work hard?????? Wow! I`m speechless.

[Coffeedrinker]

Just now, MPStack said:

So he`s the victim? He didn`t force them to draft him, but they did and he didn`t have to work hard?????? Wow! I`m speechless.

I always like the blue herring response or the reductio ad absurdum response.

 

Nope, I didn't say he was a victim, nor did I say anything about his work ethic.  Just said he is not a thief.

 

A thief is someone who steals something from someone without their prior knowledge.  All parties went into signing Russell with their eyes wide open.

[Jules]

Finally, the answer is here for the Broncos post Manning QB woes.

 

 

[shakedownstreet]

they could have him sell cheeseburgers in the stands

[oldunclemark]

There's a place for Jamarcus Russell.

 

Its called the Canada...the CFL

[King Colt]

Any time anyone says they will work for free it has to be taken as their own personal view of their worth in dollars.

[Valpo2004]

On 4/27/2016 at 0:52 PM, crazycolt1 said:

I wonder if his new found desire to re enter football has anything to do with his bank account?

 

Pretty sure he's been trying to convince someone to sign him for several years now.  

 

I remember years ago he was putting out workout videos and had been working with a trainer and I guess he had lost some weight.  

 

Not saying that he's worth anyone's time but this isn't just some recent thing.  To me it seems like he almost wants to redeem himself in some ways and I sort of feel sorry for him that he won't get that chance.  

 

A lot of people talk about people getting 2nd chances, usually when it comes to a player who has broken the law.  And most people are willing to give players who broke the law a 2nd chance.

 

But as far as I know Russell never even broke the law.  He was just overweight and perhaps didn't work as hard as he should. . . 

 

Terrible message IMO.  Steal something or beat someone up and people are all about 2nd chances.  Not work as hard as you could have or try as hard as you could have at something and want a 2nd chance and everyone says "Go away loser"

 

Not saying it's cool to be a lazy player.  But treating laziness as being something more contemptible then some of the crimes that NFL players have committed and gotten 2nd chances from is both flat out stupid and sad. 

[crazycolt1]

44 minutes ago, Valpo2004 said:

 

Pretty sure he's been trying to convince someone to sign him for several years now.  

 

I remember years ago he was putting out workout videos and had been working with a trainer and I guess he had lost some weight.  

 

Not saying that he's worth anyone's time but this isn't just some recent thing.  To me it seems like he almost wants to redeem himself in some ways and I sort of feel sorry for him that he won't get that chance.  

 

A lot of people talk about people getting 2nd chances, usually when it comes to a player who has broken the law.  And most people are willing to give players who broke the law a 2nd chance.

 

But as far as I know Russell never even broke the law.  He was just overweight and perhaps didn't work as hard as he should. . . 

 

Terrible message IMO.  Steal something or beat someone up and people are all about 2nd chances.  Not work as hard as you could have or try as hard as you could have at something and want a 2nd chance and everyone says "Go away loser"

 

Not saying it's cool to be a lazy player.  But treating laziness as being something more contemptible then some of the crimes that NFL players have committed and gotten 2nd chances from is both flat out stupid and sad. 

I think it has to do more with the general attitude of coaches don't think he can read defenses. He may very well be physically able to play football be will he ever have the ability to read defenses is the question. Also does he have the ability to hit a receiver? That is one of the problems he had when he did play. If you remember he threw a lot of passes that landed 5-10 yards from anyone on the field. He had more than his share of "who was he throwing the ball to" said after he did throw the ball.

[Valpo2004]

57 minutes ago, crazycolt1 said:

I think it has to do more with the general attitude of coaches don't think he can read defenses. He may very well be physically able to play football be will he ever have the ability to read defenses is the question. Also does he have the ability to hit a receiver? That is one of the problems he had when he did play. If you remember he threw a lot of passes that landed 5-10 yards from anyone on the field. He had more than his share of "who was he throwing the ball to" said after he did throw the ball.

 

Maybe. . . but high draft picks that get cut just for sucking usually get another shot somewhere, at least as a backup for minimum money.

 

I mean even Leaf who had problems that went well beyond just laziness got chances with the Bucs, Cowboys, and Seahawks before just giving up and quitting through his own decision.  

 

Even after that he got a chance to be a QB coach at Texas A&M but was fired for asking a player for pain meds.  

 

All Russell got in terms of 2nd chances was a single tryout from the Bears in 2013.  

 

I'm not saying he's any good but I don't understand the hostility towards a guy who seems to me to really be trying to redeem himself and also was not ever known for any criminal behavior.  (I read on Wikipedia he was arrested once for possession of a prescription drug without a prescription but a grand jury declined to indict him for it.)

 

In all honesty I'd rather the Colts pick him up then stick with Scott freaking Tolzien as Andrew Luck's backup.  

 

Quite frankly I don't understand how there can be some pretty gosh darn terrible backups still hanging around the league today but guys like Russell can't get a backup job.  

 

No question Russell was terrible.  But ask yourself if his stats are really all that worse then Scott Tolzien.  

[jvan1973]

33 minutes ago, Valpo2004 said:

 

Maybe. . . but high draft picks that get cut just for sucking usually get another shot somewhere, at least as a backup for minimum money.

 

I mean even Leaf who had problems that went well beyond just laziness got chances with the Bucs, Cowboys, and Seahawks before just giving up and quitting through his own decision.  

 

Even after that he got a chance to be a QB coach at Texas A&M but was fired for asking a player for pain meds.  

 

All Russell got in terms of 2nd chances was a single tryout from the Bears in 2013.  

 

I'm not saying he's any good but I don't understand the hostility towards a guy who seems to me to really be trying to redeem himself and also was not ever known for any criminal behavior.  (I read on Wikipedia he was arrested once for possession of a prescription drug without a prescription but a grand jury declined to indict him for it.)

 

In all honesty I'd rather the Colts pick him up then stick with Scott freaking Tolzien as Andrew Luck's backup.  

 

Quite frankly I don't understand how there can be some pretty gosh darn terrible backups still hanging around the league today but guys like Russell can't get a backup job.  

 

No question Russell was terrible.  But ask yourself if his stats are really all that worse then Scott Tolzien.  

Leaf was a volunteer qb coach at West Texas A&M

 

 And tolzien is a much better option as the backup qb over russell.

[Valpo2004]

50 minutes ago, jvan1973 said:

Leaf was a volunteer qb coach at West Texas A&M

 

 And tolzien is a much better option as the backup qb over russell.

 

Really?  

 

Scott Tolzien 1 TD and 5 INT's in his 1 year with any significant playing time.  Russell had a better ratio then that the year he got benched.  

 

 

[jvan1973]

42 minutes ago, Valpo2004 said:

 

Really?  

 

Scott Tolzien 1 TD and 5 INT's in his 1 year with any significant playing time.  Russell had a better ratio then that the year he got benched.  

 

 

That has nothing to do with being a backup qb.  They have a lot more responsibility than just coming in if the starter goes down.    

 

I would have rather kept Freeman,   but the team had other plans. 

[Valpo2004]

21 hours ago, jvan1973 said:

That has nothing to do with being a backup qb.  They have a lot more responsibility than just coming in if the starter goes down.    

 

I would have rather kept Freeman,   but the team had other plans. 

 

To be honest I would have rather kept Freeman if I knew that his replacement was going to be Tolzien.  

 

I was advocating not sticking with Freeman because I thought we could do better then Freeman.  But the guy we picked up certainly wasn't better then Freeman.

[Track Guy]

On May 6, 2016 at 0:02 PM, Valpo2004 said:

 

To be honest I would have rather kept Freeman if I knew that his replacement was going to be Tolzien.  

 

I was advocating not sticking with Freeman because I thought we could do better then Freeman.  But the guy we picked up certainly wasn't better then Freeman.

 

I kind of think there will be someone significantly better than Tolzien who gets cut before the season. Like, what if we landed someone like Nick Foles as a backup? I consider that a sizable upgrade.

[Valpo2004]

1 hour ago, Track Guy said:

 

I kind of think there will be someone significantly better than Tolzien who gets cut before the season. Like, what if we landed someone like Nick Foles as a backup? I consider that a sizable upgrade.

 

I would certainly go with that if Grigson does that.  

 

I had also thought that a UDFA or Morris might beat out Tolzien.  

 

Cause if Tolzien is our backup and he has to start any games you might as well just pencil in any game he has to start as a loss.

[Coffeedrinker]

On 5/5/2016 at 1:05 PM, Valpo2004 said:

 

Maybe. . . but high draft picks that get cut just for sucking usually get another shot somewhere, at least as a backup for minimum money.

 

I mean even Leaf who had problems that went well beyond just laziness got chances with the Bucs, Cowboys, and Seahawks before just giving up and quitting through his own decision.  

 

Even after that he got a chance to be a QB coach at Texas A&M but was fired for asking a player for pain meds.  

 

All Russell got in terms of 2nd chances was a single tryout from the Bears in 2013.  

 

I'm not saying he's any good but I don't understand the hostility towards a guy who seems to me to really be trying to redeem himself and also was not ever known for any criminal behavior.  (I read on Wikipedia he was arrested once for possession of a prescription drug without a prescription but a grand jury declined to indict him for it.)

 

In all honesty I'd rather the Colts pick him up then stick with Scott freaking Tolzien as Andrew Luck's backup.  

 

Quite frankly I don't understand how there can be some pretty gosh darn terrible backups still hanging around the league today but guys like Russell can't get a backup job.  

 

No question Russell was terrible.  But ask yourself if his stats are really all that worse then Scott Tolzien.  

Good points in this post Valpo.  I will say, I don't care if a team gives Russell another shot, nor if the Colts want to give him another shot.  And I agree he is probably a better backup than Tolzien.  That being said, teams will give 2nd chances to players they think can help them win and it would appear that most don't think Russell can do that.

And no matter how much weight he has lost, that won't help with his poor decision making and poor throws that plagued him throughout his college and NFL career.

[ReMeDy]

 

On May 5, 2016 at 2:05 PM, Valpo2004 said:

Quite frankly I don't understand how there can be some pretty gosh darn terrible backups still hanging around the league today but guys like Russell can't get a backup job.  

 

From what I read, he has sleep apnea, so that may have scared teams away from him.

Another story I read that may or may not have been a joke is a fairly popular one, but if true, makes him a chronic liar. They say one of his Oakland coaches was suspicious he wasn't watching tape like he was supposed to. Russell kept denying it, saying he was watching the tapes. As a test, the coach gave him a blank tape, but didn't tell Russell it was blank. The next day, he asked Russell if the tape was helpful. Russell said yes.

 

The coaches and their inner circles are so secretive about player evaluations, so we may never know the full truth what is keeping teams away from Russell until he's maybe 50 years old and writes an autobiography, or something. Or Lane Kiffin goes on another frustrated tangent about Russell.

[Valpo2004]

15 hours ago, ReMeDy said:

 

 

From what I read, he has sleep apnea, so that may have scared teams away from him.

Another story I read that may or may not have been a joke is a fairly popular one, but if true, makes him a chronic liar. They say one of his Oakland coaches was suspicious he wasn't watching tape like he was supposed to. Russell kept denying it, saying he was watching the tapes. As a test, the coach gave him a blank tape, but didn't tell Russell it was blank. The next day, he asked Russell if the tape was helpful. Russell said yes.

 

The coaches and their inner circles are so secretive about player evaluations, so we may never know the full truth what is keeping teams away from Russell until he's maybe 50 years old and writes an autobiography, or something. Or Lane Kiffin goes on another frustrated tangent about Russell.

 

All that may be true from his time in Oakland.  But it's like I said before. . . we talk about how guys deserve a 2nd chance right after they just got arrested for stealing something or drunk driving or beating someone up.  

 

But if you are lazy like Russell was then for some reason there are no 2nd chances.  

 

Listen I'm not saying that being lazy and not doing your job as a football player by watching tape is in any way a good thing.  But being a lazy football player never endangered someone's life or put them in the hospital.  

[HarryTheCat]

On 5/5/2016 at 2:24 AM, oldunclemark said:

There's a place for Jamarcus Russell.

 

Its called the Canada...the CFL

 

A more appropriate place for Jamarcus would be a job as Quality Control Taster at Krispy Kreme.

[jvan1973]

On 5/20/2016 at 9:29 AM, Valpo2004 said:

 

All that may be true from his time in Oakland.  But it's like I said before. . . we talk about how guys deserve a 2nd chance right after they just got arrested for stealing something or drunk driving or beating someone up.  

 

But if you are lazy like Russell was then for some reason there are no 2nd chances.  

 

Listen I'm not saying that being lazy and not doing your job as a football player by watching tape is in any way a good thing.  But being a lazy football player never endangered someone's life or put them in the hospital.  

Guys who get second and third chances are talented football players.   Russell isn't

[Lucky Colts Fan]

On ‎5‎/‎5‎/‎2016 at 11:12 AM, King Colt said:

Any time anyone says they will work for free it has to be taken as their own personal view of their worth in dollars.

 

Yeah, this guy isn't in college just trying to get experience by working an internship for free, he kind of already did that as the QB at LSU.  He is trying to play in the NFL, one of the highest paying jobs in the world, and is willing to do so for free?

 

There are less risky jobs he could do for more money, so this begs the question...

 

Is Jamarcus Russell of sound mind?  Because if he just needs the money, there are easier ways.  But if he just wants to be an NFL QB that badly, what took him so long to figure that out?  Smells fishy to me...