There is no denying that Ja'Marcus Russell will go down as one of the biggest draft busts in all of sports history, but that won't stop me from defending him. He may have had a bad accuracy percentage and a little turnover problem, but what he did do is create himself as a legend. Stories told about him by his former teammates and coaches are still discussed and entertain us to this day.
For those of you who don't know who Ja'Marcus Russell is, he was the number one overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft. He was a very touted draft prospect because of his talent during his time with the LSU Tigers, not to mention his 6'5, 265 lb. body. Many of the league's top coaches and draft experts said that Ja'Marcus had one of the best NFL combine performances of all time because of the arm talent and strength he showed. A lot of people said they would have taken Ja'Marcus Russell if they had the No. 1 overall pick in that year's draft as well. Russell didn't play much his rookie season, and when it came time for him to start, he didn't live up to the expectations and was out of the NFL in just three seasons.
Sure, you can look at the stats and say he's terrible at the whole NFL thing, but what is the NFL at its very core? It's an entertainment company and a television show. Instead of episodes, they are called "games," and instead of a season finale, it is called a "Super Bowl." The NFL's whole purpose is to entertain fans, and that is exactly what Ja'Marcus Russell did.
An old teammate of Russell's told a story about how after his infamous contract holdout throughout all of mini-camp and the preseason, the Raiders finally caved and gave him a lucrative rookie contract (this was before the rookie max deal ... thanks Sam Bradford.) On the first day Ja'Marcus was officially an Oakland Raider, he walked into a meeting in front of his whole team and pulled a fat stack of cash out of a bag and made it rain on his team. As I said, entertainment.
I don't know about you, but that is the biggest baller move I have ever heard of! That is something the HBO show "Ballers" would write for a plot point. I can't say that I have ever seen a baller move like that. The closest I have personally seen was my college freshman year when a running back showed up an hour late to a film session by knocking on the door, walking in still lazy-eyed from his nap, sat down, and plugged in his hand-held massager while the coach went over the game plan. This doesn't compare to making it rain cash, but what does? So, the stones on this man to show up, after being a no-show all summer, getting paid millions of dollars and them making is rain like he was at a titty bar is gold.
People also shit on Russell for not adapting to defenses, not knowing plays and for learning the Raiders playbook on Madden (but honestly, who can say that Madden hasn't helped them understand football a little bit better). Yeah, these are actual gripes, but maybe Ja'Marcus Russell just realized, "Fuck, I play for the Oakland Raiders. I can study seven hundred hours of game film, adapt to any situation, and we will still lose week in and week out." Remember, this was during the time when the Raiders were the laughing stock of the NFL, even before they drafted him.
People always want to crap on this man for his playing career, but what about outside of football? He is actually a very charitable person. He let people stay in his apartment during Hurricane Katrina. He paid for peoples' Thanksgiving meals. He has paid for renovations to his church, and he has supplied books and sports uniforms for schools. In a time where it seems like if anyone does a good deed they have to post about it on social media, Ja'Marcus decided to keep it between himself and the people he helps. I respect that.
You can say Ja'Marcus Russell is a bust, but the fact is that Russell was drafted to a shit team with a head coach who reportedly did not want him in the first place. At the end of the day, he got a big pay day and he helps his community. Isn't that what all athletes strive for when their career is over?
At least is he is no Nathan Peterman.
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