JaMarcus Pleads Not JaGuilty

((HT: WALA-TV/Fox 10))

Former Oakland Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell has, naturally, pleaded not guilty to a charge of illegal drug possession in his hometown of Mobile, Alabama.

He is charged with felony possession of a controlled substance- codeine syrup.

Authorities have said he did not have a prescription for the drug and that he was arrested July 5 at his home as part of a two-month undercover investigation.

"He's upbeat," Russell's attorney, Donald Briskman said before the appearance in court. "He's looking forward to his day in court and getting this behind him. We fully expect he will be exonerated from these charges. That's exactly how I feel. I've had an opportunity within the last week to get some additional information which bolsters my feeling that he's ultimately going to be acquitted."

A hearing in his case was set for August 11th by Mobile District Court judge Charles McKnight.

Here's video of JaMarcus in the courtroom from this morning...
He's walking into, sitting in, and walking out of the courtroom...

Russell Arrest Part Of 2-Month Investigation

Monday's arrest of JaMarcus Russell for alleged possession of codeine syrup resulted from a two-month undercover operation that is still ongoing.

Mobile County ((AL)) Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Lori Myles says that the investigation wasn't targeting Russell, but that his name and home address had come up several times.

Russell was arrested Monday at his home and charged with "possession of a controlled substance." Myles says forensic tests to determine the amount of codeine syrup involved sometimes take 5-7 days...

Russell has a bond hearing tomorrow and his trial is scheduled for July 20.

Here's coverage of the arrest from Fox10 in Mobile...
Chasity Byrd got to stand in front of Russell's house...


"Sip-sip?"
The HQ knows that you've got to be kidding on this one...

BREAKING NEWS: Jamarcus Russell Jailed On Possession Charge

Former Oakland Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell ((pictured, thanks Mobile County Sheriff's Office)) has been charged with possession of a controlled substance -- codeine syrup -- after being arrested at his home around 5PM local time in his home town of Mobile, Alabama as part of an undercover narcotics investigation, said Mobile County Sheriff's spokeswoman Lori Myles.

Myles would not say what led to his arrest, but added Russell did not have a prescription for the codeine.

Russell was booked into the city jail and released soon afterward on $2,500 bond. Russell and his agent have not returned calls for comment.

All the above story does is give the HQ the chance to show this video of JaMarcus that we're quite fond of... when he sacks himself...
((HT: KTLA/NFL/Masterbaterification))


More when we know more...

BRREAKING NEWS: Raiders Release Russell

So it looks like it will be Jason Campbell and Bruce Gradkowski now for the starting job in Oakland...

In an interview with Josh Dubow, Oakland Senior executive John Herrera said JaMarcus Russell's three season are over and that "we wish him well."

The decision comes less than two weeks after Oakland acquired Jason Campbell from Washington.

Russell is definitely now in rare air: being considered the biggest draft bust in NFL history along with guys like Tony Mandarich and Ryan Leaf. He will have been paid more than $39 million by the Raiders in exchange for only seven wins- almost $6-million per victory... if our math is right...

He lost his starting job midway through last season to several other quarterbacks.

So, his Raiders history of being a rookie holdout, having poor work habits, being
overweight and not having a cast good enough to win will be with his pro football reputation.

He's got that going for him...
Here's the video of him sacking himself, just because we can show it again...
((HT: KTLA/NFL))


More when we know more...

JaMarcus Russell, Thanks For Playing.

JaMarcus Russell is going to be released by the Oakland Raiders any minute now. You can hear the collective "Thank God" for the Raider nation.

Russell had Al Davis on his side. The Godfather insisted that Russell was the second coming of Darryl Lamonica and Ken Stabler. Al hired a quarterback friendly head coach in Lane Kiffin to tutor Russell but even Kiffy-kins saw that JaMarcus Russell was soft, lazy and not leadership material. Kiffin tried to sell Al Davis on Calvin Johnson in the 2007 NFL Draft but Al Davis didn't see the second coming of Cliff Branch.

It didn't matter, Al Davis was head strong and stuck with JaMarcus Russell. Through his rookie year holdout to some god awful performances this was Al's guy. Even when backups Bruce Gradkowski and Charlie Frye outplayed Russell he still had the Godfather on his side.

After three years of ring kissing the Godfather has come to his senses by listening to his head coach, Tom Cable, who has no confidence in Russell. The Washington Redskins (coached by Mike Shanahan who the Godfather whacked 22 years ago) gave Al Davis an offer he couldn't refuse, a quarterback, Jason Campbell, that can start right away.

Now JaMarcus Russell is getting whacked.

Here's one of JaMarcus Russell's finer moments as a Raider. (Thanks Youtube.com)

Now Al Davis has to sign off for Russell to be released and hasn't done so yet. The Raiders have a mini-camp Friday and if Russell is still a Raider he might be there. If he gets hurt in the mini-camp the Raiders would be liable for his contract, about 9 million dollars in salary. So if Russell turns an ankle in a drill then......

And don't cry poverty for JaMarcus Russell. He's due $3 million in guaranteed salary this season which means Russell would have collected $39 million from the Raiders. Talk about stealing money.

Photo Courtesy: The Oakland Tribune

We were wrong...Hue Jackson goes to Oakland as OC

Count us among the confused. It appears that after interviewing for three days with the crazed Al Davis to be, we thought either Head Coach or Offensive Coordinator that Hue Jackson will be the second of the two choices. He was scheduled to interview withe the Chicago Bears for their open OC job today but cancelled and multiple reports have him taking the Raiders job.

Check out this report from the Chicago Tribune RIGHT HERE

Also, here is FOXSports' Jay Glazer's story RIGHT HERE

This is only worth reporting for a couple of reasons. One, we speculated that Jackson could end up the Head Coach in that bizarro world known as Oakland. It appears now that we were wrong. Two, it also appears that the thought of working with the underachieving JaMarcus Russell was more appealing than working with Jay Cutler who is developing a rather bad reputation very quickly.