Oakland Raiders: The Story of JaMarcus Russell and the Blank DVD
By Eric He
Courtesy: Off The Record Sports
With OTAs ending on Thursday and this being a slow news day, I thought it would be interesting to tell a story about JaMarcus Russell, the biggest draft bust in NFL history.
It’s a brief story, but it shows a lot about the lack of motivation and dedication that Russell had during his years with Oakland Raiders.
Like all teams, the Raiders sent game-plan DVDs of opponents before each game to Russell for him to study at home. Eventually, the coaches became suspicious that he was not watching the tapes and skipping out on his homework.
So one week, they sent him a completely blank DVD, with nothing on it. When they asked him what he thought of the game-plan the following day, Russell said that it looked good.
The story was first published in the San Francisco Chronicle in 2011, and was reiterated this week by Rich Eisen in his podcast. Eisen credited the account to Warren Sapp, a teammate of Russell’s on the Raiders.
Sometimes, it’s the smallest things that make the biggest difference.
What kind of starting NFL quarterback doesn’t even bother to watch film or study the gameplan before each game?
The answer? A quarterback who isn’t motivated, doesn’t care and is named JaMarcus Russell.