JaMarcus Russell looks trim and ready to play after years of being overweight and out of the NFL and he is hoping that a team will give him a chance after he tried out earlier in the offseason with the Chicago Bears, but so far not too many teams have been interested.
CLICK here to see the weight difference.
He has lost at least 51 pounds and looks much like he did when he was drafted. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network said on Tuesday's Total Access that there is heavy interest from some teams about Russell, but those teams do not want to be out in public. One of the main reasons why they do not is due to the possible media machine descending on that team, meaning they may have a young quarterback there (Jets anyone?) and Rapoport compared that possibility to the issues surrounding Tim Tebow.
Russell at one point was over 300 pounds and reports say that he has slimmed down to 265 after working out all offseason with Jeff Garcia and he is hoping to get the chance to prove himself in camp with a team over the summer. Russell could end up in a backup position if he truly is back, as he is still not very old after flaming out of the NFL.
When he washed out of the league in his final season he had just three touchdowns and 11 interceptions while completing less than 50 percent of his passes, but if he can prove that he is healthy and ready for football, there is a chance that a team will take a chance on him for a roster spot. The biggest issue for Russell is how badly he played, winning just seven of his 25 starts while completing 52 percent of his passes with 18 touchdowns, 23 interceptions, 15 lost fumbles and a QB rating of 65.2 during his time with the Raiders.
During his time with the Raiders he made nearly $40 million and eventually the team decided to release him just to end the embarrassment of making him the number one pick. The team never was successful while he was there and if he doesn't sign with a team over the next month or so, the report says that he could go to the CFL instead.
The link to Tebow has to do with the fact that some feel he has been blackballed due to the fact that no matter where he goes or what he does, he will bring the media attention and hype machine along with him. While Russell likely won't have that following, the return of as former overall number one draft pick after the issues he has had with weight and substance abuse would be a very popular story to cover. The media has gone crazy these days over Tebow and there is a chance that he could be signed by a team, but they don't want all the extra attention and "circus" that goes with it (Jets...anyone?).
