With Monday’s arrest for possession of a controlled substance, former Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell has blown whatever chance he may have had to land with the Jets.
Other potentially interested NFL teams likely will scatter as well, and it appears (as NFLN’s Mike Lombardi explained on Monday night) that Russell’s options in the NFL have evaporated like a puddle of purple drank on a 110-degree desert afternoon.
And while Lombardi points out that the Hamilton Tiger-Cats hold the CFL rights to the first pick in the 2007 NFL draft, let’s not rule out the UFL.
We reported last month that the Omaha Nighthawks want to pair him up with former NFL running back Ahman Green. We thereafter reported that Russell remained intent on continuing his NFL year.
Though we’ve yet to confirm that the Nighthawks remain interested in a possible jailbird, the Nighthawks have targeted defensive tackle Hollis Thomas notwithstanding his eight-game suspension for violating a second time the NFL’s steroids policy. So we doubt that the upstart league would turn up its nose at a guy who could be inclined to pour a slightly more potent sauce on his Omaha steaks.
Given recent developments, it could be that Russell will no longer turn up his nose at what could be the best strategy for eventually getting another crack at an NFL career.