On the same day that Willie Brown of the Raiders said that JaMarcus Russell has lost weight and gotten into shape, former Raiders (for a short while) quarterback Jeff Garcia teed off regarding Russell.
Appearing Tuesday with our friends Josh and Jeff of Xtra Sports 1360 AM in San Diego, Garcia was candid regarding his views on Russell, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 draft.
“As much as I was willing and open to helping the young guy, he’s gotta want to be open and willing to be helped himself, and he’s gotta want to get after it himself, as far as his own goals, his own motivation,” Garcia said. “You can’t necessarily push those buttons with certain people. And so you know I hope he figures it out, I hope he turns it around, because if he doesn’t soon he may find himself out of this league, just by the way this league operates. They can’t wait around forever for the guy to turn the investment into a positive situation.”
Supposedly, Russell finally has decided to make that commitment. He reportedly has shown up today for offseason workouts after missing Monday, and he supposedly is somewhere south of a weight that would cause the needle of a standard bathroom scale to bust the peg.
Whether Russell finally has decided that he’s not content simply being the guy who was the first pick in 2007 remains to be seen. If he’s ever going to get serious about his career, now is the time.