The JaMarcus Russell image rehabilitation tour is underway, with the former Oakland Raiders quarterback swearing he never did anything wrong, and that he will be back in the NFL soon.
But in an interview with Showtime's "Inside the NFL" available online, JaMarcus insists he is unwilling to ever play again for the Raiders.
That's sort of like "Heckuva job, Brownie" saying that he wouldn't run FEMA again even if they came crawling back on their knees.
The interview is so full of low lights and laughable moments that it's hard to pick out just a few. To Russell, "image rehabilitation" means rocking two enormous diamond earrings at all times.
In the interview, Russell tells Showtime's Josina Anderson, "Now looking back on it, I could have went about certain things things different."
"Like?" Ms. Brown presses.
"I'm not sure," Russell replies, in a Bart Simpson tone of voice, "I don't know where they went wrong."
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Russell is asked about the concerns NFL teams may have regarding his drug possession arrest, "What were your concerns, that they would think you had more than a codeine addiction?"
"Not more than that," Russell replied, "because that's all that was brought up."
That answer does exactly rule out additional drug use, JaMarcus. Flesh that answer out with some denials, maybe.
Surprisingly, as desperate as Russell is to return to the NFL, he indicated he was unwilling to play again for the Raiders. Ms. Anderson began a question about Russell's possible return with, "There are thirty-two (NFL) teams out there..."
"Thirty-one," Russell interrupted.
He didn't specifically say Raiders, but you can be pretty sure he wasn't talking about excluding the Carolina Panthers.
Or else he counting Baskin-Robbins flavors again.
Joe Kukura is a freelance writer who thought people were wearing purple in support of JaMarcus Russell.
