re: JaMarcus joins Bosworth & Lienart for Dish Network Commercial (video)

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Bunch of NFL busts right there

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That's point

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Bunch of NFL busts right there

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I will always argue that JaMarcus was not a bust.

for one, busts are usually guys who get labeled great in part because they're constantly telling us they're great, like Bosworth, and I doubt I've even heard JaMarcus speak more than 5 times.

more to the point, a bust is the product of being over-hyped, and JaMarcus was not over-hyped. Ozzie Newsome of the Ravens is maybe the best GM in football, particularly in the draft, and during the 9 years that Brian Billick was the HC there, he said:

"JaMarcus Russell was the highest-rated player I’ve ever seen on any of our boards."

and Newsome was not alone, JaMarcus was the real thing, with one of the best pure arms to ever play on any level. he just didn't love football. he liked it, and he was naturally good at it, but it didn't consume his life. and there's nothing wrong with that.

he doesn't have to spend 80 hours a week studying playbooks because we want him too. if he'd rather sit on the front porch with his friends, that's cool too, it's his life, his choice, it doesn't make him a failure.

he was a guy who liked football, and then went to the Raiders when they were at their Raider-iest. Al Davis was 99 percent dead and 100 percent insane, and not only was Lane Kiffin his head coach, but he was a rookie head coach, in the first head coaching job he'd ever had.

it was all the worst possible combination, the least motivating team on earth for a guy who needed motivation. there are teams he could have gone too and probably been an excellent pro, maybe even the high end of the top 10, but Oakland sure as hell wasn't one of them.