JaMarcus Russell Admits He's a Codeine Guy

JaMarcus Russell reveals the number of arrests he's suffered for alleged codeine possession

​JaMarcus Russell, the departed Raiders quarterback who has staked a solid claim on being the biggest bust in National Football League history, has made a startling admission: He's used cough syrup in the past.

Russell's penchant for the Dimetapp is relevant because he was last month busted in Alabama for codeine possession. Cough syrup is a prime ingredient in the boozy concoction "purple drank." The former QB now tells ESPN that he failed a 2007 drug test for codeine -- which immediately prompts the question, "They test for codeine?"

Apparently, they do. And in a league replete with juicers, boozers, dope fiends, and violent characters, Russell's unauthorized use of cough syrup apparently did not go unnoticed. Several gems from his sit-down with ESPN:

• The Raiders "said they were gettin' word in the streets about me using drugs. Then, one of the doctors came to me."

• Following Russell's July codeine arrest, "the Raiders released a statement saying they "did all they could to intervene and assist with a myriad of issues with JaMarcus Russell." Too bad they didn't give him a vaporizer for that cough.
  

In the button-down world of the NFL, Russell's brush with the law was portrayed as a major detriment to his chances of landing on a team roster this year. This is likely true -- but it still boggles the mind.

If team executives don't want to sign Russell because of his jaw-droppingly bad play, that makes sense. If they don't want to sign him because he was overweight, sluggish, had a poor work ethic, played legendarily bad football, and was allegedly drinking codeine-laced booze instead of doing anything about this -- that makes sense, too.

But if he's being punished for breaking the law, that seems like pretty weak Dimetapp to us.

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