Late Monday evening, as we all ate dinner and found less criminal things to do, JaMarcus Russell found himself at the wrong end of a drug bust. Russell was in possession of codeine syrup—a prescription-only medication.
The reason Russell was in possession of the substance was, allegedly, so that he could make a cocktail composed of codeine cough syrup and promethazine—more popularly known as "syrup" or "purple drank".
When mixed together, the combination of the two drugs have the capability of altering an individual's level of consciousness—placing them in a state that, in many ways, mimics the feeling of being heavily sedated.
It's been used for years by southern rap artists but first came into pop culture awareness after Three 6 Mafia and UGK, a popular Houston-based rap group, released the song, "Sippin' on Syrup".
I have to admit, the first thought that came to my mind after hearing about this incident was, "it figures".
After all, at this point, nothing that I hear or read about JaMarcus Russell surprises me. The guy has, seemingly, never shown any appreciation for the opportunities he's been granted thanks to his physical ability. He's displayed nothing but arrogance and immaturity at every possible turn because JaMarcus has always been about JaMarcus. So, unfortunately, this drug bust didn't shock me.
Let me be clear on this much before I go further, anyone who is making light of this obviously isn't aware of how serious this situation can be for Russell. He may actually be struggling with a serious addiction. "Syrup" has taken lives and ruined careers. If Russell has been doing this for as long as it's been rumored, it would explain some of his behavior.
However, at the same time, it's difficult to feel much in the way of compassion for a guy who has never shown anyone even the slightest bit of humility or genuineness. He's got far more haters than anything and, at this point, there are many who would just as soon see him fail miserably than rebound—he has only himself to blame for that fact.
So, what happens to him now? The possible NFL return is on hold—indefinitely. At this point, he's become a pariah for any sports franchise because he doesn't seem to have a clue what it takes to maintain any level of professionalism on or off the field.
Furthermore, he doesn't have any measure of professional success to pull from that can allow anyone to say, well, if we can just do x, y, and z, then he'll be great for the team.
No. He's a bust with a drug problem. Neither looks good on a resume and neither is appealing in the eyes of a pro franchise that would likely be expecting him to prove to them that he was worth the gamble—in essence he's actually more screwed now than he was before.
I truly didn't know that he could make things any worse.
As a football fan, I imagine there were already a ton of people who decided that Russell was no longer worthy of their attention as a player. However, now, there may be just as many who write him off as a man—at just 24-years old.
What a cautionary tale indeed.
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