Old NFL busts with lousy career statistics don't die. They go and play for the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Bengals, who already have jailbird Tank Johnson, cocaine-sniffing Matt Jones, and stripper-punching Pacman Jones, are reportedly giving a tryout to the newest ex-Oakland Raider, JaMarcus Russell. Russell was released by the Raiders last week after three ineffective and overweight seasons as their quarterback.
If a player makes the roster for the Cincinnati Bengals, I suspect Wikipedia just automatically adds a "Legal Troubles" section to his biography.
The news originally came from current Dancing with the Stars contestant Chad Ochocinco's Twitter feed. "JaMarcus Russel, you on twitter, if not its cool ill see you in mini-camp", tweeted Ochocinco, "Oooopsss, did I just leak that info."
That is far fewer spelling errors than one sees in a standard Chad Ochocinco tweet. What he seems to be saying that Russell will try out for the Bengals at an upcoming Cincinnati mini-camp.
That doesn't mean Russell will make the Bengals. And as ESPN's Adam Schefter tweets, there will be other teams interested in trying Russell out.
But at this point it seems like Cincinnati is Russell's most likely next destination. Oh, is JaMarcus going to love that chili.
Sports
Joe Kukura is a freelance writer who would point out that Gibril Wilson will also get paid by the Raiders but play for the Bengals in the 2010 season.
