A Request

I was on twitter minding my own business when my stream blew up with news of JaMarcus Russell's arrest in Alabama over lean, sizzurp or purple drank if you will. Its basically a concoction of codeine cough syrup and soda that is supposed to get you high. Not only is it illegal but several prominent rappers have died from sipping lean, the most recent of which to my knowledge was PimpC.

Now I was just about to blog that I would like to slap the shit out of JaMarcus until he got his head on straight. But I have changed my mind in the time it took me to fire up my computer.

Instead Id like to slap the shit out of every family member, every advisor, every former coach and every homeboy that has any influence in JaMarcus' life right now or have had any influence in the last couple of years.

You folks have failed him and failed him MISERABLY.

Don't get me wrong, I believe in people taking personal responsibility for their actions. But I also believe that at some point the people around him either have to be helping him on that path of responsibility or in the event he just won't listen, refusing to be a part of his life.

Maybe its just me but I haven't heard stories of his "people" either reading him the riot act nor have I heard of them abandoning him to his own devices. Instead I hear about his hometown being disappointed he didn't make it. And unnamed advisers or "sources close to JaMarcus" claiming that he will be just fine as long as he gets another opportunity.

Well right about now you can kiss any of those opportunities goodbye. Hell I thought he was a long shot to ever be given another shot at an NFL career anyway because of his shitty work ethic. But now, after this arrest? Who in the hell do you know whose gonna give a quarterback who sips sizzurp a second chance?

I wouldn't and I consider myself a pretty forgiving guy.

Anybody who didn't see this coming had to be walking around with their eyes superglued shut and blinders on top of blue blockers. I didn't know it would be lean, but I was sure he was headed down the wrong path, so how in the hell could those closest to him not see the same thing?

Was it because the bling he was buying them was blurring their vision?

Somehow I suspect that could have played a role. Call it a hunch but I doubt JaMarcus took too kindly to folks telling him the truth. But if you are really his family, if you are really his friend, that's EXACTLY what you tell him whether he likes it or not. That's what having love for somebody is really about. Not sucking up so that you can stay in their good graces.

So while everybody is piling on JaMarcus Russell, and they have every right to do so, please save some of the vitriol to the enablers around him. They may just deserve it more than he does.