On September 14, 2009, the Oakland Coliseum sold out — a rarity that season, achieved only because the NFL granted a deadline extension — and 61,940 fans packed the stands for a Monday Night Football opener against the San Diego Chargers. The ESPN booth had Mike Greenberg on play-by-play, with Mike Golic and Steve Young alongside. By the fourth quarter, they’d spent the better part of three hours cataloging everything wrong with Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell, and the film through three quarters gave them plenty of ammunition.
Then Russell reared back and threw one of the prettiest deep balls you’ll ever see.
On fourth and long, late in the fourth quarter, Russell unloaded a 57-yard strike to rookie Louis Murphy, hitting the fourth-round pick out of Florida in stride for a go-ahead touchdown. The ball traveled a country mile — the kind of throw that makes you understand why Al Davis drafted the man first overall in 2007. For one snap, the arm talent that scouts couldn’t quit raving about at LSU showed up under the brightest lights, and the announcing crew went quiet.
Russell arrived in the NFL with a cannon attached to his right shoulder and a six-foot-six, 265-pound frame that looked like it was built in a lab. He’d thrown for over 3,100 yards and 28 touchdowns in his final season at LSU, earned Sugar Bowl MVP honors, and walked off the stage as the No. 1 overall pick. Then came the holdout, the $31.5 million guaranteed, and three seasons of inconsistent play and questions about his commitment that landed him on every “biggest bust” list the league has ever produced.
Murphy, meanwhile, was making his NFL debut that night. A two-time BCS National Champion at Florida under Urban Meyer, he’d caught a touchdown from Tim Tebow as a sophomore and led the Gators in receiving yards as a senior captain. The Raiders grabbed him in the fourth round, and he wasted no time showing he could run with the big boys — 4.32-second 40-yard dash speed that turned a well-thrown ball into six points.
The touchdown gave Oakland a 20–17 lead. It lasted about as long as a cup of coffee at a two-a-day film session.
Philip Rivers and the Chargers answered immediately, with Darren Sproles punching in a 5-yard touchdown run to retake the lead at 24–20. The Raiders drove back, but an interception snuffed out the comeback. Oakland fell to 0–1 and would finish the year 5–11, missing the playoffs for a seventh straight season. Russell was released the following year and never played another NFL snap.
That’s the cruel arithmetic of this league. One perfect throw doesn’t erase a thousand bad ones, and a quarterback who can’t get the ball out on time and on target more often than not won’t last, no matter how far he can wing it. But on that Monday night, with the whole country watching and the booth counting him out, JaMarcus Russell dropped a dime that belonged in any highlight reel. The film doesn’t lie — even when it’s just one frame.
Sources:
Wikipedia: 2009 Oakland Raiders Season
Wikipedia: JaMarcus Russell
Wikipedia: Louis Murphy