JaMarcus Russell is considered one of the biggest draft busts in NFL history. The former quarterback is most infamous for his addiction to codeine, and Russell opened up about that part of his life and more this week.
In a piece he wrote for The Players’ Tribune, Russell admitted that he first tried “lean” — a drink consisting of codeine cough syrup and soda — when he was 14. He said drinking the syrup mixture where he grew up in Alabama was like drinking wine for others. Russell described it as “the cheapest way for them boys to sip on something.”
Russell also admitted that he drank the codeine concoction in college at LSU. He said he never liked painkillers because of the way they made him feel, so drinking syrup was his way to cope with significant injuries. One of the times he did that was after dislocating his shoulder in the SEC Championship Game against Georgia.
“I was in so much pain that one morning I just said f– it and took some drank with me to class,” Russell wrote. “Had my little Styrofoam cup and everything. Looked just like a soda from the cafeteria. I don’t know how the hell the teacher even found out, but somebody in class snitched on me.
“You know what’s crazy to me? If I had three or four pills in my pocket, nobody would’ve batted an eye. … I ain’t no saint, but come on, man. They shoot your a– up with the strongest painkillers on earth just to get you out on the field. But you’re drinking some cough syrup and now you’re a criminal?”
The entire piece is worth reading for those who are interested in Russell’s story.
The then-Oakland Raiders drafted Russell with the No. 1 overall pick in 2007. Russell was out of the NFL by the end of 2009. The former LSU star had plenty of other issues outside the codeine addiction, but that is the one that tarnished his reputation the most.
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