JaMarcus Russell is being accused of stealing money meant to go to his old high school.
It was reported Saturday that the former No. 1 overall pick of the 2007 NFL Draft took a $74,000 check for himself when it was supposed to be a donation to Williamson High School, his alma mater, in Alabama. The money was supposed to help give the high school better weight room equipment, according to ESPN .
The money came from Chris Knowles, a local business owner after Russell approached him in 2022 asking for money to help the school. After receiving the check, Russell allegedly deposited it in a credit union and took out $55,000.
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When Knowles requested that Russell provide a receipt of the donation, the former NFL quarterback failed to show it to the business owner and stopped returning Knowles's phone calls. Williamson claimed it did not receive the check.
Mobile County Public School officials also reiterated that Russell had no ties with the school for almost a year. "JaMarcus Russell was relieved of his volunteer coaching duties at Williamson High School during the fall of last year," a statement read, per WKRG Sports .
Russell was on the staff from 2018 to 2023, before being removed from his position as a volunteer assistant. But appears the split between the former NFL signal caller and the school was anything but smooth as Williamson faculty were told by Mobile County Public School officials that Russell should not be near the football team.
"Earlier this week, it was reiterated to Mr. Russell that he is not permitted to be around the football program or on school campus," the statement read after the 38-year-old was spotted attending an off-campus event for the football team, via WKRG Sports .
This is just the latest chapter in Russell's turbulent relationship with the game of football. In 2007, the then-Oakland Raiders drafted Russell out of LSU with his size, 6-foot-6, and arm strength being the main reasons why he was so highly picked.
After being drafted, Russell held out through training camp to the first week of the season before he signed a six-year contract, potentially worth up to $68 million, with $31.5 million of that guaranteed. The hope was for Russell to live up to his contract and billing as the No. 1 pick to help the Raiders achieve success. Instead, the opposite happened as in his rookie year, Russell only played four games, starting one.
The next year appeared to be a step in the right direction as he started all 15 games he played in and threw for 2,423 yards with 13 touchdowns and interceptions. However, Russell's tenure with the Raiders would soon ended as after a Week 5 loss to the New York Giants in 2009, Oakland benched Russell indefinitely.
Russell frequently found himself third on the depth chart and when the 2010 offseason arrived, the Raiders had five quarterbacks on the team. In May 2010, Oakland released Russell and he never played another game in the NFL again, with many team officials claiming Russell often arrived in training camp overweight and his focus was elsewhere.
October is when the case is set to go to trial.
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