Quote:David Diehl: Raiders Gave JaMarcus Russell Blank Tapes to See If QB Watched Film

The Oakland Raiders took some extreme measures to prove that JaMarcus Russell wasn't doing everything in his power to be a good NFL player.

Appearing on New York's WFAN (h/t Andrew Marchand of the New York Post), former offensive lineman David Diehl said Raiders coaches used to give Russell blank tapes to determine if he was studying film.

Diehl noted Russell would come into the Raiders' facilities the day after receiving the tapes saying that he watched the blitz packages.

Who would have known that Russell wasn't fully dedicated to being an NFL quarterback? His 52.1 completion percentage, 18 touchdowns and 23 interceptions in 31 games turned him into one of the biggest draft busts in NFL history.

If only the Raiders coaches had studied blank tapes instead of Russell's LSU tape, they might have opted to go with Calvin Johnson, Joe Thomas, Patrick Willis or Darrelle Revis with the No. 1 pick in that same draft class.

(11-07-2018, 12:48 PM)Bengalzona Wrote: Wow! How do you excuse yourself of that?

(11-08-2018, 03:03 PM)Nately120 Wrote: Al Davis didn't need an excuse for drafting the guy, because he was the owner/GM.  Can we relate to this at all?