Darrell Russell, P****** Talent Away

[Hostile]

Thursday, July 15, 2004


By Chris Mortensen
Special to ESPN.com

Darrell Russell's release Tuesday by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was preceded by a positive test last month for alcohol, a banned substance in the player's treatment program, according to NFL sources.


Russell is facing another indefinite suspension by commissioner Paul Tagliabue. Sources say the positive test approximately five weeks ago was his seventh infraction of the league's substance abuse policy since he was selected second overall by the Oakland Raiders in the 1997 draft.


Russell may be allowed to seek reinstatement after the eighth week of the 2004 season, but sources say the medical staff that oversees the substance abuse policy is still making determinations for a new course of treatment for him.


If Russell does seek reinstatement at midseason, it won't be warmly embraced by a skeptical Tagliabue, sources said.


The defensive tackle missed 1½ years while serving two league suspensions before he played in eight games in 2003 for the Washington Redskins.


Tampa Bay signed him in March, reuniting him with ex-Raider GM Bruce Allen and coach Job Gruden, both now with the Buccaneers. The Bucs had placed several restrictions that could have prompted Russell's release, but he had complied with those restrictions until the positive test.


"If he has had a positive test, you'd have to check with the league, not me," Allen said.


NFL spokesman Greg Aiello declined comment.


Russell could not be reached for comment!

[QuincyCrusha_LeVar56]

Yup...he's pretty much a worthless dude.

[Eddie]

He tested positive for ALCOHOL??? ??? Are you guys serious???

[SALADIN]

Football is the least of his problems right now. Whether it's alcohol abuse or substance abuse there are some negative entities that he has to rid himself of before he can even think about being the player that he was.

I know some see it as a young man that will never learn, but it takes some longer than others to get well from their diseases. If they live long enough to get well.

I wish him well. The hard part is ahead of him.

[DallasKnight]

He tested positive for ALCOHOL??? ??? Are you guys serious???


Are you sure he didn't take a cough medicine? ;>

[ABQCOWBOY]

He tested positive for ALCOHOL??? ??? Are you guys serious???

May not seem like much but when you have multiple offenses, the program says that you must stay clean, alcohol included. It's really not about what he's used, it's that he continues to accumulate all these infractions when he knows he's screwed if he gets caught.

This guy has probably played his last game in the NFL.

[BrAinPaiNt]

He tested positive for ALCOHOL??? ??? Are you guys serious???


If he had not been in a treatment program and currently on probation for violating the leagues substance abuse policy (multiple times) then this would not be a serious issue.

However since he has been in trouble many times, since he is on probation...it is a different thing....it also goes to show that he is not able to control himself or what is good for his career even after having multiple chances in the league and with rehab.

[Yeagermeister]

He drank from Al Davis' special flask

[Sarge]

Thursday, July 15, 2004


By Chris Mortensen
Special to ESPN.com

Darrell Russell's release Tuesday by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was preceded by a positive test last month for alcohol, a banned substance in the player's treatment program, according to NFL sources.


Russell is facing another indefinite suspension by commissioner Paul Tagliabue. Sources say the positive test approximately five weeks ago was his seventh infraction of the league's substance abuse policy since he was selected second overall by the Oakland Raiders in the 1997 draft.


Russell may be allowed to seek reinstatement after the eighth week of the 2004 season, but sources say the medical staff that oversees the substance abuse policy is still making determinations for a new course of treatment for him.


If Russell does seek reinstatement at midseason, it won't be warmly embraced by a skeptical Tagliabue, sources said.


The defensive tackle missed 1½ years while serving two league suspensions before he played in eight games in 2003 for the Washington Redskins.


Tampa Bay signed him in March, reuniting him with ex-Raider GM Bruce Allen and coach Job Gruden, both now with the Buccaneers. The Bucs had placed several restrictions that could have prompted Russell's release, but he had complied with those restrictions until the positive test.


"If he has had a positive test, you'd have to check with the league, not me," Allen said.


NFL spokesman Greg Aiello declined comment.


Russell could not be reached for comment!

Very sad. A shame.

[Cbz40]

Very Sad indeed........

[jobberone]

Yup...he's pretty much a worthless dude.

I take pity on their illness. Nor do I personally know this guy enough to have an opinion about his sense of worth. I'd say it is not too high considering his past problems with life on top of the substance abuse problem. I also try not to pass judgment on anyone although I still do it all too often.

[SALADIN]

I take pity on their illness. Nor do I personally know this guy enough to have an opinion about his sense of worth. I'd say it is not too high considering his past problems with life on top of the substance abuse problem. I also try not to pass judgment on anyone although I still do it all too often.


Judge Not

Bob Marley

[Skeptic]

Wow.

The NFL is beginning to stand for Nazi Football Legion.

[M'Kevon]

Wow.

The NFL is beginning to stand for Nazi Football Legion.

That's way overboard. As a multi-offender, he was given a list of substances that would flunk him, including alcohol. And I'm sure they didn't tap him on the shoulder at 1 in the AM, drink in hand at a club. Probably showed up at his AM workout; having a measurable alcohol content at that time indicates a problem.

[Sarge]

That's way overboard. As a multi-offender, he was given a list of substances that would flunk him, including alcohol. And I'm sure they didn't tap him on the shoulder at 1 in the AM, drink in hand at a club. Probably showed up at his AM workout; having a measurable alcohol content at that time indicates a problem.

True, he was given rules to abide by and he failed, again.

It's an illness. It's sad an unfortunate but to somehow take issue with the NFL for imposing those types of rules is inane.

[Danny White]

From Len Pasquerelli:

No one in Washington, where Darrell Russell appeared in eight games in 2003, was very surprised when Tampa Bay released the trouble defensive tackle Tuesday afternoon. After all, the Redskins were the first misguided franchise to provide Russell a chance to salvage his career, coming off an 18-month suspension for repeat violations of the NFL substance abuse policy, and he repaid them with a string of listless performances. He was suspended by the team for the final game of the season for violating a club rule.

Redskins officials were not stunned, either, when ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported that Russell was cut by the Bucs because he had tested positive for alcohol, thus violating the parameters of his aftercare program.

Late last year, Redskins officials and players were alarmed over the quantity of alcohol Russell was tossing down during the team's annual Christmas party at owner Dan Snyder's digs. Fact is, some team officials wondered aloud at the Christmas party if Russell was, indeed, violating his NFL probation. Recalled one player: "Even if it wasn't (a violation), you'd have thought that a guy with his history, trying to make it back into the league, would have been a little more (discreet), right? I mean, if you're Darrell Russell, you've got to know they're watching every move. But he didn't seem to care."

It remains to be seen if any other team takes a chance on Russell now although, the point may be moot, if the NFL suspends him again. Defensive linemen who weigh 300 pounds and are as athletic as Russell are always tempting. But given his penchant for recidivism, getting another opportunity will be difficult. Certainly he'll never have a support group like the one in Tampa, with general manager Bruce Allen, coach Jon Gruden, and d-line coach Rod Marinelli. It should have been a blessed trinity for Russell, since Allen drafted him in Oakland, Gruden coached him there, and Marinelli was his college position coach at Southern California. If that threesome couldn't convince Russell to walk the straight and narrow, chances are no one else can, either.