JaMarcus Russell

The first came on a 39-yard pass to Early Doucet on 4th down in the final minute of the game, as the Tigers defeated Arizona State 35–31.

Later in the season, LSU defeated a then-undefeated Alabama team 16–13 when he completed a 14-yard touchdown to Dwayne Bowe in overtime.

Russell injured his shoulder in a loss to Georgia in the SEC Championship Game, and missed the team's bowl game.

Backup quarterback Matt Flynn replaced him for the Peach Bowl against Miami, and the Tigers won the game 40–3.

JaMarcus Trenell Russell (born August 9, 1985) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for three seasons with the Oakland Raiders.

In February 2003 on National Signing Day, Russell committed to Louisiana State University (LSU) over Florida State University, becoming the LSU Tigers' 28th and final recruit of the 2003 season.

He redshirted his freshman year and by the fall of the 2005 season, Russell was the starting quarterback.

He led the Tigers to a 10–1 regular season record, the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Western Division title, and a top five ranking going into the SEC Championship Game.

He also improved statistically, completing 60 percent of his passes for 2,443 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Russell received an honorable mention on the AP's All-SEC Team.

Russell led the Tigers to two come-from-behind wins in the regular season.

Russell was the starting quarterback again at LSU in 2006, beating out Matt Flynn and highly touted redshirt freshman Ryan Perrilloux.

Before the season began, he changed his jersey number from 4 to 2.

He had a productive 2006 regular season, leading the Tigers to a 10–2 record and a BCS Sugar Bowl berth.

He threw for 3,129 yards, 28 touchdowns and eight interceptions.

He was second in the SEC with 2,923 yards from scrimmage.

Russell also won the SEC Offensive Player of the Week award three times during the regular season.

During one game against Tennessee, Russell started the game poorly, throwing three interceptions (including one that was returned for a touchdown), but subsequently led LSU on a 15-play, 80-yard comeback drive at the end of the game.

At the end of the drive, Russel threw a touchdown pass to Early Doucet while there was less than 10 seconds left.

As a result, LSU won 28–24.

In the Allstate Sugar Bowl, he accumulated over 350 yards of passing and rushing combined and scored three touchdowns, leading LSU to a 41–14 win over Notre Dame.

For his performance, he was named Sugar Bowl MVP.

At the end of the 2006 season, Russell was named to the all-SEC first-team, ahead of Kentucky's Andre Woodson and Florida's Chris Leak.

He played college football for the LSU Tigers, winning the Manning Award as a junior en route to becoming the most valuable player MVP of the 2007 Sugar Bowl.

Russell was selected first overall by the Raiders in the 2007 NFL draft, but his tenure would be marked by inconsistent play and questions over his work ethic.

On January 10, 2007, Russell stated that he had decided to skip his final season of NCAA eligibility to enter the 2007 NFL draft.

John Clayton of ESPN stated that Russell's workouts at the 2007 NFL Scouting Combine that his arm strength and size impressed several teams, and predicted that it would "be hard to pass up on Russell at #1."

At the combine, Russell stated about his size, "I started playing football at the age of 6, I've been playing quarterback ever since. I was always bigger and taller than the other kids, and I was always able to throw it a pretty good length of the field."

He would be released from Oakland in 2010 and, despite attempts at returning to the NFL, was unable to sign with another team.

Due to not meeting the expectations of being the first pick and the short length of his career, he is considered one of the NFL's biggest draft busts.

Russell was born in Mobile, Alabama, and attended Lillie B. Williamson High School.

For all four years under head coach Bobby Parrish, he started and never missed a football game.

In his freshman year, Russell completed 180 of 324 passes for 2,683 yards and 20 touchdowns as Williamson reached the state championship game.

By the next season, Russell had grown to six-foot-three and 185 pounds, had received his first recruiting letters, and was becoming more adept with the playbook.

Russell passed for 2,616 yards and 20 touchdowns during his sophomore year and led the team to the semifinals.

Russell's best season was his senior year; he completed 219 of 372 passes for 3,332 yards and 22 touchdowns and rushed for another 400 yards and five touchdowns.

This earned Russell Parade magazine All-American honorable mention honors.

His 10,774 career passing yards broke the Alabama High School Athletic Association record and still stands today.

Russell was at the center of an ESPN Outside the Lines story on high school sports in Mobile.

He also played basketball and threw the javelin in track and field.