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Jamarcus Russell has been removed from his post as a volunteer coach at Williamson High School in Mobile, Alabama after he allegedly took a $74,000 check meant for the school.
School officials told WKRG Sports that Russell was removed from the position in the fall.
However, the officials did not provide details on what led to the decision. Williamson is also Russell’s alma mater.
“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 school district said in a statement to WKRG.
Local business owner Chris Knowles is suing Russell. He alleges that the ex-NFL quarterbacl took a $74,000 check intended as a donation to the school and kept the money for himself. Knowles says that Russell approached him about a donation to help the team purchase weight room equipment. Knowles says he then gave Russell the donation by check. But the school allegedly never got any of that money. Russell reportedly deposited it in a credit union and promptly withdrew $55,000 of the of initial $74,000.
The Raiders selected Russell with the first pick in the 2007 NFL Draft out of LSU. But he was much maligned for his lack of work ethic and out of the league by 2009.
He’s since blamed several people, including himself, for his failures in the NFL.
“Everything that went wrong, if I could have done better,” he said. “I take fault in that. Let’s get this straight: I ain’t asking for no pity from nobody under no circumstances. What happened, happened. Let’s move on. Football don’t last forever. It gave me a great start on life. I ain’t mad at nothing or nobody,” Russell said in a 2022 article for the Players Tribune.
Now it sounds like he’s digging himself an even deeper hole.