JaMarcus Russell was a top prospect for the Oakland Raiders in 2007, and his short time with the team lasted until 2009. Following leaving the Raiders, the player was arrested in 2010 for possessing codeine.
While speaking to the Players’ Tribune, Russell spoke candidly about when he started using lean. Russell said he first started drinking lean at 14, thinking the drink was soda after grabbing it out of a cooler while hanging out with friends in Alabama. “That was my first time drinking syrup. Wasn’t the last time,” said Russell.
The former NFL player went on to say, “Some syrup, for us, that’s like you might drink some wine or something. I’m not glorifying it, but back then, that was the cheapest way for them boys to sip on something. You grow up in poverty, you’re going to figure out a way to cope with it, you feel me?” The article found Russell speaking on where sipping lean led him, speaking on an instance where LSU coaches suspended him after they found out about his venture. “I ain’t no saint, but come on, man. They shoot your a** up with the strongest painkillers on earth just to get you out on the field. But, you’re drinking some cough syrup, and now you’re a criminal?” said JaMarcus.
Russell then spoke about what he should have done while in the league, saying, “I shouldn’t have been sippin’ like that, in the NFL. I should’ve stayed in better shape. I should’ve been more of a student of the game. I got to live with my mistakes. I’d do it 10 times differently today if I was coming up in a different era.”
Source: TMZ
