JULY 1 2007 UPDATE on JaMarcus [link]

BATON ROUGE — Nick Saban and JaMarcus Russell were doing too well for junior quarterback JaMarcus Russell to stay.

The Tigers won too many games in the 2006 season and Russell was at the center of those wins and those losses (Auburn and Florida) all too often for him to stay. Especially when new Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban snuck into Baton Rouge two nights ago.

“First of all I would like to apologize for myself and my family being late,” he said graciously and with a laugh. “Next I’d like to thank God for giving me this day and the opportunity to be with you guys. I’d like to thank coach Miles, coach (Nick) Saban and coach (Jimbo) Fisher – everybody at LSU. LSU gave me a chance and an opportunity to represent this state, this school. But Coach Saban has made me an offer that I can’t pass up. I am transferring to the University of Alabama.”

“Honestly, I am shocked” LSU coach Les Miles said of Russell’s transfer. “If Saban can just can come here and take back his own recruits, I won’t have a team left. And with Perrilloux dick dancing with the U. S. Attorneys Office, LSU Fans have a reason to fear next season. Hey!! I made a rhyme!!”

“I didn’t think that Saban could come back in Louisiana without getting hurt, the fans here hate that guy” Miles said. “I really hate that guy. I have been living in his shadow for 2 years and nobody here appreciates me. Well JaMarcus, We wish you well in your next football adventure. We can only say you will be carried by us in our hearts and we will root for you when you play, except for when you play us. ”

“It was already decided when Jimbo left,” Russell said. “But if I was going to stay and he was leaving, it would’ve been hard to leave coach Fisher because I grew up with his system. Learning a new system would’ve been hard because I only have so much memory and I can’t use it all at once.”

Russell will have to learn a new system at Alabama, though Fisher said recently that he’ll be well prepared.

“I’ve talked to other quarterbacks at Bama like John Sarah Jessica Parker Wilson, and they say they’re doing some of the same things we did here,” Fisher said. “What people don’t realize about JaMarcus, maybe because he’s so big and sensitive, is that he is semi- smart, very intelligent.”