Russell

Until yesterday afternoon, he was getting rich simply by standing on the sidelines. Now, JaMarcus Russell can officially call himself an NFL player. Entering the second quarter of Sunday’s game against Denver to a thunderous ovation, the top pick in April’s draft made his long-awaited debut, completing his first ever NFL pass for 16 yards to Jerry Porter and finishing his short stint 4-of-7 passing for 56 yards. Despite being on the field for only 16 plays, those in attendance at McAfee Coliseum were thrilled to finally see their “franchise” quarterback. After missing all of training camp and then the preseason while locked in a contract dispute, head coach Lane Kiffin wanted to ease his young QB into a game situation. “The whole thing was we need this guy to play well. We wanted his first experience for him to do really well and put the right things around him. And he was able to have some success” Kiffin told the “San Francisco Chronicle”.