Ja(Marcus) Rule

Large and Mrs. Large were at the Raiders/Broncos game in Oakland yesterday. The tickets were a gift from my father-in-law, part of his long-term project to convert me into a Raiders fan, which, of course, is never going to happen (dah, SBXV? Jim Plunkett? Rod Freakin Martin? fugheddaboudit...).

But I'm certainly not above going to see the Silver and Black, particularly when it involves the historic first snaps of what Raiders' fans everywhere are hoping will be the long reign of JaMarcus (it's impossible to tell, but the picture over there on the right is the huddle before Ja Rule's first play - I know I know, Neil Leifer I am not). The crowd went berserk when Russell entered the game in the second quarter, although I must say, "berserk" in California barely registers with I consider civilized applause at a preseason game at the Linc. It's just the facts of life out here - the sun is always shining, the produce is always ripe and luscious, the air is sweet with the fragrance of persimmons. In such a setting, what happens on the field is simply not a matter of life and death.

But getting back to the field - my first observation of Ja Rule is that the kid is gigantic. I get the same feeling looking at him that I got when I first took a look at his Raider teammate Daunte Culpepper in a Vikings uniform - it's just hard to believe that he's a quarterback. He looks like he could more than handle himself on the d-line. And yet there he is, running like a gazelle and hurling bullets. He drops back comfortably, he moves beautifully, and he throws effortlessly. In his second series, he whipped off an 18-yarder to Ronald Curry that really opened my eyes. It looked like he flicked it, like it was a pitch pass in the flat. Jerry Porter was quoted after the game as saying that Russell's ball is smoking, and believe me, that much was clear all the way up in the nosebleeds.

Leading up to the game, while the rumors were flying everywhere that Russell would see action on Sunday, he made it clear that he has very high expectations of himself, citing crosstown hero Joe Montana's first season with the 49ers as his blueprint - ironically, Montana saw his first significant action in the Niners' twelfth game of the '79 season against the Broncos.

I was impressed that he happened to know that much about Montana, but myself, I'm thinking that if JaMarcus wants to start making historical comparisons, he should consider this fact: Only three former first-pick-overall quarterbacks are currently enshrined in Canton - Terry Bradshaw, John Elway and Troy Aikman. And we might as well add another name to that list right now - a certain Chunky Soup enthusiast over in Indianapolis.

Looking at those names, one thing immediately jumps out at you - not a one of them had an incubation period in the NFL. It was baptism under fire for all four with the hopes of their respective franchises lying in the balance. Bradshaw was one of the most ballyhooed players to come out of college in the history of the league, and he made his debut as a starter in the Steelers' first game of 1970 against the Oilers. He went 4-16 and generally looked completely incompetent before Chuck Noll lifted him in the third quarter for a much less ballyhooed Terry, Terry Hanratty. Over the next six games, Bradshaw would throw 12 interceptions against only two TD's, at which point Noll had mercy and made Hanratty the starter. Terry was a national joke by then, and it's a real credit to the man that the experience of his first season didn't break him.

Elway's rookie campaign wasn't quite so miserable, although it wasn't exactly a lovefest either. Fourteen picks versus seven TD's - a completion percentage under fifty percent. In his first game, Broncos/Steelers 1983 at Three Rivers, he did little of note other than get massively sacked by the legendary goon Jack Lambert. Elway would later say of Lambert and that game, "He had no teeth and he was slobbering all over. I'm thinking, `You can have your money back, just get me out of here, let me go be an accountant.' I can't even tell you how badly I wanted out of there.''

Most of us No Masians probably remember the inaugural campaign of the Aikman era in Dallas. 1989, what a year to enjoy for Cowboys-haters everywhere, although even then you had a definite feeling in your stomach that they were going to have the last laugh. The Cowboys first game of '89 was historical for all sorts of reasons - Jimmy Johnson wearing Tom Landry's headset and Troy Aikman taking snaps as the first rookie quarterback to start for Dallas since Roger Staubach in 1969. The game went as the rest of the season would for the 'Boys - the Saints crushed them 28-0 and Aikman threw two picks in a horrendous outing. It was the first of 15 losses he would endure as a rookie.

Even Peyton Manning, who had far and away the most successful first year of this distinguished crew, had a difficult day of it in his pro debut, throwing three picks and zero TD's as the Colts lost the first game of '98 to Dan Marino's Dolphins, 24-15. Placed against that lot of misery and deflated hopes, the first day of Ja(Marcus) Rule seems nine holes at the country club. Two series, a few lasers on down-and-outs and a fumbled snap, hit the showers kid we love you. Christ they even won the game! It almost makes you wonder if the stars are realigning over Raider Nation.