Apparently there is a new pipeline from Oakland to Omaha Nebraska that I was unaware of. The Omaha Nighthawks of the United Football League have added several Raiders to their roster in recent months.
The team has many former Raiders on it. Those players are star receiver Ronald Curry, former quarterback of the future Andrew Walter, former draft pick receiver Ryan Hoag, and former safety Anthony Dorsett. They also recently added Justin Fargas. But the surprising move from Friday was the addition of JaMarcus Russell to the roster.
Although the rosters in the UFL at this point are not official or anywhere near complete, these are the players each team has “protected” the rights to. This means that should they not sign with an NFL team and wish to play in the UFL, no other UFL team is allowed to sign them. As players are released in mandatory cut-downs prior to the NFL season, more players will appear on these rosters. Many of whom will be official signings.
The news of Russell being on this “protected” list can’t make Andrew Walter too happy. He probably thought he was rid of Russell. Now Walter will yet again have to worry about Russell being handed the starting job based solely on his physical gifts and potential. Although, Russell does have his court date coming up in 4 days on the charges of possession of the controlled substance codeine syrup. That case could drag out a little and in the end there could be some prison time handed down. My guess is the Nighthawks gave Russell a wide berth (pun intended) to allow him to miss whatever time he needs. While Walter is no doubt hoping the whole process and punishment is a lengthy one. Both Walter and Russell would compete with Patrick Ramsey for the starting QB job.
Fargas was also released by the Raiders this offseason. A surprising move by many, myself included. At very least, it seemed he would catch on with another team. He is over 30, which is the age in which most runningbacks tend to slow down, but he doesn’t have a lot of mileage on his legs after transferring from Michigan to USC and sitting out a year. Then playing very little his first few years in the NFL and being sidelined with injuries a few times after that. If he can prove that he can still play, he will no doubt get a call from an NFL team who needs an injury replacement.
Ronald Curry was released by the Raiders in 2009 and was signed by the Lions. The Lions then traded him to the Rams and the Rams released him a short time later. He was out of football last season.
Ryan Hoag was a former Mr Irrelevant for the Raiders as the final pick in the 2003 draft. He failed to make the Raiders’ regular season roster but to his credit, despite only making an NFL roster once in his career (Vikings, 2004), he has continued to be invited to NFL training camps and practice squads. He has never played in a game in the NFL. He played last season for the UFL New York Sentinels.
Anthony Dorsett played 11 seasons in the NFL but hasn’t played professional football of any kind since 2007 so his sudden re-emergence is a bit of a surprise.
Other notable former NFL star players on the Nighthawks roster include OT Shawn Andrews, RB Ahman Green, DE Charles Grant, DE Chike Okeafor, and CB Fred Smoot.
Other former Raiders on UFL rosters include:
OT Seth Wand- Florida Tuskers
WR Shawn Bayes(draft pick)- Hartford Colonials
QB Josh McCown- Hartford Colonials
QB Dante Culpepper- Sacramento Mountain Lions
TE Darrell Strong- Sacramento Mountain Lions
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