Oakland Raiders: When Bubbles Burst, It's Like an NFL Bust

The history books will record the fact that JaMarcus Russell's bust is one of the biggest in NFL history. In the "Hall of NFL Busts," there are several players:

Ryan Leaf

Ki-Jana Carter

Akili Smith

Tony Mandarich

Charles Rogers

Heath Shuler

Blair Thomas

The word "bust" reminds me of the phenomena of a bubble. A bubble bursts (in my community, we grew up saying "busted bubble") when the pressure on the inside of the bubble is not equal to the pressure on the surface area outside of the bubble.

Let the word "pressure" be associated with "productivity." Let it also be represented by "worth" or "value" when connected to the efforts outside of a player.

So when the "productivity" of an NFL player (pressure on the inside or his innate talent and productivity) is not equal to the value or worth attributed to him by the owner of the franchise, that, ladies and gentlemen, is a bust or a bursted bubble!

Sometimes the busts occur because of low productivity. At other times, it is because of an injury-prone player.

In either case, the comparisons of the potential and talent that should be transformed to productivity are faulty.

In engineering, to protect an entity from failure you sometimes have to build a "fail-safe system," or a backup.

In the future, either a new strategy for rewarding potential and productivity or a salary cap need to be established to avoid a waste of time and money in the NFL.

So, just remember that more players than Ryan Leaf need to be compared to JaMarcus Russell. Carter, Smith, Mandarich, Rogers, Shuler, and Thomas are also members of the "Hall of NFL Busts."

Finally, an NFL bust is a failure. It is also a player who can help cause a franchise to go bankrupt. It means that the owners have invested heartily in the player, and the player's productivity is below par.

Decisions have been made. Adjustments are being enacted. We expect a more productive team in 2010.

Go Raiders!