Josh McCown
(Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

Back when he was just on his third team, New York Jets QB Josh McCown was in for a big surprise from the 2007 draft’s top pick during a team meeting.

It literally paid to be Josh McCown on a fateful day at the Oakland Raiders facility in 2007.

The arrival of rookies often gives way to hazing rituals, one of the more innocent portions of which has been talent shows in which first-year players will showcase their stuff, be it singing, magic, acting, or anything in between.

JaMarcus Russell, the top overall pick of the 2007 NFL Draft and McCown’s teammate in Oakland at the time, had a very particular set of skills.

More or less “buying” his way out of the festivities, the quarterback from LSU had a different idea entirely.

Relaying a story from former linebacker Kirk Morrison, Twitter user “The Anonymous Nobody” (@el_budget) explained how Russell went to the front of the team gathering with a backpack full of cash. What happened next was priceless.

“(H)e walked up to the front of the meeting room w/ a book bag full of (cash emoji),” @el_budget explains “(He) made it rain on his teammates.”

Though holding out of training camp, a departure that would extend to the first week of the regular season, Russell would go on to sign a $61 million deal over six years.

Responses to Russell’s gesture were mixed on social media. NFL Network Ian Rapoport approved of the move, while several fans mockingly joked that Russell, often considered one of the biggest draft busts in NFL history, was perhaps wishing that he still had the bag to this day.

Another noted fan was McCown, the current New York Jets quarterback who was on his third team when he arrived in 2007. Replying to Rapaport’s tweet, McCown remarked that sitting in the front row was a good move.

McCown wound up starting nine games in his only season as a Raider, throwing for 1,151 yards and 10 touchdowns. When the Raiders decided to make Russell the full-time starter the year after, McCown moved on to Carolina.

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