Vikings OC John DeFilippo allegedly tricked Raiders QB JaMarcus Russell

Before becoming the offensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings, John DeFilippo reportedly gave Raiders QB JaMarcus Russell a test that he did not pass.

It’s been a good year for John DeFilippo. He’s coming off a season where he was part of the Super Bowl winning Philadelphia Eagles and took a job as the offensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings after the exit of Pat Shurmur.

But things weren’t always great for DeFilippo. During the 2007 season, he was part of a struggling Oakland Raiders franchise where he was the quarterbacks coach of the number one overall draft pick out of LSU, JaMarcus Russell.

Looking back at NFL Draft history, Russell’s name comes up often as being one of the biggest draft busts in history to go first overall. But the reason behind why things didn’t work out became more clear than ever after hearing former Raiders linebacker Kirk Morrison tell a story about DeFilippo testing Russell during his rookie year.

Check out this video of Morrison talking with Rich Eisen on The Rich Eisen Show as hosted on the show’s official YouTube channel (the Filippo story starts around the 2 minute mark):

Morrison’s story seems like the kind of story that people tell, but didn’t actually happen. However, considering the situation with DeFilippo being a no-nonsense kind of coach and the staff needing to know how seriously Russell was taking his job, it’s easier to believe that this actually happened.

Minnesota Vikings

Of course, it would have been more fun to give Russell a DVD with something absolutely silly on it, like Pee Wee’s Big Adventure or Dumb and Dumber, but the story alone is enough to make fans shake their heads and laugh.

While it is easy to kick someone when they are down, hopefully Russell has cleaned up his act and is living a smart and healthy lifestyle outside of the NFL.

This is a fun story, but lot has happened since 2007 and it would be difficult to believe that DeFilippo would need to go to this kind of lengths to test the quarterbacks of the Minnesota Vikings, since Kirk Cousins, Trevor Siemien, and Kyle Sloter all have reputations for being hard workers.

If this story tells the Vikings offense anything, it is that they should always be on their toes with their new coordinator around because you never know what could be a test.

Next: 4 reasons to be excited about Kirk Cousins

Do you believe the story of John Filippo giving JaMarcus Russell a blank DVD to study before the 2007 NFL season? And, if true, what does this video do to chance your impression of Filippo? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.