The ring’s the thing Friday. While the NFL champion Green Bay Packers received their Super Bowl rings Thursday in a private ceremony, the big ring news today is the release of the new movie Green Lantern.

Almost there. We’re just two days away from the spring’s biggest sporting event (Stanley Cup, NBA Finals? Ugh.) In a couple more nights we’ll all be seeing how far a certain (iconic?) quarterback falls, if Chan the man (Gailey, of course) is comfortable with an Ivy Leaguer under center, and what the two Johns (Fox and Elway) do in the two-hole.

Taking a quarterback early in the draft is pro football’s biggest gamble.

The Raiders have parted ways with guard Robert Gallery, who was regarded as one of the bigger draft disappointments in Raiders history. But was he the biggest?

One of the more intriguing names in the upcoming 2011 NFL Draft is Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton. Not only regarding where he’ll be drafted, but the inevitable comparisons to failed (so far) quarterbacks JaMarcus Russell and Vince Young.

JaMarcus Russell no longer is on the Omaha Nighthawks’ provisional roster.

Has JaMarcus Russell landed with a professional football team?

In light of his recent arrest, is there enough football upside for JaMarcus Russell to still have a future in the NFL?

Michael Lombardi appeared on NFL Total Access on Monday, telling host Fran Charles that he believes JaMarcus Russell‘s arrest for possession of a controlled substance likely marks the end of the road for the former Raiders QB in the NFL.

The presumption has been that, at some point, JaMarcus Russell will end up on an NFL roster. No one can really say when, and it’s more likely to be later rather than sooner, but still … eventually.

You might conclude, by JaMarcus Russell‘s ill-fated stint with the Raiders, that the former first-overall selection did not have the heart of a champion.

But he apparently has guts.

NFL Network insider Michael Lombardi’s message to the Raiders as they try to recoup $9.5 million in guarantees from JaMarcus Russell? Good luck with that.

Wednesday’s surprise name to be making the rounds in the news: Darrius Heyward-Bey.

The Bengals have a history, a still-growing history, of giving players second chances. So maybe it shouldn’t have been all that surprising Tuesday when speculation begin filtering into the NFL newsroom that the recently released JaMarcus Russell could be Cincinnati-bound.

On Friday, pundits on NFL Network and NFL.com speculated about where QB JaMarcus Russell would end up after his release from the Raiders on Thursday.