Steamwheelers Land Four-Time All-American, Former Davenport Assumption Star
July 14, 2004 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Quad City Steamwheelers News Release
DAVENPORT, Iowa â Quad City Steamwheelers coach Rich Ingold is trying to prove every National Football League coach wrong. How does an arenafootball2 coach do that? Ingold is trying to prove to the NFL that Blue Grass, Iowa native and former Western Illinois linebacker Lee Russell can play football at the professional level.
Russell has received plenty of interest from countless NFL teams, but none have acted upon it. But don't let his 5-foot-10, 218 pounds, size fool you.
Russell has been considered one of the best to ever play for the Leathernecks.
Ever since Russell set foot on the Western Illinois campus, he has made an impact. After red-shirting the 1999 season, Russell went on to record 480 tackles (317 solo) in his career, 58 of the going for a loss.
Russell also recorded 16 sacks, 19 pass breakups, six interceptions, forced 10 fumbles, and recovered a school record 10 fumbles. He had two safeties as well.
His senior year in 2003, he finished fifth in the Buck Buchanan Award voting, was named a first team All-American selection by College Sports Television and The Sports Network. He was named second team All-American by the Associated Press and CollegeSportsReport.com. He was also named to the Gateway Conference All-Academic and All-Conference teams.
In 2002, he was named first team All-Gateway Conference and third team All-American by the Sports Network. In 2001, he was named to the All-American honorable mention list by the Football Gazette and to the All-Gateway Conference Second Team. In his freshman year, he was the Gateway Conference Freshman of the Year, second team All-Conference and named to the Gateway Conference all-newcomer team.
All of that added with Russell's flashy 4.4-second 40-yard dash speed was still not enough to woo over a signing with an NFL team.
Ingold initially contacted Russell towards the end of June, but Russell was still hoping that something was going to develop in the NFL. But that call never came. Russell then met with Ingold prior to the Steamwheelers departure for Tennessee Valley last Thursday. The meeting was successful, and Ingold elected to bring Russell in for a two-day tryout once the team returned back from taking on the Vipers.
When the Steamwheelers returned to practice on Tuesday, Russell was in shoulder pads and a helmet itching to get back to playing the game he loves, despite only being removed for a short period of time. After a 15-minute one-on-one session between Russell and other fullback/linebackers and linemen, Ingold decided that despite Russell's size, the fullback/linebacker position was perfect for him given his almost amazing quickness and speed.
For most of the rest of the practice, Russell then began to learn the Steamwheelers offensive and defensive plays and formations and familiarized himself with the game of Arena Football.
After practice was over, Ingold told Russell to meet him in the office Wednesday morning to fill out the proper paperwork in order for the arenafootball2 league office to officially assign Russell to the Steamwheelers.
Late Wednesday afternoon, Russell was officially assigned to the Steamwheelers, making him eligible for this weekend's game against the Birmingham Steeldogs. Russell will be in uniform wearing jersey #1, slightly different than the #43 that he has been wearing most of his football-playing career.
Russell is very familiar to the Quad Cities, having grown up in Blue Grass, Iowa, and graduated from Davenport Assumption High School in 1999. While there, he lettered in five sports â football (four years), baseball (three years), wrestling (three years), track (three years) and basketball (one year).
In football, he was named to the Elite All-State and All-American team as well as being named the Quad City Times Athlete of the Year. He is the son of Hal and Cindy Russell and graduated from Western Illinois with a degree in bioeducation, playing for former, long-time Hayden Fry offensive coordinator and assistant head coach Donny Patterson.
Russell and the rest of the Steamwheelers will have a tough test this Saturday when the Steeldogs come to town. The game will match the fifth-ranked Steeldogs and tenth-ranked Steamwheelers (in the latest Coaches' Poll) in a big game for both teams.
Both teams are coming off of losses and need wins to help move a step closer to a playoff berth. The game is set to kickoff at 7:30 p.m. at The MARK of the Quad Cities. Good tickets are still available and can be purchased through TicketMaster by calling 563-326-1111 or by visiting www.ticketmaster.com.
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