Fred Russell (born September 14, 1980) is a former American football player. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

as a running back at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

. He twice rushed for more than 1,000 yards in a season, was a first-team running back on the 2002 All-Big Ten Conference football team, and was selected as the most valuable player in the

2004 Outback Bowl The 2004 Outback Bowl featured the Florida Gators and the Iowa Hawkeyes. It was the 18th edition of the Outback Bowl. Summary Florida scored early in the game, with quarterback Chris Leak throwing a 70-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Kelv ...

High school

Russell played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

Romulus High School Romulus Senior High School or Romulus High School is the public high school in the city of Romulus, Michigan in Metro Detroit. History In 2013 Inkster High School closed due to the closure of the Inkster School District. Students in the Ink ...

Romulus, Michigan Romulus is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 23,989 at the 2010 census. Romulus is a western suburb of Metro Detroit and is also considered part of the Downriver collection of communities. It is most nota ...

. He rushed for more than 5,000 yards and 85 touchdowns.

Iowa

Russell was the starting running back for the

2002 Iowa Hawkeyes football team The 2002 Iowa Hawkeyes football team represented the University of Iowa during the 2002 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Hawkeyes played their home games at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa and were led by head coach Kirk Ferentz. Iow ...

that tied for the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

championship, played in the Orange Bowl, and was ranked No. 8 in the final

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

. Russell rushed for 1,264 yards and nine touchdowns on 220 carries during the 2002 season. At the end of the season, Russell was selected by Big Ten coaches as a first-team running back on the 2002 All-Big Ten Conference football team. In 2003, Russell was again the starting running back for an Iowa team that compiled a 10–3 record, defeated Florida in the Outback Bowl, and was ranked No. 8 in the final AP Poll. Russell rushed for 1,355 yards and seven touchdowns on 282 carries during the 2003 season. He was selected by both the coaches and media a second-team running back on the

2003 All-Big Ten Conference football team The 2003 All-Big Ten Conference football team consists of American football players chosen as All-Big Ten Conference players for the 2003 Big Ten Conference football season. The conference recognizes two official All-Big Ten selectors: (1) the Big ...

. In the

, Russell's final game for Iowa, he rushed for 150 yards, scored a touchdown, and was named the game's most valuable player in a 37-17 victory over Florida. He was also named the most valuable player in the 2004

Hula Bowl The Hula Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game held annually, usually in January. From inception through the 2021 playing, it was held in Hawaii; since the 2022 edition, it has been played in Orlando, Florida. The game was first st ...

. At the end of his college career, and despite receiving significant playing time in only two seasons, Russell ranked third on the Iowa career rushing list. He also had two of the top five single-season rushing totals in Iowa history.

Professional football

In 2004, Russell was part of the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

' practice squad. In 2007, Russell signed a contract with the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

. He was released on July 3, 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Fred 1980 births Living people People from Romulus, Michigan Players of American football from Michigan American football running backs Canadian football running backs American players of Canadian football Saskatchewan Roughriders players Iowa Hawkeyes football players Miami Dolphins players Chicago Bears players St. Louis Rams players Cologne Centurions (NFL Europe) players