Tyler Ryan Russell (born December 6, 1990) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

. He had 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 ...

from

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2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

for

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Unive ...

, where he placed fifth on the Bulldogs' career passing list with 5,441 passing yards, and third on the career passing touchdowns list with 42.

Early years

Russell attended Meridian High School, located in

Meridian, Mississippi Meridian is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, seventh largest city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, with a population of 41,148 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census and an estimated population in 2018 of 36,347. It is the count ...

. As a senior in 2008, he led his team to the Mississippi 5A State Championship, where they snapped South Panola's 89-game winning streak dating back to 2003. Russell was named 2008's Mr. Football by

The Clarion-Ledger ''The Clarion Ledger'' is an American daily newspaper in Jackson, Mississippi. It is the second-oldest company in the state of Mississippi, and is one of the few newspapers in the nation that continues to circulate statewide. It is an operating d ...

. He was also named a Parade All-American. Russell was rated as a four-star recruit by ''247sports.com'', ''

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

'', and ''

Scout.com Scout Media is an integrated sports publishing company that produces Internet content covering hundreds of professional and college teams across America. The company was founded in 2001 and was acquired by Fox Sports in 2005. In 2013, Fox Sports ...

''. He chose to attend

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univer ...

over offers from

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

and

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

College career

True freshman season (2009)

Russell

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

. Mississippi State head coach

Dan Mullen Dan Mullen (born April 27, 1972) is a former college football player and coach, and current television analyst with the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) and ESPN. He served as the head football coach at Mississippi State University from 2 ...

almost inserted him in the Bulldogs' loss to

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

but decided against it preserving Russell's eligibility.

Redshirt freshman season (2010)

Russell appeared in 9 games in

, serving as the primary backup to quarterback

Chris Relf Christopher L. Relf (born May 26, 1989) is an American football quarterback. He played college football for the Mississippi State University Bulldogs. High school Relf passed for 1,400 yards and 13 touchdowns at Carver High School in Montgom ...

. In his debut, he threw for 256 yards and a school record-tying 4 touchdown passes in a 49–7 rout of

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

. His performance even earned him one vote in ESPN's

Heisman The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and har ...

Watch list. However, as the backup, he played sporadically over the season, only throwing for over 100 yards one more time, in a 49–16 defeat of .

Sophomore season (2011)

Russell began the

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season again serving as Relf's backup and only appeared in two of the Bulldogs' first five games. However, after the Bulldogs went into halftime down 3–0 to UAB, Russell played quarterback in the second half, throwing three touchdown passes and leading the Bulldogs to a 21–3 victory. Russell played the entire game the next week, a 14–12 loss to

, and split time with Relf over the rest of the season.

Junior season (2012)

Russell won the starting job in

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and played the majority of snaps in all 13 games. The season saw the Bulldogs start out 7–0 before limping to an 8–5 finish. Russell threw for a career-high 295 yards in a loss at

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

and again tied the school record with 4 touchdown passes in a 45–14 win over

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

. Over the 2012 season, Russell threw for 2,897 yards and 24 touchdowns, both of which were school records until

Dak Prescott Rayne Dakota Prescott (born July 29, 1993) is an American football quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Mississippi State, where he twice received first-team All- SEC honors, a ...

broke both in 2014.

Senior season (2013)

Russell was named one of the captains for the Bulldogs' 2013 season. He began the season as the starting quarterback, but left the opener against

Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

after a concussion. He was replaced by Dak Prescott and only played sporadically for most of the rest of the season, although he did start late-season games against

and

after Prescott was sidelined with a shoulder injury. Russell left the Arkansas game after injuring his shoulder and did not appear in any more games during the season.

Statistics

Professional career

Russell was signed to the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fiel ...

practice roster on August 19, 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Tyler 1990 births Living people American football quarterbacks Mississippi State Bulldogs football players Players of American football from Mississippi Sportspeople from Meridian, Mississippi