Brian William Russell (born February 5, 1978 in West Covina, California) is an American football player who currently plays safety for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League.
Russell played at Bishop Amat High School in La Puente, California. His team won the Del Rey League championship in 1993, 1994, and 1995. As a senior quarterback, he led the team to the 1995 CIF Division I title. He was named All-Del Rey League and won the MVP trophy at the annual East-West All-Star Game.
Despite his success in high school, he was not highly recruited by Division I-A college teams because of his perceived lack of arm strength. He spent his freshman season (1996) at Penn, where he became the first quarterback in the history of the school to start as a freshman. He played in 10 games (starting two); he finished the season with 27 completions in 43 attempts for 320 yards, with four touchdowns and four interceptions. However, Russell wanted to play at the Division I-A level, and he felt that Philadelphia was too far from his home in Southern California. He convinced Ted Tollner to give him a scholarship at San Diego State.
Russell redshirted during the 1997 season. He took over as San Diego State's starting quarterback in the second game of the 1998 season (replacing injured starter Spencer Brinton). Russell quarterbacked the Aztecs the rest of the season and led them to the Las Vegas Bowl, the school's first bowl appearance in seven seasons. Noteably, he totaled five rushing touchdowns in the season, the most by an SDSU quarterback since 1981.
Russell began the 1998 year as the team's starting QB, but he struggled early in the season and was replaced by JUCO transfer Jack Hawley. Because of his excellent athleticism, Tollner moved Russell to free safety on the defense where he played alongside safety Will Demps. In his first game as a defender, he made 10 tackles, including three straight solo stops. His senior season (1999) was solid: he made 68 tackles (41 solo), recovered two fumbles, and intercepted one pass while splitting time between the safety and cornerback positions. For his efforts, he was named Honorable Mention All-Mountain West Conference.
He was never drafted by an NFL team, but Russell signed a non-guaranteed contract with the Minnesota Vikings in 2001. He spent the entire 2001 season on the team's practice squad. Head coach Dennis Green decided to cut Russell, but defensive coordinator Willie Shaw convinced Green to give Russell a chance to play. Russell played mostly special teams in 2002, but did see enough action at strong safety to make his first career interception (against the Chicago Bears in his first career start).
Russell was spectacular in 2003. He became a full-time starter and recorded an interception in each of Minnesota's first six games. He finished the regular season with nine interceptions, tied for the most in the NFL. His best game of the season was against the Kansas City Chiefs, where he tied a team record with three takeaways (two interceptions and the first fumble recovery of his career).
In 2004, Russell moved to free safety. He started all 16 games for the second consecutive season, but only had one interception. However, he did set a new career high with 111 tackles, and the Vikings beat the Green Bay Packers in the NFC playoffs before losing to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Russell joined the Cleveland Browns as a restricted free agent in 2005. For the third straight season, he started all 16 regular season games. He finished with 70 tackles and three interceptions. His statistics declined the following year: he totaled 51 tackles and one interception in 12 games before an elbow injury ended his season.
In 2007, Russell signed with the Seattle Seahawks as an unrestricted free agent. Head coach Mike Holmgren said that he wanted Russell to be the "quarterback of the defense" for his team. Russell made 68 tackles and added an interception in 16 starts.
