Darrell Russell (American football)

Darrell Russell

Darrell Russell while with the Oakland Raiders.
Position(s) Defensive tackle Jersey #(s) 96
Born	May 27, 1976(1976-05-27) Pensacola, Florida
Died	December 15, 2005(2005-12-15) (aged 29) Los Angeles, California
Career information
Year(s)	1997–2003
NFL Draft	1997 / Round: 1 / Pick: 2
College	Southern California
Professional teams
Oakland Raiders (1997–2001) Washington Redskins (2003) Tampa Bay Buccaneers* (2004) *Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career stats
Sacks	28.5
Interceptions	3
Games played	83
Stats at NFL.com
Career highlights and awards
2× Pro Bowl selection (1998, 1999) 2× All-Pro selection (1998, 1999)

Darrell Anthony Russell, Jr. (May 27, 1976 – December 15, 2005) was an American football defensive lineman for the Oakland Raiders and Washington Redskins of the National Football League who died in a car crash near Los Angeles after being indefinitely banned from the NFL for repeated violations of the league's substance abuse policy.

Early life

Darrell Anthony Russell, Jr. was born in Pensacola, Florida.^[1][2] His mother, Eleanor Russell, divorced in 1986 from Darrell Anthony Russell Sr. when their only child was nine years old, and moved from Florida to Southern California.^[2] Russell grew up in a rough part of San Diego just a few blocks from Lincoln Kennedy. Russell graduated from St. Augustine High School.

College career

Russell attended the University of Southern California and was taken second overall in the 1997 NFL Draft by the Raiders. At 6-foot-5-inch (196 cm), 320-pounds Russell ran the 40-yard dash in 4.8 seconds.^[2]

Professional career

Russell's seven-year, $22 million contract in 1997 was at the time the richest rookie contract ever signed in the NFL.^[3]

He went on to have 28.5 career sacks. After making the Pro Bowl in 1998 and 1999, averaging ten sacks per year, Russell was suspended four games in 2001 for failing to comply with the NFL's drug policy. Shortly after that, he tested positive for another banned substance and was given a one-year suspension that later was made indefinite by the league.

Russell's positive drug test in 2004 was his seventh infraction of the league's policy. Russell missed 1½ years while serving two league suspensions before he played in eight games in 2003 for the Washington Redskins. His last NFL experience was in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers training camp in 2004.^[4]

Personal

He was accused in 2002 of videotaping the rape of a woman—who had been drugged with GHB—by two friends, but prosecutors dropped the charges.^[3]

Death

On December 15, 2005, Russell was a passenger in a 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix driven by close friend and ex-teammate Michael Bastianelli when it veered out of control, hitting several items including a tree and a fire hydrant before hitting a parked bus. Both men were found unconscious and taken to area hospitals, where they were pronounced dead.^[3]

References

1. ^ "Darrell Russell". ESPN. http://m.espn.go.com/nfl/playerinfo?playerId=1221. Retrieved December 31, 2010. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} Berkow, Ira (April 20, 1997). "A Life Change for Mother and Son". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D05E6DA163EF933A15757C0A961958260. Retrieved December 31, 2010. 
3. ^ ^{a b c} Gay, Nancy (December 16, 2005). "Ex-Raider killed in crash: Troubled DT was trying to change life". San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2005/12/16/SPGLDG941A1.DTL. 
4. ^ Stroud, Rick (July 14, 2004). "Bucs release defensive tackle Russell". St. Petersburg Times. http://www.sptimes.com/2004/07/14/Bucs/Bucs_release_defensiv.shtml. 

External links

Biography portal

• "Darrell Russell". Find a Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=12688629. Retrieved August 28, 2010. 

Persondata
Name	Russell, Darrell
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	May 27, 1976
Place of birth
Date of death	December 15, 2005
Place of death