Brady Russell (born August 31, 1998) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

fullback for the Seattle Seahawks of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

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for the Colorado Buffaloes and was signed by the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

as an undrafted free agent in .

Early life

Russell was born on August 31, 1998, at

Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and is one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the United States. It is on the Southern California coast in San Diego County and is bordered by ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Several of his family members were also involved in athletics: his father, Randy, and uncle, Marc Booth, both played

for the

Arkansas Razorbacks The Arkansas Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Fayetteville. The University of Arkans ...

; his uncle,

Matt Matt may refer to: *Matt (name), people with the given name ''Matt'' or Matthew, meaning "gift from God", or the surname Matt *In British English, of a surface: having a non-glossy finish, see gloss (material appearance) *Matt, Switzerland, a mu ...

, played for the Colorado Buffaloes and is an executive with the

; his brother, Cody, played for the Northern Colorado Bears and another brother, Tyler, ran track at

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

. Russell attended Fossil Ridge High School in

Fort Collins, Colorado Fort Collins is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality in Larimer County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The population was 169,810 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, an i ...

, initially being a track athlete before switching to football and playing

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

as well as some

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

. He was the team's

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

as both a junior and

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

, twice earning first-team All-Front Range League honors on defense, as well as one second-team selection on offense. He was a two-star recruit and opted to walk-on at Football Bowl Subdivision Colorado rather than accept a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...

offer from

Football Championship Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Bowl Subdivision (F ...

Northern Colorado.

College career

As a true

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

at Colorado in 2017, Russell spent time learning how to play outside linebacker and tight end, quickly being made the latter while spending the season on the scout team. He was named Colorado's 2017 Offensive Scout Player of the Year. He impressed in

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in 2018 and was given a scholarship prior to the regular season, despite it taking most walk-ons at minimum three years to earn it, if ever. Russell was placed second on the depth chart to begin the 2018 season. He totaled five receptions for 41 yards on the year. In 2019, Russell made 23 catches for 221 yards with two

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s, exceeding the amount of catches made by Colorado tight ends in the prior three years (18). The following year, he was named team

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

, but suffered an injury in the second game that sidelined him for the season. He had his best season in 2021, recording a team-leading 25 receptions for 307 yards while being a nominee for the Burlsworth Trophy, given to the best player who started his career as a walk-on. Russell returned for a final year in 2022 and posted 20 catches for 153 yards with no scores. He finished his stint at the school with 78 receptions for 799 yards with three touchdowns.

Professional career

Philadelphia Eagles

After going unselected in the 2023 NFL draft, Russell was signed by the

as an undrafted free agent. He was waived on August 29, 2023 and re-signed to the practice squad.

Seattle Seahawks

Russell was signed off the Eagles' practice squad to the 53-man roster of the Seattle Seahawks on September 20, 2023. He played in 15 games for Seattle, logging 7 tackles while playing 2% of the team's offensive snaps. Russell made 11 appearances for the Seahawks in 2024, playing mostly on special teams. On January 2, 2025, Russell was placed on injured reserve with a foot injury, ending his season. On April 9, 2025, Russell signed his exclusive rights free agent contract with the Seahawks. During the 2025 off-season, Russell changed positions from tight end to fullback under new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, who planned to use the position in a greater capacity than previous offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb.https://sports.mynorthwest.com/nfl/seattle-seahawks/seattle-seahawks-brady-russell-move-tight-end-fullback/1808195 With Grubb as their offensive coordinator the Seahawks had not carried an official fullback during the 2024 season.

References

External links

Seattle Seahawks bio

Colorado Boulder Buffaloes bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Brady 1998 births Living people American football tight ends Players of American football from Colorado Players of American football from San Diego Colorado Buffaloes football players American football defensive ends Philadelphia Eagles players Seattle Seahawks players