Matthew Jason Russell (born July 5, 1973) 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 ...

executive and former player who is a senior personnel executive for 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 ...

of the

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(NFL). He formerly served as the director of player personnel for the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

of the NFL. Russell played as a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

in the NFL for a single season. He played

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for the

Colorado Buffaloes The Colorado Buffaloes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Colorado Boulder. The university sponsors 16 varsity sports teams. Both the men's and women's teams are called the Buffaloes (Buffs for short) or, rarely, the Golden ...

, earning consensus

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors and winning the

Butkus Award The Butkus Award, instituted in 1985 by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, is given annually to the top linebackers at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of football. The award, named in honor of College Football Hall of Fame ...

as the top linebacker in America. He played professionally for the NFL's

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

from 1997 to 1999.

Early life

Russell was born in

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

.National Football League, Historical Players
Matt Russell
Retrieved February 2, 2012. He lived in

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and various parts of the

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as a child. He attended Belleville High School-East in

Belleville, Illinois Belleville is a city in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. It is a southeastern suburb of St. Louis. The population was 42,404 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the most populated city in the Me ...

,databaseFootball.com, Players, . Retrieved February 2, 2012. and played for the Belleville East Lancers

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team.

College career

Russell attended the

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University o ...

, where he started at linebacker for the

Colorado Buffaloes football The Colorado Buffaloes football program represents the University of Colorado Boulder in college football at the NCAA Division I FBS level, and is a member of the Big 12 Conference. The team was a charter member of the Big 12 before leaving to jo ...

team from 1993 to 1996. He finished his collegiate career ranked first in school history in unassisted tackles (282) and second in total tackles (446). He received all-conference honors during each of his final two seasons with the Buffaloes. As a senior in 1996, he was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American and won the

as the nation's best college linebacker after posting a career-high 137 tackles. He was selected as a member of CU's Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2012.

Professional career

The Detroit Lions selected Russell in the fourth round (130th pick overall) of the 1997 NFL draft. He played in fourteen regular season games for the Lions in and earned all-rookie honors along his college teammate

Rae Carruth Rae Theotis Carruth (born Rae Lamar Wiggins; January 20, 1974) is an American former professional football player who was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder. He played as a wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football ...

.Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players
Matt Russell
Retrieved February 2, 2012. He was expected to compete for a starting linebacker position with

Stephen Boyd William Millar (4 July 1931 – 2 June 1977), better known by his stage name Stephen Boyd, was an actor from Northern Ireland. He emerged as a leading man during the late 1950s with his role as the villainous Messala in '' Ben-Hur'' (19 ...

following the departure of

Pepper Johnson Thomas "Pepper" Johnson (born July 29, 1964) is an American football coach and former linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, the first seven of which were for the New York Giants. He won two Super Bowls with t ...

. In , Russell injured his knee during the opening kickoff of the first preseason game against the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

, and was lost for the season to

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

. He had also suffered a season ending knee injury the year before. Knee injuries eventually forced him to retire after the 1999 season.

Post-playing career

Russell spent the 2000 season as a graduate assistant coach for

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, helping to instruct the Buffaloes’ linebackers. While a member of the Detroit Lions, Russell befriended Lions scout Tom Dimitroff, who later worked for the

Patriots A patriot is a person with the quality of patriotism. Patriot(s) or The Patriot(s) may also refer to: Political and military groups United States * Patriot (American Revolution), those who supported the cause of independence in the American R ...

and hired Russell as a scout for the Patriots in December 2000.

New England Patriots

Russell served as a scout for the club during the 2001 season and worked as an area scout for the team from 2003 to 2005. Russell is credited for persuading

Scott Pioli Scott Pioli (born March 31, 1965) is an American professional football executive who currently serves as a consultant for the Iowa Hawkeyes. He was an NFL analyst for NBC Sports' ''Football Night in America'', NBC Sports Network's Pro Football T ...

and the New England Patriots to draft

Matt Cassel Matthew Brennan Cassel (born May 17, 1982) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. He was a member of seven NFL teams, most notably the New England Patriots and Ka ...

Philadelphia Eagles

Russell was hired by the Eagles in 2006 as a scout. He spent the 2008 season as the national scout for the Eagles after scouting the Western region for the club from 2006 to 2007.

Denver Broncos

Russell was hired by the Broncos in 2009 as Director of College Scouting, and was promoted to Director of Player Personnel in January 2012. As director of player personnel, Russell is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the pro personnel and college scouting departments for the Broncos. Since his ascension to director of player personnel in 2012, the Broncos overhauled the majority of their roster, developing depth and competition through free agency and the draft. Denver posted the third-most regular-season wins (64) in the NFL from 2012 to 2017, while capturing four

AFC West The American Football Conference – Western Division or AFC West is one of the four divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The division comprises the Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, ...

Division titles, two AFC Championships and a victory in

Super Bowl 50 Super Bowl 50 was an American football game to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2015 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos defeated the National Football Conference (NFC) ...

. On July 6, 2013, while celebrating his 40th birthday, Russell was arrested for DUI. He was suspended indefinitely without pay by the Broncos, but was reinstated after 60 days. He left the Broncos organization following the 2020 season.

Philadelphia Eagles (second stint)

On May 11, 2022, Russell was hired by the

to serve as a senior personnel executive in the scouting department.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Matt 1975 births Living people All-American college football players American football linebackers Colorado Buffaloes football players Detroit Lions players New England Patriots scouts