Russell Walter Michna (born February 3, 1981) is a former

arena football Arena football is a variety of gridiron football designed to be played indoors. The game is played on a smaller field than American or Canadian football, designed to fit in the same surface area as a standard North American ice hockey rink, an ...

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

. A two-time league champion of the United Football League (UFL), he has played several leagues, 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),

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL), UFL and AFL. Michna also played in the

Continental Indoor Football League The Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL) was an indoor American football, indoor American football, football league based along the Midwestern United States region that played nine seasons from 2006 to 2014. It began play in April 2006 as ...

(CIFL).

Early life

Michna attended

James B. Conant High School James B. Conant High School is a public four-year high school located in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Township High School District 211, which also includes William Fremd ...

Hoffman Estates, Illinois Hoffman Estates is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is a suburb of Chicago. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 52,530. The village previously served as the headquarters for Transform Holdco L ...

and was a student and a

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

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 ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

. In football, he was an All-State selection as a senior. Russ Walter Michna graduated from

in 1999.

College career

Michna played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Western Illinois University Western Illinois University (WIU) is a public university in Macomb, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1899 as Western Illinois State Normal School. As the normal school grew, it became Western Illinois State Teachers College. Once West ...

. Michna spent his first two seasons with the Leathernecks as the backup quarterback to Sam Clemons, who guided the team to a Gateway Conference Championship in 2000. As a junior in 2002, Michna became the starter quarterback, and lead the Leathernecks to back-to-back I-AA Playoff appearances. However, Western Illinois lost to

Western Kentucky Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogniz ...

and Colgate. Michna was the Gateway Conference Offensive Player of the Year in 2002 and 2003.

College career statistics

Professional career

St. Louis Rams

After going undrafted in the

2004 NFL draft The 2004 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held from April 24–25, 2004, at the Theate ...

, Michna signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

with the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...

. He spent the 2004 season on the Rams' practice squad, but was released during training camp in 2005.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

After Michna's release from the Rams, he signed with 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 (CFL), West division. They play thei ...

of the

. After starting quarterback

Kevin Glenn Kevin Glenn, Jr. (born June 12, 1979) is an American former professional Canadian football quarterback. He was originally signed by the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League (CFL) as an undrafted free agent in 2001. He played c ...

suffered an injury, Michna saw game action when back-up

Tee Martin Tamaurice Nigel "Tee" Martin (born July 25, 1978) is an American football coach and former quarterback who is the quarterbacks coach for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as an assistant coach at th ...

was ineffective. He appeared in one game with the Blue Bombers in 2006 before he was released on August 20.

Chicago Rush (first stint)

Michna joined the

Chicago Rush The Chicago Rush were a professional arena football team based in Rosemont, Illinois. The team was founded in 2001 and played in the Arena Football League's Central Division. The Rush qualified for the playoffs in 11 of 12 AFL seasons, during w ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

in 2007, after the team was coming off a victory in

ArenaBowl XX ArenaBowl XX, held on Sunday, June 11, 2006, was played to determine the championship of the 2006 season of the Arena Football League (AFL). For the second consecutive year, the game was played at the neutral site of the Thomas & Mack Center in ...

. He spent the season as the team's second-string quarterback behind Matt D'Orazio and in the regular season, completed just two of three passes for 44 yards. However, a back injury hampered D'Orazio at the end of the season. Although, D'Orazio started both of the Rush playoff games, Michna saw action in each. In the opening game, the Rush took a 31-14 lead over the

Los Angeles Avengers The Los Angeles Avengers were an Arena Football League team based in Los Angeles, California, from 2000 through 2008. They folded on April 19, 2009. History The Los Angeles Avengers played their home games at the Staples Center, which is also t ...

, en route to a 52-20 win. This allowed D'Orazio to rest, Michna completed all six of his passes for 73 yards. The following week, on the road against the

San Jose Sabercats The San Jose SaberCats were a professional arena football team based in San Jose, California. The SaberCats had been members of the Arena Football League (AFL) since 1995 (the year in which the team was founded); and until 2015, they belonged to ...

in the conference championship, D'Orazio started, but was ineffective with the back injury. He completed just six of 18 passes with three interceptions. The Sabercats jumped out to a 28-7 lead, and Michna came in. He went 22 of 30 for 247 yards, five touchdowns to one pick, but the Rush could not complete the comeback, and fell 61-49. It was the third time the Rush met San Jose in the AFL semifinals, and second time the team lost. San Jose would go on to win ArenaBowl XXI with a 55-33 win over the

Columbus Destroyers The Columbus Destroyers were an Arena Football League (AFL) team based in Columbus, Ohio, with home games in Nationwide Arena. The team was founded in as the Buffalo Destroyers, based in Buffalo, New York, and relocated to Columbus in . They fo ...

. In 2008, D'Orazio signed with the

Philadelphia Soul Philadelphia soul, sometimes called Philly soul, the Philadelphia sound, Phillysound, or The Sound of Philadelphia (TSOP), is a genre of late 1960s–1970s soul music characterized by funk influences and lush string and horn arrangements. The ...

, and the Rush signed AFL veteran

Sherdrick Bonner Sherdrick Deon "Sed" Bonner (born October 19, 1968) is an American former professional football quarterback who played fifteen seasons in the Arena Football League (AFL). Early life Bonner attended Azusa High School in Azusa, California and was ...

, who figured to be the starter. However, Bonner got injured early in the season and Michna was named the Rush's starting quarterback. He would lead the team the rest of the way, even when Bonner got healthy. Michna finished the season with 57 touchdowns, seven interceptions and 2,721 yards on 239 completions and 351 attempts. The Rush finished the season 11-5, won the division, and for the first time in franchise history, had home field advantage for the playoffs. However, the Grand Rapids Rampage, who made the playoffs as a wild card seed with just a 6-10 record, stunned the Rush with a 58-41 upset in the Divisional Playoffs.

Chicago Slaughter

When the Arena Football League suspended operations in 2009, Michna signed with the

Chicago Slaughter The Chicago Slaughter were an American professional football team based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Having been inactive since 2013, the franchise was a part of the CIFL from 2007 to 2009, winning the championship in 2009. The Slaughter joine ...

of the CIFL, along with other Rush players and coaches Donovan Morgan, Bobby Sippio, Dennison Robinson,

DeJuan Alfonzo DeJuan R. Alfonzo (born January 12, 1977) is a former American football wide receiver/linebacker. Alfonzo attended Indiana State University. College and NFL career Alfonzo was a first-team All-American defensive back and a first team All-Ameri ...

, and Bob McMillen. Michna led the

to an undefeated record (14-0) and a CIFL Championship. He was named the CIFL Offensive Player of the week 1 time and was named league MVP. Not only had he led the Chicago Slaughter to their first undefeated season, he had also led the

to its first championship. Michna has also broken the record for most touchdowns in a game (twice, the second time he broke his own record.)

Las Vegas Locomotives

Michna was signed by the

Las Vegas Locomotives The Las Vegas Locomotives (called the Locos for short) were a professional American football team based in Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas, Nevada that played in the United Football League (2009–2012), United Football League. The team played their ...

of the United Football League on August 31, 2009 and served as a back-up during the Locos championship run. Although cut before the season began, Michna returned to the Locos in 2010 when an injury to

Tim Rattay Timothy F. Rattay (; born March 15, 1977) is an American American football, football coach and former player who is an offensive analyst for the LSU Tigers football, LSU Tigers. Prior to becoming a coach, Rattay played as a quarterback in the Na ...

opened a slot as back-up again on the Locos' roster.

Chicago Rush (second stint)

Michna was re-signed by the Rush on January 2, 2010. He was once again the team's starting quarterback. In fourteen contests, he completed 290 of 423 passes for 3,860 yards, 70 touchdowns and 11 interceptions for a quarterback rating of 126.0. It was good enough to finish second in the league in passer rating, behind Milwaukee Iron quarterback

Chris Greisen Christopher J. Greisen (born July 2, 1976) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL), NFL Europe, Arena Football League (AFL), and United Football League (UFL). He is the current co ...

, who would sign with the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

at the end of the year. For the 2011 season, he switched his jersey number from 8 to 12, which he wore in college. Michna led the Rush to a 9-3 record before suffering an ankle injury. In 12 games, he put up 2,896 yards, 66 touchdowns, 13 interceptions and completed 236 of 354 passes for a 116.0 rating.

San Jose SaberCats

On April 22, 2013, the

San Jose SaberCats The San Jose SaberCats were a professional arena football team based in San Jose, California. The SaberCats had been members of the Arena Football League (AFL) since 1995 (the year in which the team was founded); and until 2015, they belonged to ...

announced that they have been assigned Michna on a two-year contract. San Jose also placed quarterback Aaron Garcia on recallable reassignment, and later traded him to Orlando, to make room on the 24-man roster.

References

External links

*
Stats Crew profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Michna, Russ 1981 births Living people People from Elk Grove Village, Illinois Players of American football from Illinois American football quarterbacks Players of Canadian football from Illinois Canadian football quarterbacks Western Illinois Leathernecks football players St. Louis Rams players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players Chicago Rush players Chicago Slaughter players Las Vegas Locomotives players San Jose SaberCats players James B. Conant High School alumni