All Entries Tagged With: "Gary Russell"
Russell Resurfaces with Raiders
Apparently, two teams in the the AFC West believe that the division will be decided this year by the number of running backs that a given team has under contract. At a time when the Broncos are hoarding tailbacks, the Raiders keep adding more to the roster as well. The latest addition is Gary Russell, [...]
Russell Checks In
Darrin Simmons, the Bengals special teams coach with the freeze-frame memory, knew right where to go to begin his in-depth study of Gary Russell this week. He clicked his computer to last Nov. 20, when the Bengals played the Steelers, the game where Simmons knew Russell corked off one of the two longest kick returns [...]
Bengals Claim Russell
The man who scored the Steelers’ first touchdown in their February Super Bowl victory is the newest Bengal and it could impact next week’s draft. Cincinnati picked running back Gary Russell off waivers Friday after he played in 15 games last season, including the postseason, and had five rushing touchdowns. The 5-11, 215-pound Russell was [...]
Russell’s struggles make Super Bowl trip sweeter
In the midst of celebration, Gary Russell remembers tougher times. In six days, the Walnut Ridge High School graduate will play for the Pittsburgh Steelers against the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII. For the Steelers, trips to the Super Bowl are old hat. For Russell, it is the culmination of an unlikely journey. “I [...]
Russell finally gets to play in ultimate bowl
Matt Spaeth and Gary Russell were new to the NFL when the Steelers reported to Latrobe, Pa., for the first training camp of the Mike Tomlin era. It was 2007 and Spaeth was, at best, the team’s third tight end. Russell was, at best, a Hail Mary shot to survive beyond the third preseason game. [...]
Get Gary the Ball, He’s Earned It
Ignoring the obvious example of interchangable running backs in Baltimore and Oakland, and reference to the Cardinals humorous attempt at the wishbone in Week 12, clearly the moving trend in the NFL is no longer a two-back set. Many teams are using three now, and Pittsburgh can be said they were among the leaders of [...]
Russell Making Most of Opportunity
When the Steelers released Gary Russell in September, some felt it might be the beginning of the end for the NFL long shot. The Steelers re-signed Russell to their practice squad, but with a depth chart that included Pro Bowl running back Willie Parker, first-round draft pick Rashard Mendenhall and free agent-signee Mewelde Moore ahead [...]
Russell Becomes Dual Threat
The person most surprised by the Steelers’ longest kickoff return of the season may well have been the guy who flashed through an opening in a 27-10 win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday night and ran over kicker Shayne Graham on the way to a 43-yard gain. “That’s for a fast guy,” Steelers running [...]
Russell in Line for Larger Role
A good deal of the Steelers’ recent offensive troubles can be traced to the failure of a longtime staple of this smash-mouth franchise: the short-yardage game. But the Steelers believe they might have found an answer Sunday in seldom-used running back Gary Russell. Russell twice converted third-and-short situations in the second half of the Steelers’ [...]
