Deep Down He Is Nuts Colorado Defensive Standout Matt Russell Displays Zaniness On And Off The Field

Without question, Matt Russell is the world’s craziest politically conservative middle linebacker still living with his retired-military parents.

Heckuva football player, too.

The University of Colorado’s best defensive player revels in his wild-man reputation. From the weightlifting pit-bull tattooed on his left pectoral to being ejected for unnecessary roughness on the third play of the first fall scrimmage, Russell makes no apologies.

Completing the disguise are frequent haircuts that range from the creative to the unintelligible. As CU coach Rick Neuheisel put it, “All I know is it looks like an island green, and all I want to do is drop a couple of Titleists on his head and work on my short game.”

Playing middle linebacker on the nation’s fifth-ranked football team only reinforces the image.

Underneath, Russell is more the momma’s boy, having developed a special bond with his parents and older brother during a nomadic upbringing that was part of life in a military family.

So when Russell’s father retired as an Air Force colonel, Matt suggested his parents move to Boulder for his senior season. And share the same house, if you can imagine.

“Yeah, he’s living with his mom and dad,” Neuheisel confirmed. “Doesn’t quite fit the bill that you’d heard, huh?”

Russell picked out the house over the summer. He lives in the basement, his parents upstairs. So far, so good - Russell has yet to be grounded, anyway.

“They understand that I’m 23, the 6-foot-2, 245-pounder said. “Whatever I do when they’re not there is what I do then anyway. I don’t want to be a negative influence on kids, but, you know, I can get down there and drink beer with my buddies and do whatever I want.

Russell’s buddies - namely backup quarterback John Hessler and standout tight end Matt Lepsis - are more familiar with the linebacker’s wild side.

Take, for example, Russell’s favorite fish story.

“We caught a HUGE catfish,” Russell said, alluding to a fishing trip last year with Hessler. “Brought it home and put it in the bath-tub because I wanted my girlfriend to see it.”

So much for long-stemmed roses.

“She wasn’t too thrilled,” Russell added, with more than a hint of disappointment. “I don’t think she was as excited about it as I was.”

To say nothing of the rapidly fading fish.

“I think that’s what kind of sealed his fate,” Russell reasoned. “And then he died, and so we tried to clean him, and we screwed that up. So we had half a skinned catfish and it was just ruined.”

But the fun was only beginning, as Lepsis - then a roommate with Russell and Hessler - would eventually discover.

“So we went outside and stuck it under Lepsis’ seat out in his car,” Russell casually continued, as if outlining the next logical step in a widely accepted mathematical formula.

The mutilated fish was allowed to rest in pieces for a week - the time it took for Lepsis to catch on and, of course, return the favor.

“He stuck it back in my Jeep and then I finally smelled it,” Russell said. “And then we put it in our neighbors car. And they’re some guys we didn’t even know, but we snuck in their car at night and stuck it under their seat.”

Meaning Russell, a candidate for nearly every major defensive award this season, won’t be adding “Neighbor of the Year” to his resume.

“The next morning, when we woke up, the fish was sitting on the roof of Lepsis’ car,” Russell said. “So we felt kind of like idiots, because the neighbors knew exactly what was going on.”

Probably just a hunch.

These days, Russell is more focused on football - particularly Saturday’s season-opener against Washington State - than practical jokes.

Taking WSU lightly would seem impossible for Russell, whose intensity is legendary in Boulder. He’s been known to get so fired up during games that tears stream from his eyes involuntarily.

“They’re coming off a 3-8 season,” Russell said of WSU, “but I think we view them as a team that, regardless of what their record was last year, they’ve got the capability and the talent to be able to spoil it for anyone.”

Crazier things have happened.

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