GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — A date night with his wife brought memories flooding back for BJ Russell.
Russell, who owns the Colorado Mesa football team's record for career tackles, is one of two former Maverick athletes to be enshrined in the Colorado Mesa Hall of Honor.
He and former volleyball setter Jordyn Moody will be recognized during Homecoming activities throughout the weekend, and be introduced at halftime of the football game between the Mavericks and New Mexico Highlands on Saturday at Stocker Stadium.
The football field is where Russell, who grew up in the Grand Valley and graduated from Fruita Monument High School, excelled. He learned of his Hall of Honor election in a unique way, which triggered his memory bank.
"For many years, it was a phase in life and I had moved on and was really focused on well, the ranch, mainly," Russell said. His wife, Sharah, called him at work on a Friday a couple of months ago to tell him they were going to dinner that night with his parents. When he asked why, she responded that they had heard good things about a new restaurant and wanted to try it out.
There, she told him he was going into the Hall of Honor.
"I was shocked," he said. "I mean, I would have never guessed that we were going to dinner that night for her to tell me that. Since then, I've been kind of thinking back on those days and what an amazing time it was. It was so much fun."
A linebacker, Russell finished his career with 442 total tackles, a record that still stands 20 years later. He was a two-time first-team all-RMAC selection and earned all-academic RMAC honors twice. The man in the middle of the defense of the Mavericks' RMAC championship run as a junior in 2003 was part of a team that just worked. Russell ranks second in career unassisted tackles (166) and is first in assisted tackles (256).
"We were such an amazing team," he said. "I mean, everybody on that 2003 team, we all meshed. We all did our own duties, whatever we needed to do, and we were unstoppable because of it. There were so many people doing the right things that they couldn't stop us all."
That team lost only twice, to the same team, Central Oklahoma. The Mavericks opened the season with a 42-16 loss in Edmond, Okla., then rattled off 10 straight wins. The season ended with a 20-15 loss to the Bronchos at Stocker Stadium in the NCAA Division II playoffs. Russell recorded 129 tackles that season, which ranks sixth in a single season. The following season he had 170 tackles, third all-time in one season on a team that went 0-11.
"That first game in Oklahoma was so hot, it melted the bottom of our cleats," Russell said. "We were playing on that Astroturf or whatever, and that day … I just remember it was the hottest day I think I've ever experienced. I think some of the guys had blisters on the bottom of their feet and we poured water on our cleats just to cool our feet."
It was just the opposite in November when the teams met in the playoffs — a winter storm the day before necessitated the field to be cleared of snow.
"We were clicking, and they were a tough team," Russell said. "They were a good team, their running back, I don't remember his name, but he was large, he was powerful and he was fast. We battled; we battled to the end. That was the blizzard year, too, so we start out at the hottest game ever and we ended up, they had to clear the field. The night before it probably snowed a foot, maybe a little less than that, but they cleared the field and it was a frozen tundra for that last game."
Russell, who is now an operations manager for an environmental consulting firm and helps run Russell Cattle Company with the rest of his family, recalls how his persona would change on game days.
"Being a linebacker is an amazing position," he said. "You get to do so much, you have to step up and be aggressive. When I walked on that field, I was a different person. I loved the competition, the challenge, and I loved going to-to-toe with that guy on the other side. That challenge of, I'm going to beat you every play physically and mentally, because you could tell when we would break somebody mentally."
With his ranching obligations and having three active baseball-playing sons, Russell hasn't seen as many CMU games as he's liked, but is eager to catch up with former teammates this weekend. He's also looking forward to seeing CMU head coach Miles Kochevar, a teammate of his at Fruita Monument.
As far as passing his football skills along to his sons, Russell said they're getting to the age — 12, 9 and 7 — that they'll likely put on the pads, but he's not pushing them. They're all accomplished cowboys, helping with the cattle, including moving them to and from the summer ranch on Blue Mesa, and Russell takes pride in passing along the ranching way of life to his boys.
This weekend, he'll pass along some football stories, too.
"I'm shocked that I got this award, and very, very grateful," Russell said. "It's brought up some really good memories that I had kind of put away for years that just resurfaced."
