Toledo’s Alonzo Russell goes from sweeping floors to catching touchdowns

If you told wide receiver Alonzo Russell two years ago that his one-handed touchdown catch in the University of Toledo’s 38-17 victory over Central Michigan would be the No. 1 play on SportsCenter’s Top-10 Plays, he’d probably raise an eyebrow at you.

That’s because in 2011, the wide out was forced to redshirt and sit out what was supposed to be his first season in Toledo due to academic eligibility issues, and was stuck performing odd jobs around his residence hall in order to afford tuition.

One might say he has come a long way, but don’t think any of it has gone to his head. For Russell, the chance to play is all that really matters.

“Honestly I never thought of me being on ESPN,” Russell said. “It was just, ‘Wow, this really happened.’ I was just really glad my mom got to see it, that’s all.”

His mother, Avis Warley, almost never got the chance. Russell’s struggles with the NCAA’s academic eligibility rules threatened to derail his football career several times before he ever set foot in Toledo.

Coming out of Washington D.C.’s Woodson High School in 2010, Russell had all the physical traits needed to play at a big college program. At 6-4, 190 pounds, he fit the receiver mold perfectly, and during his senior year he put up numbers that proved his potential at the position.

Russell caught 52 passes for 1,153 yards and 14 touchdowns during his final year of high school, recording four more scores on special teams and another three on defense. He was a first-team All-Metro D.C. selection, garnering attention from

several prestigious colleges due to his skill and speed on the football field.

 Unfortunately, the NCAA Clearinghouse - an organization within the NCAA that determines academic eligibility for college athletes - did not accept Russell due to an insufficient SAT score. The recruiting pool quickly dried up, leaving a potentially phenomenal football player with no place to play.

Russell, with the help of his mother, chose to dedicate all his efforts to the game he loved. He shut himself off from outside distraction at Milford Academy prep school at New Berlin, N.Y., in an attempt to boost his SAT score high enough to once again draw the eye of college football. The school had the track record to convince Russell and his mother that it was possible, including the 27 NFL stars that had once attended classes there.

“I feel like the year I spent at Milford helped me mature and helped me decide whether football was important to me,” Russell said. “That was a weak point in my life where I really leaned on my mom and God and the people back home for support to get me mentally ready.

“It was like I was cut off from the rest of the world. Berlin is in the middle of nowhere, honestly, and it made me focus on why I am here. I am here to play football, to be successful, to make my mom happy. I was focused on those types of things and I still am to this day.”

Russell’s sister, former Liberty University student and current WNBA player Avery Warley, was also a huge help to him during those days. Warley went through a similar situation at the college level as the one her brother faced while finishing up high school.

“At that time, my sister was just getting out of Liberty University playing basketball,” Russell explained. “She went through an ACL injury that kind of slowed down her recruiting. She had it her junior year, and her senior year she was just coming back. The way she kept a smile on her face and just stayed focused and didn’t let any of that get to her, it kind of helped me see what is important.”

Russell’s efforts at Milford Academy allowed him to fight for the chance to play college football, and once again, the big programs were showing interest.

He fielded offers from larger programs such as Virginia Tech, Oklahoma State, and Arkansas before deciding to come to Toledo - a decision he says was made due to the Rocket belief that football is supposed to be fun.

“I felt more of a family feeling here,” Russell said. “It is more fun. I like to have fun because football is fun and I like learning football.”

But Russell’s introduction into Rocket football was anything but the highlight reels it would later become. 

Toledo head coach Matt Campbell and offensive coordinator Jason Candle made constant efforts to push the 21-year-old athlete to his limits, something he says he will never be able to repay them for.

“Coach Campbell gave me a hard time when I first got here and right now I thank him for it,” Russell said. “He basically made me grow up as a man and as a football player to be able to understand what it takes to be successful every day.”

Campbell doesn’t deny that he is harder on Russell than most of his other players, and he also isn’t shy about admitting how impressed he is at how far his No. 2 WR has come in just two years.

“I probably couldn’t be more proud of one player because I know how hard we have been on this player,” Campbell said. “He has come a long way; I think he would be the first one to tell you that. From spring practice, to fall camp, to really his practice habits on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, I think he has really put himself in the position to have a tremendous 2013 season and I am really proud of where he has started at right now.”

Russell is coming off of one of the biggest games of his career, recording nine receptions for 147 yards and a touchdown last weekend against Ball State. His one-handed touchdown grab a week prior is still being talked about and dissected on highlight shows - something the humble wide receiver is still finding a hard time digesting.

For him, catching the ball, no matter where it is thrown, is what he was born to do.

“I play football, I have fun,” Russell said. “It is just a natural thing. I was blessed with it; God gave me the ability to do things like that and every day I try to show it on the field every way possible.”