Former Colorado Buffaloes player Brady Russell shines on the Seattle Seahawks

When Brady Russell of the Seattle Seahawks helped douse his coach Mike McDonald with Gatorade after winning Super Bowl LX earlier this year, he wasn't only celebrating a Super Bowl championship but a long, hard journey to football's mountain top.

"How crazy that all this played out," Russell said he told his wife. "I was just having hindsight on my entire career." 

A career that began at Fossil Ridge High School in Fort Collins. Brady wasn't highly recruited, so he walked on at Colorado. A man on a mission. 

"I wanted to be the blue collar, do-it-all, first-one-in, last-one-out kind of guy on the team," Russell recalled. "I earned that reputation super early on." 

Russell earned a scholarship in his second year in Boulder and quickly established himself as the Buffaloes top tight end despite CU's best efforts to the contrary. 

"It felt like every year they brought in -- whether it was a JUCO guy or a grad transfer -- and they'd start him over me in the spring," said Russell. "It made me mad ... so it was pretty easy to stay determined." 

That determination helped Russell, an undrafted free agent, earn a spot in the NFL as a key special teams player for the Super Bowl champs. 

"Is it a badge of honor to have been a walk-on and to have been an undrafted free agent and be where you are now?" I asked Russell. 

"I'd say so for sure," Russell said. "I have this walk-on mentaility wired into my brain now. So I can't take a freakin' snap off or a rep off. ... Everything I do is 100 mph." 

So what's next for the Seahawks special teams captain after the Super Bowl? He's never touched the ball on offense in the NFL during a regular season game.

"I'd love to be a bigger part of the offense," Russell exclaimed. "But I'll be content in whatever role is given to me."

In the offseason, Russell signed a two-year extension with Seattle.