Though medically-disqualified from playing, Russell continues to use platform for good
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Florida’s Randy Russell was named to the 2020 Southeastern Conference Football Community Service Team, the conference announced on Thursday.
The SEC names a Community Service Team for each of its 21-league sponsored sports, looking to highlight an athlete from each school who gives back to his community through superior service efforts.
Russell is a medically-disqualified student-athlete for the Gators. Though he is unable to touch the field, Russell continues to use his platform as a way to serve his teammates, his school and his community.
Russell has served more than 30 hours in the summer and fall of 2020 in both community service and leadership roles, while also continuing to work with the football program in various capacities.
He played a part in the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Drive-Thru Food Drive where Russell and fellow student-athletes collected over 200 pounds of food. The food that was collected was sorted and then donated to the Field and Fork Pantry on campus that supports UF students, faculty, and staff.
Russell also read a children’s book for a video that will be sent to the UFHealth pediatric units and the Alachua County School Board. The idea is to encourage students to keep reading by having athletes read books.
Additionally, Russell participated in the student-athlete portion of the #GatorsVote campaign. He met with the student-athlete leads to develop his portion of a video that would encourage student-athletes and the public to complete their civic duty by voting in the primary and general election.
He is also one of the founding members of the Black Student-Athlete Council and sits on E-board as the Historian for the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
In 2018 as Russell arrived in Gainesville as one of the state’s top recruits, UF’s medical staff discovered an abnormality in Russell’s cardiac workup, which prohibited him from participating in athletics.
For more information on Russell’s story, check out The Players’ Tribune feature as well as a feature from Scott Carter of FloridaGators.com below.
The Players’ Tribune Video (2018): https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__bit.ly_2LAjYTp&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=CEepdVgZ5RhxUb26d9ZaG1ignP5HpMffELK4SQTR1Uo&s=PDKkoHB7jK08eBvkfJq02vzjuU_ZninNLmVqJ7SbYOs&e=
Scott Carter Feature Story (2018): https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__bit.ly_3amw7ps&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=CEepdVgZ5RhxUb26d9ZaG1ignP5HpMffELK4SQTR1Uo&s=BOOIQSJ56FVwC22wYPciou6Jg9v6L4EwxkozJJhk_s4&e=
