While growing up, RJ Maryland heard his father Russell called many things. A Hurricane. A Cowboy. A Super Bowl champion and a Hall of Famer. But to RJ, the title that mattered most to him was simply dad.
“I didn’t really know how big of a deal he was until I got older,” RJ says. “To me, he was always just dad.”
Now in his last year at Carroll ISD, RJ is paving his own football career on the field. At 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds, he’s got a frame that warrants a second look. As talented as he is athletic, RJ is one of those rare dual-sport athletes who also letters as a Dragon basketball player.
While the 2021-2022 football season has only just begun, RJ knows his friends, family and father have helped him come as far as he has, and he can’t wait to make them proud.
UNTAPPED POTENTIAL
Long before RJ was even born, Russell was a kid growing up on the south side of Chicago in the 1970s. Russell says he got started playing sports because of his father James, who played baseball for Southern University in the late ‘50s.
“He was big on discipline, and what he related to me as a kid was that sports creates discipline,” Russell says. “Between me and my brothers, he definitely saw somebody that lacked discipline in myself. My father saw me waking up on Saturday mornings watching cartoons, and he was like ‘He’s watching a little too much He-Man. I need him to become a He-Man.’”
In the summer of 1982, James signed Russell up for summer practice at Whitney Young High School. While he never got to compete at the state level, Russell says his high school years helped him establish the basics. By the time he graduated high school in 1986, Russell was a reliable defensive tackle with strong potential.
But despite his football prowess, Russell wasn’t getting any scholarship offers save for one exception: Indiana State University. Even though he toured the campus and was excited about the offer, James told Russell he wasn’t going to Indiana State — he was going to the University of Miami.
“I was devastated when I turned them down,” Russell says. “In my head, I was turning down my only opportunity to get my college paid for.”
But unbeknownst to Russell, James had edited together a tape of Russell’s best plays and sent it off to head football coach Jimmy Johnson. A couple of days later, the Hurricanes offered Russell a scholarship.
“It was the last scholarship of 1986 — and they gave it to me,” Russell recalls.
He continued honing his game, being named a Consensus All-American and an Outland Trophy winner. Maryland finished his college career with 279 tackles, 25 tackles for losses and 20 sacks. He also helped his team win two national championships and four bowl games, with a 44-4 overall record between 1987 and 1990.
But his football career was far from over. Russell began playing professional football when he was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in 1991.
“The Cowboys not only selected me, but they selected me as the first pick in the first round of the draft,” Russell recalled. “To come from having only one prospect to five years later being the No. 1 pick in the draft was just an amazing feeling.”
Through it all, Russell credits his father for not only pushing him to do his best but also believing in him every step of the way.
“He saw things in me I never saw in myself,” Russell expresses. “If it weren’t for him, I never would have even thought about going to play college football.”
LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON
Russell recorded many landmark achievements during his five years with the Dallas Cowboys, including making 199 tackles, 14 sacks and winning three Super Bowls. But after his wife Rose gave birth to his two daughters, Kyra and Iris, they decided it was time to plant their roots in the suburb of Southlake and try again to have a son.
“I told her as long as the baby’s healthy, that’s the most important part. That, and it’s a ‘he,’” Russell chuckles.
In July 2004, the Marylands welcomed Russell Jr., or RJ, into their family. It didn’t take long for RJ to demonstrate his athletic prowess, playing flag football by the time he entered elementary school. Russell saw RJ’s potential even at that young age.
“He was a little motor scooter out there,” Russell says with a chuckle. “He just had a lot of energy and performed all of his moves seamlessly. That was kind of his first taste in sports.”
Russell could only imagine what kind of player he could be at Dragon Stadium. But he wanted to make sure playing football was RJ’s decision, not his.
“I didn’t want to force him to do anything,” Russell says. “For sure I had visions of him being this big football player running the D-line. But I tried to stave that off and just let him be him, whether he wanted to be a singer, a doctor or a football player. He’s still my son either way.”
Thankfully, RJ followed in his father’s footsteps and began football training with the Carroll Dragons when he entered high school. And in his junior year, RJ made the most of his opportunities to show Texas and the country what he was made of.
FORGING HIS OWN PATH
With a delayed season start, social distancing restrictions and the looming concerns surrounding COVID-19, RJ made his varsity debut under unusual circumstances. But he didn’t let that deter him or his game. In the first game of the season, RJ caught three passes for 86 yards and one touchdown, securing the Dragons’ 72-57 win over Rockwall-Heath.
RJ continued to make an impression on the field, catching four passes for 106 yards and two touchdowns against Rockwall, scoring three touchdowns against Fossil Ridge and recording a team-high of 123 yards against Haltom. One of the most impressive plays he recalled pulling off during this stretch was a 77-yard wheel route against Rockwall on October 8.
“Sometimes I won’t remember what I did during a game until I watch the gameplay footage,” RJ says. “I’ll forget what I did during the game until I watch the film with coach Dodge. It’s weird to experience that.”
Russell relates that sensation to RJ being “in the zone” while playing.
“It’s almost like an out-of-body experience for him,” Russell says. “It doesn’t matter what it is. He’ll go out there, put on his armor, play, come back to the sidelines and get ready for the next one.”
In total, RJ caught 30 passes for 736 yards and 13 touchdowns during his first varsity season. RJ says his speed and ball handling are his strongest assets, but Russell thinks his ability to anticipate and react on the fly are among his greatest strengths.
“RJ is really cerebral when it comes to these things,” Russell says. “He can see things unfolding almost before it happens and reacts to it. That’s the kind of quick thinking that he does.”
Colleges began to understand RJ’s worth as a player as well — and the offers poured in — 24 in all from the likes of Colorado, Ole Miss, Wisconsin and even Russell’s alma mater, the University of Miami. After much deliberation, RJ announced his decision in June to accept an offer to play for Boston College. The Eagles recruiting class of 2022 is widely considered to be among the best in the nation.
“I would love my son to carry on my legacy at Miami,” Russell says. “But it’s not about what I want — it’s about what’s best for him. He’s got to be able to create his own legacy, and I think he’ll do a great job of that.”
As for RJ, he’s grateful his father supports him in the same way that his grandfather supported Russell. That motivates him to push himself even further and improve his game every day.
“I just want to keep playing and getting better,” RJ says. “I’m always just focused on the game.”
That focus can be seen in RJ every time he takes to the field. While quiet and soft-spoken in nature, RJ’s athletic potential is limitless — and Russell is proud of him for the hard work he puts in every day.
“He has the kind of personality where you might underestimate him because he doesn’t say much, but he’s a student of the game,” he says. “He can do anything he sets his heart to.”