Russ Michna

Russell Walter Michna (born February 3, 1981 in Elk Grove Village, Illinois) is a gridiron football quarterback who is currently a member of the Chicago Rush of the Arena Football League. He was signed by the St. Louis Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2004. He played college football at Western Illinois.

Michna has also played for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Chicago Slaughter, Chicago Rush, and Las Vegas Locomotives.

He is the only player that has been signed to a team in every current major professional football league: NFL, UFL, CFL, AFL. Michna also played in the CIFL.

Early years
Michna attended James B. Conant High School in Hoffman Estates, Illinois and was a student and a letterman in football, basketball, and baseball. In football, he was an All-State selection as a senior. Russ Walter Michna graduated from James B. Conant High School in 1999.

College career
Michna played college football at Western Illinois University.

Chicago Rush 2007-2008
Michna joined the Chicago Rush of the Arena Football League in 2007, after the team was coming off a victory in ArenaBowl XX. He spent the season as the team's second string quarterback behind Matt D'Orazio and in the regular season, completed just two of three passes for 44 yards. However, a back injury hampered D'Orazio at the end of the season. Although, D'Orazio started both of the Rush playoff games, Michna saw action in each. In the opening game, the Rush took a 31-14 lead over the Los Angeles Avengers, en route to a 52-20 win. This allowed D'Orazio to rest, Michna completed all six of his passes for 73 yards. The following week, on the road against the San Jose Sabercats in the conference championship, D'Orazio started, but was ineffective with the back injury. He completed just six of 18 passes with three interceptions. The Sabercats jumped out to a 28-7 lead, and Michna came in. He went 22 of 30 for 247 yards, five touchdowns to one pick, but the Rush could not complete the comeback, and fell 61-49. It was the third time the Rush met San Jose in the AFL semifinals, and second time the team lost. San Jose would go on to win ArenaBowl XXI with a 55-33 win over the Columbus Destroyers.

In 2008, D'Orazio signed with the Philadelphia Soul, and the Rush signed AFL veteran Sherdrick Bonner, who figured to be the starter. However, Bonner got injured early in the season and Michna was named the Rush's starting quarterback. He would lead the team the rest of the way, even when Bonner got healthy. Michna finished the season with 57 touchdowns, seven interceptions and 2,721 yards on 239 completions and 351 attempts. The Rush finished the season 11-5, won the division, and for the first time in franchise history, had home field advantage for the playoffs. However, the Grand Rapids Rampage, who made the playoffs as a wild card seed with just a 6-10 record, stunned the Rush with a 58-41 upset in the Divisional Playoffs.

Chicago Slaughter 2009
When the Arena Football League suspended operations in 2009, Michna signed with the Chicago Slaughter of the CIFL, along with other Rush players and coaches Donovan Morgan, Bobby Sippio, Dennison Robinson, DeJuan Alfonzo, and Bob McMillen. Michna led the Chicago Slaughter to an undefeated record (14-0) and a CIFL Championship. He was named the CIFL Offensive Player of the week this season 1 time and was named league MVP. Not only has he led the Chicago Slaughter to their first undefeated season, he has also led the Chicago Slaughter to its first championship. Michna has also broken the record for most touchdowns in a game (twice, the second time he broke his own record.)

2009
Michna was signed by the Las Vegas Locomotives of the United Football League on August 31, 2009 and served as a back-up during the Locos championship run.

2010
Although cut before the season began, Michna returned to the Locos when an injury to Tim Rattay opened a slot as back-up again on the Locos' roster.

Return to the Rush
Michna was re-signed by the Chicago Rush on January 2, 2010. He was once again the team's starting quarterback. In fourteen contests, he completed 290 of 423 passes for 3,860 yards, 70 touchdowns and 11 interceptions for a quarterback rating of 126.0. It was good enough to finish second in the league in passer rating, behind Milwaukee Iron quarterback Chris Greisen, who would sign with the Dallas Cowboys at the end of the year.

For the 2011 season, he switched his jersey number from 8 to 12, which he wore in college. Michna led the Rush to a 9-3 record before suffering an ankle injury. In 12 games, he put up 2,896 yards, 66 touchdowns, 13 interceptions and completed 236 of 354 passes for a 116.0 rating.