Cliff Russell was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina and raised around the country as his father served in the US Army. He lived in places such as North Carolina, Germany, Maryland and Hawaii.

As a child, Cliff participated in many sports and found a love for the game of football at the age of 11. Cliff was raised in a Christian military household that embodied the practice of faith in God, focus and hard work. Cliff believes these demonstrations *(Colossians 3:23)* give the greatest chance to live out your dreams. In keeping with such, football opened many doors allowing Cliff to receive a full athletic scholarship to the University of Utah where he received his undergraduate degree and was a 3 year starter at wide receiver for the Utes.

At Utah, Cliff was labeled the fastest player in Utah history- running a 4.2 second 40 yard sprint. After college, Cliff was blessed to live out a childhood dream and participate in professional athletics where he played in the National Football League for 6 years. In 2002, Cliff was a top 3rd round draft pick, selected by the Washington Redskins. As a rookie, he sustained a devastating season ending ACL injury. His injury is what God used to draw Cliff closer to Him. Cliff was at a crossroad, and Jesus found Cliff at a place of sin, shame, depression, pride and loss of identity. *Luke 19:10* says, "the son of man came to seek and to save the lost". After being witnessed and ministered to by his team chaplain and teammates, the gospel was heard and received, his walk began in 2003 with Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. Cliff discovered a new passion and purpose for life and knew God wanted to use him not only in the locker rooms of the NFL (Cliff also played for the Bengals, Dolphins and Broncos) but also in the community, serving in Schools, Juvenile Centers and Church. Cliff believes his purpose and mission in life is to kill Giants of fear, lack of identity, shine light in darkness and to see transformation in the lives of people through a relationship with Jesus.

Cliff has been a resident in Loudoun County for over 20 years and after leaving the gridiron in 2008 started an athletic development and fitness company. Cliff's passion and purpose is to see lives changed for Christ and his training company has allowed him to impact so many lives of athletes, coaches and parents over the last decade. FCA is the perfect fit as it allows Cliff to bridge the gap between his passion for sports, athletics, leadership, coaching and his love for Jesus Christ. Jesus has given Him purpose in life to encourage, motivate and impact lives and Cliff is looking forward to continuing to do so through the ministry of FCA.

Cliff, his wife Leah and 3 kids Ezra, Zion and Caleb currently reside in Ashburn, Virginia.