Athletes - Russell Erxleben

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	Athletes - Russell Erxleben

Russell Erxleben is a former American football player and currency investor. He shares the record for the longest field goal in NCAA history, originally set by Erxleben in 1977 while playing for the University of Texas. He was convincted of securities fraud in 1999. He was released from federal prison in 2005.

Erxleben was raised in Seguin, Texas, where he was a stand-out as a high school kicker. He had a conventional straight-on kicking style, using a two-step approach. Highly recruited, he entered the University of Texas as a top prospect in 1975. He quickly earned a reputation as a reliable kicker for the Longhorns. In December of his freshman year, he played in the Bluebonnet Bowl against the University of Colorado. Despite early troubles in the game, including a missed field goal and a blocked extra point, Erxleben kicked a field goal late in the game, breaking the tie and securing the win for Texas. In 1977, in a game against Rice University, he set the record for the longest field goal in NCAA history with a 67 yard kick. UT head coach Fred Akers said of the kick, "It was like a gunshot. We couldn't believe a ball was going that far. It had another eight yards on it." The record was tied two weeks later by Steve Little of the University of Arkansas. Erxleben kicked two other field goals over sixty yards that season. Rule changes in NCAA football since 1977, specifically the prohibition against the use of kicking tees, as well as the placement of the ball following a failed kick, have discouraged such long attempts, and thus attempts to break the record are now rare.

In 1979 he was drafted in the first round eleventh pick overall by the New Orleans Saints. The unexpected selection, the eleventh overall in the draft, remains the highest selection of a kicker in the draft by another team. He played ten seasons in the NFL as place kicker. He later played for the Detroit Lions and retired in 1988. Despite his stellar college career, he was not considered a standout on the pro level, and did not make the Pro Bowl during this NFL career.

After retiring from the NFL, he became a financial investor in foreign exchange trading, founding the successful Austin Forex International in Austin, Texas. In 1999, following an investigation by the Texas Securities Board and the Internal Revenue Service, Erxleben pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, mail fraud and money laundering, and a second count for securities fraud, in connection with misleading statements regarding the past performance of Austin Forex. On September 18, 2000, Erxleben was subsequently sentenced by United States District Court Judge James R. Nowlin to 84 months in prison, and ordered to pay a total of $28 million in restitution and a one million dollar fine. Erxleben's lawyers, the law firm of Locke, Liddell & Sapp, settled a related lawsuit for $22m in 2000. The current nominee for Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, Harriet Miers, was a co-manager at the law firm during AFI's reported criminal activity.

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