Football Players Killed in Crash

Former NFL football player Darrell Russell, whose prodigious physical talents were undercut by substance abuse and off-the-field problems, died early Thursday in a violent high-speed wreck that also killed a fellow ex-USC player who was driving the car.

Their car jumped a curb on La Cienega Boulevard in the Pico-Robertson area and sheared a fire hydrant, a light pole and a tree before hitting an MTA bus and slamming into a wall.

La Cienega Boulevard, a major artery between LAX and Hollywood, was closed for much of the morning commute because of the crash, which sent a 10-inch-wide portion of the severed tree flying into a parking lot and forced firefighters to tear open the top of the gnarled silver Pontiac Grand Prix.

Authorities were trying to determine why the car, which police said had made several “erratic lane changes,” went out of control. No one was in the MTA bus, though officials said the driver had to jump out of the way to avoid being hit.

Detectives discounted early reports that the pair were involved in a street race, and were still trying to determine whether alcohol may have been involved, said LAPD Lt. Paul Vernon.

Russell, 29, was a USC football player and the second player picked in the 1997 NFL draft. But his professional career was marred by drug-related suspensions and legal problems.

His death comes just a few months after he seemed to get a second chance at the NFL. After being suspended indefinitely after yet another drug violation in 2004, the NFL recently ruled him eligible to play again.

Agent Leigh Steinberg, who represented Russell during his five seasons with the Oakland Raiders, said he showed “brilliant promise to be one of the golden few” elite defensive players in the league.

“He had a desire to be a role model,” Steinberg said. “He wanted to do good and leave a legacy off the field.... Somewhere along the way he began to struggle with personal demons, which he had difficulty overcoming.”

Steinberg said the Raiders as well as Russell’s friends and family members repeatedly tried to get him help for his off-the-field problems.

“Every effort was made by everyone close to Darrell to try to get him help,” he said. “It’s heart-wrenching and heartbreaking.”

The other victim was identified as 29-year-old former USC wide receiver Michael Paul Bastianelli. The car belonged to another former NFL and USC wide receiver, Larry Parker, who gave the pair permission to drive his car, Vernon said.

Bastianelli, who was driving the car, was involved in a tutoring scandal at USC in the late 1990s. He later played in the Arena Football League for the Los Angeles Avengers.

John Robinson, who coached both players during his second stint at USC from 1993 to 1997, said he was shocked by the news of their deaths.

“It’s a tragedy that they were taken at such an early age. We all grieve for them and their loved ones,” Robinson said in a statement. “I recruited both Darrell and Mike. I have fond memories of them at USC as players and people.”

Bastianelli was a standout at Concord De La Salle High, which was in the midst of establishing a national record for consecutive wins. He played receiver at USC from 1995 to 1998 and finished with 68 receptions for 961 yards and four touchdowns.

Bastianelli was suspended for two games in 1997 after it was discovered that a tutor had typed a paper for him and also composed part of it. The NCAA put USC on two years’ probation in 2001 after a prolonged investigation into tutors writing papers for student athletes in the late 1990s.

While Bastianelli was consider a gritty role player on the team, Russell was the clear star and seemed destined for gridiron greatness.

He arrived at USC in 1994 after starring at St. Augustine High in San Diego. He was a three-year starter for the Trojans, was twice voted to the All-Pacific 10 Conference team and also was a 1996 finalist for the Lombardi Award, presented annually to the nation’s top college lineman.

He left USC as a junior -- though he would later return to receive a degree in history -- and became the second player to be drafted in the 1997 NFL draft by the Raiders.

Russell made the Pro Bowl in 1998 and 1999. But the 6-foot-5, 325-pound Russell’s career was checkered by allegations of drug use and a sexual assault case that was eventually dropped.

In 2002, prosecutors dropped rape charges against Russell after saying they could not prove he videotaped a woman being raped by two of his friends.

Russell was suspended three times for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy. His second suspension, which came in January 2002 after he tested positive for the club drug Ecstasy, was his last with the Raiders. They released him in October 2003, shortly after he was reinstated by the league.

He played briefly for the Washington Redskins in 2003, and was in training camp with Tampa Bay in 2004 before being suspended indefinitely in July 2004 for a third positive test.

In his final years with the Raiders, Russell had a habit of showing up late for team meetings, practices and flights. Team officials were quietly concerned that he was an impressionable young man surrounded by bad influences.

“He became so big and so much into himself that he didn’t want to do what it took to stay in the league,” former Oakland teammate Lincoln Kennedy said. “He had a couple of chances and he could just never right the ship, could never get it right.... As much as I tried to help him, I had to realize that he’s ultimately a grown man, he’s going to have to make his own decisions.”

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Times staff writer Gary Klein and Associated Press contributed to this report.