Sedrick Ellis

Sedrick Ellis
Sedrick Ellis
Ellis in the 2012 NFL season
No. 98
Position:Defensive tackle
Personal information
Born: (1985-07-09) July 9, 1985 (age 39)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Height:6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight:307 lb (139 kg)
Career information
High school:Chino (CA)
College:USC (2003–2007)
NFL draft:2008 / round: 1 / pick: 7
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Total tackles:173
Sacks:12.5
Forced fumbles:2
Fumble recoveries:1
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Sedrick Dwayne Ellis (born July 9, 1985) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Southern California (USC), and earned unanimous All-American honors. He was selected by the New Orleans Saints seventh overall in the 2008 NFL draft.

Early life

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Ellis was born in Chino, California. Ellis prepped at Chino High School. He was involved with teams that went to back to back CIF title games 2000, 2001. Ellis, along with teammate Chris McFoy, who was on these Chino teams, played in the NFL. While in high school Ellis played defensive tackle and fullback in goal line situations.

College career

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Ellis attended the University of Southern California, where he played for coach Pete Carroll's USC Trojans football team from 2003 to 2007. As an underclassman, he learned under All-American Mike Patterson[1] Ellis finished his redshirt junior season at USC during the 2006 season. He was first team coaches and Rivals.com All-Pac-10 conference, first-team College Football News All-American and won the Morris Trophy. Ellis was a major force in USC's victory over then-No. 3 Michigan in the 2007 Rose Bowl, recording a season-high seven tackles, a sack and a pass deflection. Following the performance, Ellis considered making the jump to the NFL in the 2007 NFL draft but decided to come back for his senior season and would go pro in 2008; part of his decision to stay was tied to classmate and highly touted defensive lineman Lawrence Jackson.

Bench pressing more than 500 pounds, he was the strongest player on the Trojans roster and was named one of the "Pac-10's Top 10 Players" by Sports Illustrated going into the 2007 season.[2] At the end of the 2007 season, Ellis was voted the Pacific-10 Conference Defensive Player of the Year by league coaches, and was selected to the all-conference first team.[3]

Ellis was recognized as a unanimous first-team All-American, having received first-team honors from the Associated Press, American Football Coaches Association, Football Writers Association of America, Walter Camp Football Foundation and The Sporting News, SI.com, Rivals.com.[4][5]

Ellis on the sidelines while playing for Southern California

Although Ellis was the strongest person on the 2007 Trojans and only the third player under Pete Carroll's Trojan tenure to lift over 500 lb (230 kg), he had only started lifting weights since he was 15 (10 years as of 2010) because his father would not allow him to lift at a younger age.[6] In addition to benching a team-best 510 lb (230 kg), at the 2007 spring pro day Ellis hoisted 225 lb 42 times.[1] Because of his strength, the Trojans had to purchase a set of 200-pound dumbbells for their weight room just to accommodate him (the previous high were 160s); Ellis would do sets of eight reps on the incline bench with the 200s.[7]

College statistics

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Season Team Games Tackles Defense
GP GS Cmb Solo Ast TfL Sck PD Int FF FR QBH Blk TD
2003 USC 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2004 USC 11 0 2 0 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
2005 USC 13 13 50 28 22 8 4.5 3 0 1 1 6 0 0
2006 USC 10 10 34 17 17 8 4.5 3 0 0 2 7 1 0
2007 USC 14 13 58 29 29 12.5 8.5 7 0 1 2 9 0 0
Career 48 36 144 74 70 28.5 17.5 13 0 2 5 24 1 0

Professional career

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Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump Bench press
6 ft 0+1⁄2 in
(1.84 m) 		305 lb
(138 kg) 		5.05 s 1.84 s 3.07 s 4.74 s 7.79 s 32+1⁄2 in
(0.83 m)		 8 ft 8 in
(2.64 m)		 36 reps
Weight, Vertical, and Bench from USC Pro Day. All others from NFL Combine.[8]

Bench Press: 440 lb (200 kg); Squat: 560 lb (250 kg)[8]

New Orleans Saints

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Ellis was selected by the New Orleans Saints in the first round with the seventh overall pick in the 2008 NFL draft. The Saints original draft spot was 10th, but they traded up with the New England Patriots.[9] The teams swapped first round picks, the Saints gave up their third round selection (78th) and the Pats gave back their fifth round selection (164th).[10] The Patriots used the tenth pick to select linebacker Jerod Mayo.

Initially, New Orleans attempted to trade up for LSU DT Glenn Dorsey, whom they had valued higher than Ellis. They had purportedly offered a deal to the Kansas City Chiefs which included their first- and second-round picks and their first-round pick in the 2009 NFL draft[11] but the Chiefs decided to draft Dorsey instead.

In New Orleans, Ellis was reunited with Saints defensive line coach Ed Orgeron, who was his assistant coach at USC for his freshman year and responsible for recruiting him. Extended negotiations over contract details, not uncommon with high draft picks, led the defensive tackle to miss six days and 12 practices of training camp until a contract was agreed to on July 29. His initial five-year contract is worth a maximum value of $49 million, with $19.5 million in guarantees; however portions are based on hard-to-reach incentives that may bring the realized value of the agreement lower.[12]

2008 season

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Ellis started and played 13 regular season games in his rookie season for the Saints, who finished 8-8. Sedrick recorded 30 tackles (20 solo) and 4 sacks.

2009 season

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Ellis started and played 10 regular season games in his second season with the Saints, who finished 13-3 and went on to win Super Bowl XLIV. He recorded 34 tackles (26 solo) and 2 sacks in the regular season. Ellis started at Defensive Tackle for the Saints in the Super Bowl, recording three tackles.

2010 season

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Ellis started and played in all 16 regular season games for the Saints for the first time in his NFL career, recording 44 tackles (30 solo), which marked a career high. Ellis also led all Saints defenders with 6 sacks on the year. New Orleans finished 11-5, good for 2nd place in the NFC South. Ellis started at defensive tackle in the Saints' Wild Card playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks, recording 3 total tackles.

2011 season

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Ellis started all but one game during the Saints 13-3 run in 2011 that resulted in another NFC South title. He had 32 tackles (including playoffs) and four passes defended.

2012 season

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Ellis started and played in all 16 regular season games, recording 36 tackles (23 solo).

Chicago Bears

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On June 11, 2013, Ellis signed a one-year contract with the Chicago Bears,[13] a team that had a top five defense in yards and point-per-game allowed the year prior.

On July 25, 2013, Ellis did not report to training camp and advised the Bears of his intention to retire from the NFL.[14]

NFL career statistics

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Year Team GP Tackles Fumbles Interceptions
Cmb Solo Ast Sck FF FR Yds Int Yds Avg Lng TD PD
2008 NO 13 30 20 10 4.0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 5
2009 NO 10 34 26 8 2.0 0 1 7 0 0 0.0 0 0 2
2010 NO 16 44 30 14 6.0 2 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 2
2011 NO 15 29 9 20 0.5 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 4
2012 NO 16 36 13 23 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 1
Career[15] 70 173 98 75 12.5 2 1 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 14

Personal life

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References

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  1. ^ a b Bud Withers, USC's Ellis will be dominating presence, Seattle Times, September 26, 2007.
  2. ^ Pac-10's Top 10 Players: 4 Sedrick Ellis, DT, Sr. | USC, SI.com, Accessed August 21, 2007.
  3. ^ Pac-10 Football Awards and All-Conference Team Announced Archived 2009-02-12 at the Wayback Machine, Pacific 10 Conference, December 3, 2007.
  4. ^ Ralph D. Russo, McFadden, Tebow Lead AP All-America Team, Associated Press, December 11, 2007. Archived December 14, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ SI.com's All-Americas, SI.com, December 11, 2007.
  6. ^ Mark Saxon, Ellis a monster in the middle of USC defense Archived 2013-02-05 at archive.today, The Orange County Register, August 18, 2007.
  7. ^ Bruce Feldman, Trojans' defense respects but doesn't fear Illini attack, ESPN the Magazine, December 31, 2007.
  8. ^ a b Kansas City Star.com
  9. ^ "2008 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  10. ^ Triplett, Mike (April 26, 2008). "Saints trade up, draft Ellis". The Times-Piscayune Greater New Orleans. Archived from the original on April 19, 2016. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
  11. ^ 2theadvocate.com | Sheldon Mickles | Mickles: Orgeron reunited with Ellis — Baton Rouge, LA
  12. ^ Mike Triplett, Saints, Ellis agree to five-year deal Archived 2009-04-22 at the Wayback Machine, The Times-Picayune, July 29, 2008, Accessed July 31, 2008.
  13. ^ "Bears add DT Sedrick Ellis". ESPN. June 11, 2013. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  14. ^ "Bears sign Anderson with Ellis retiring". Yahoo! Sports. Associated Press. July 25, 2013. Archived from the original on July 31, 2013. Retrieved July 25, 2013.
  15. ^ "Sedrick Ellis Stats". ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved April 14, 2014.
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