Alex Hoffman-Ellis (born August 14, 1989) is a former American professional

Canadian football Canadian football () is a team sport, sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's sco ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

. After playing

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the

Washington State Cougars The Washington State Cougars (known informally as the Cougs) are the athletic teams that represent Washington State University. Located in Pullman, Washington, WSU is a member of the Pac-12 Conference in NCAA Division I. The athletic program co ...

, he was signed in 2012 by the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

. Hoffman-Ellis then attended their training camp, but was released that August, and briefly played for the

Sacramento Mountain Lions The Sacramento Mountain Lions was a professional American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rect ...

of the United Football League before the league folded in October 2012. He was then signed to the practice squad of the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

on December 4, 2012, but slayed later that month, and played for two years for the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first season ...

of the Canadian Football League.S

Early life

Hoffman-Ellis is Jewish, and grew up in Los Angeles, California. He first attended

Santa Monica High School Santa Monica High School, officially abbreviated to SaMoHi, is located in Santa Monica, California. Founded in 1891, it changed location several times in its early years before settling into its present campus at 601 Pico Boulevard. It is a part o ...

, and then attended Alexander Hamilton High School, in Los Angeles. At Alexander Hamilton he lettered in football (where he was team captain and played middle linebacker, tight end, and punter, recording 70 tackles), track and field (long jump, triple jump, and shot put), baseball (as an outfielder), and basketball. In basketball, he was a member of the gold medal-winning US National Team (15-16 year olds) for the Maccabi International Games (the Jewish Olympics).

College career

He played at

Moorpark College Moorpark College is a public community college in Moorpark, California. It was established in 1967 with enrollment of 2,500 students and enrolled 14,254 students in 2014. An Exotic Animal Training and Management center houses over 200 animals o ...

for a year. There, he started 11 of 12 games at outside linebacker, amassing 91 tackles and two sacks. He also competed on the track and field team, throwing

javelin A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon, but today predominantly for sport. The javelin is almost always thrown by hand, unlike the sling, bow, and crossbow, which launch projectiles with th ...

(finishing 5th in the state) and competing in

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

and on the 4x100-meter relay team. He was inducted into the Moorpark Hall of Fame in javelin. Hoffman-Ellis then transferred to

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant unive ...

and spent 2008 with

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...

status. In his remaining three years of

eligibility Eligibility may refer to: * The right to run for office (in elections), sometimes called ''passive suffrage'' or ''voting eligibility'' * Desirability as a marriage partner, as in the term ''eligible bachelor'' * Validity for participation, as in ...

, played in 35 games and started in 33 as a linebacker. He landed 253 total tackles and had four

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

s, including two for

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s. In 2011, he led the Cougs in stops, was named Second-team All-Pac-12, and to Phil Steele's All-Pac-12 Conference second-team, and was named to the ''

Jewish Sports Review ''Jewish Sports Review (JSR)'' is a bi-monthly magazine that was established in 1997. Its editors are Ephraim Moxson and Shel Wallman. The magazine identifies which star and professional athletes are Jewish. It also covers and has all-time lists ...

'' All-America 2011 Defense Team. In his senior year, he was named Washington State's Defensive Most Valuable Player.

Early career

Hoffman-Ellis Alex ran a 4.54 second time in the 40 yard dash, and jumped a 36 1/2" vertical at his pro day. His time in the 20 yard dash was 2.63, and in the 10 yard dash was 1.57, he did 36 225-pound bench reps, his broad jump distance was 9' 11", his 20-yard shuttle time was 4.33, and his 3-Cone drill time was 7.09. He weighed 232 pounds, and was 6 feet tall. He was signed by the

of the

as an

and attended their training camp, but was released on August 27, 2012. He briefly played for the

of the United Football League before the league folded in October 2012. He was signed to the practice squad of the

on December 4, to a three-year $1.4 million contract, but released on December 25. In 2013, he worked at

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades ...

as a Strength and Conditioning intern.

BC Lions

In May 2014, Hoffman-Ellis was signed by the

. He remained on the roster as a reserve player for the first seven weeks, after which he was moved to the practice squad. He played for the first time in the final regular season game in Week 20, where he recorded eight defensive tackles, two special teams tackles, and a forced fumble. The ''Vancouver Sun'' described him as "a demon on special teams." In 2015, his second year with the Lions, he had 57 tackles and three interceptions in 17 games, 10 as a starter.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

In February 2016, he was signed as a free agent to a two-year deal by the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

Edmonton Eskimos

On July 4, 2016, he was traded to the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...

in exchange for a conditional eighth round pick in the 2018 CFL Draft.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoffman-Ellis, Alex 1989 births Living people St. Louis Rams players Sacramento Mountain Lions players San Francisco 49ers players BC Lions players Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Edmonton Elks players Canadian football linebackers American football linebackers Washington State Cougars football players Moorpark Raiders football players Jewish American sportspeople Players of American football from Los Angeles American players of Canadian football 21st-century American Jews Players of Canadian football from Los Angeles