Sedrick Ellis
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Sedrick Dwayne Ellis (born July 9, 1985) is a former
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 rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...
. He played
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
University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
(USC), and earned unanimous All-American honors. He was drafted by the
New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...
seventh overall in the
2008 NFL Draft The 2008 NFL Draft was the 73rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 26 and April 27, ...
.


Early years

Ellis was born in
Chino, California Chino ( ; Spanish for "Curly") is a city in the western end of San Bernardino County, California, United States, with Los Angeles County to its west and Orange County to its south in the Southern California region. Chino is adjacent to Chino ...
. Ellis prepped at
Chino High School Chino High School (CHS), located in Chino, California is one of the four regular high schools in the Chino Valley Unified School District. The school was established in 1897, making it one of the oldest schools in Southern California. Chino Hig ...
. He was involved with teams that went to back to back
CIF Cif is a French brand of household cleaning products owned by the Anglo-Dutch company Unilever, known as Jif in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Middle East and the Nordic countries. Cif was launched in France in 1965 and was marketed in competit ...
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

Ellis attended the
University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
, where he played for coach
Pete Carroll Peter Clay Carroll (born September 15, 1951) is an American football coach who is the head coach and executive vice president for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He was previously the head football coach at USC Troja ...
's
USC Trojans football The USC Trojans football program represents University of Southern California in the sport of American football. The Trojans compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Pac-12 Con ...
team from 2003 to 2007. As an underclassman, he learned under All-American Mike PattersonBud Withers
USC's Ellis will be dominating presence
''Seattle Times'', September 26, 2007.
Ellis finished his
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 ...
junior season at USC during the 2006 season. He was first team coaches and Rivals.com All-
Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...
conference, first-team ''College Football News'' All-American and won the
Morris Trophy Coaches of the Pac-12 Conference bestow the following awards at the end of each football season. The conference was founded in its current form as the Athletic Association of Western Universities in 1959, but traces its roots to the Pacific Coast Co ...
. 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 Lawrence Christopher Jackson (born August 30, 1985) is a former American football defensive end who played in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He played colleg ...
.
Bench press The bench press, or chest press, is a weight training exercise in which the trainee presses a weight upwards while lying on a weight training bench. Although the bench press is a full-body exercise, the muscles primarily used are the pectorali ...
ing more than 500 pounds, he was the strongest player on the Trojans roster and was named one of the "
Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...
's Top 10 Players" by ''
Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...
'' going into the 2007 season.Pac-10's Top 10 Players: 4 Sedrick Ellis, DT, Sr. , USC
''SI.com'', Accessed August 21, 2007.
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.
, Pacific 10 Conference, December 3, 2007.
Ellis was recognized as a unanimous first-team All-American, having received first-team honors from the Associated Press,
American Football Coaches Association The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) is an association of over 11,000 American football coaches and staff on all levels. According to its constitution, some of the main goals of the American Football Coaches Association are to "mainta ...
,
Football Writers Association of America The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media out ...
,
Walter Camp Football Foundation The Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF) is one of the organizations whose College Football All-America Team is recognized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The organization also presents various awards. It is named in honor of foo ...
and ''The Sporting News'',
SI.com ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twice ...
,
Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...
.Ralph D. Russo
McFadden, Tebow Lead AP All-America Team
Associated Press, December 11, 2007.

SI.com, December 11, 2007.
Although Ellis was the strongest person on the 2007 Trojans and only the third player under Pete Carroll's Trojan tenure to lift over , 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.Mark Saxon
Ellis a monster in the middle of USC defense
, ''The Orange County Register'', August 18, 2007.
In addition to benching a team-best , at the 2007 spring pro day Ellis hoisted 225 lb 42 times. Because of his strength, the Trojans had to purchase a set of 200-pound
dumbbell The dumbbell, a type of free weight, is a piece of equipment used in weight training. It can be used individually or in pairs, with one in each hand. History The forerunner of the dumbbell, halteres, were used in ancient Greece as lifting w ...
s 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.Bruce Feldman
Trojans' defense respects but doesn't fear Illini attack
''ESPN the Magazine'', December 31, 2007.


Career statistics


Professional career


Pre-draft

''Bench Press'': ; ''Squat'':


New Orleans Saints

Ellis was drafted by the
New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...
seventh overall in the
2008 NFL Draft The 2008 NFL Draft was the 73rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 26 and April 27, ...
. The Saints original draft spot was 10th, but they traded up with the
New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...
. 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). The Patriots used the tenth pick to select linebacker
Jerod Mayo Jerod Mayo Sr. (born February 23, 1986) is an American football coach and former linebacker who is the inside linebackers coach for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). Mayo played college football for the Universit ...
. Initially, New Orleans attempted to trade up for
LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...
DT
Glenn Dorsey Glenn Jamon Dorsey (born August 1, 1985) is a former American football nose tackle. He played college football for Louisiana State University (LSU), received All-America honors twice, and was recognized as the top college defensive player of th ...
, whom they had valued higher than Ellis. They had purportedly offered a deal to the
Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...
which included their first- and second-round picks and their first-round pick in the
2009 NFL Draft The 2009 NFL Draft was the seventy-fourth annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 25 and 26, 2009. T ...
but the Chiefs decided to draft Dorsey instead. In New Orleans, Ellis was reunited with Saints defensive line coach
Ed Orgeron Edward James Orgeron Jr. (; born July 27, 1961) is an American football coach. He was most recently the head football coach at Louisiana State University (LSU), a position he held from midway through the 2016 season until the 2021 season. Orge ...
, 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.Mike Triplett
Saints, Ellis agree to five-year deal
, ''The Times-Picayune'', July 29, 2008, Accessed July 31, 2008.


2008 season

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

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 Super Bowl XLIV was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champions New Orleans Saints and the American Football Conference (AFC) champions Indianapolis Colts to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...
. 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

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 The National Football Conference – Southern Division or NFC South is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). It was created prior to the 2002 NFL season, when ...
. Ellis started at defensive tackle in the Saints' Wild Card playoff loss to the
Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...
, recording 3 total tackles.


2011 season

Ellis started all but one game during the Saints 13-3 run in 2011 that resulted in another
NFC South The National Football Conference – Southern Division or NFC South is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). It was created prior to the 2002 NFL season, when ...
title. He had 32 tackles (including playoffs) and four passes defended.


2012 season

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


Chicago Bears

On June 11, 2013, Ellis signed a one-year contract with the
Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...
, 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.


NFL career statistics


Personal


References


External links


New Orleans Saints bio


{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Sedrick 1985 births Living people All-American college football players American football defensive tackles Chicago Bears players New Orleans Saints players People from Chino, California Sportspeople from San Bernardino County, California USC Trojans football players Players of American football from California