MeShaunda "Shaun" Pizarrur Ellis (born June 24, 1977), nicknamed Big Katt, 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 wit ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is p ...

who spent the majority of his career with the New York Jets 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 ma ...

(NFL). He played college football for the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...

. Ellis was drafted by the New York Jets in the first round (12th overall) of the

2000 NFL Draft The 2000 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur U.S. college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 15– 16, 2000, at the Th ...

, and also played for 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 ...

. He was a two-time

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

selection. During a road-rage incident he knocked out a younger gentleman and made his shoe fall off.

College career

Ellis enrolled in the

, where he was a stand-out

for the

Tennessee Volunteers football The Tennessee Volunteers football program (variously called "Tennessee", "Vols", "UT", or "Big Orange") represents the University of Tennessee (UT). The Vols have played football for 130 seasons, starting in 1891; their combined record of 862� ...

team under head coach Phillip Fulmer. In the 1998 season, he was part of the undefeated Volunteers team that won the National Championship over

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the sta ...

in the

Fiesta Bowl The Fiesta Bowl is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area. From its beginning in 1971 until 2006, the game was hosted at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has been playe ...

Tempe, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Vale of Tempe , image_skyline = Tempeskyline3.jpg , imagesize = 260px , image_caption = Tempe skyline as s ...

. At the end of his collegiate career, he had 105 tackles, 12.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, and one interception which he returned for 90 yards to score a touchdown.

Professional career

New York Jets (2000-2010)

Ellis was selected by the New York Jets in the first round with the 12th overall pick in the

. He was the first of four first round draft picks that the Jets had that year, and was the compensation pick from the

for hiring

Bill Belichick William Stephen Belichick (; born April 16, 1952) is an American professional football coach who is the head coach of the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). Additionally, he exercises extensive authority over the Patr ...

away from the Jets as their head coach. The other players drafted were defensive end

John Abraham John Abraham (born 17 December 1972) is an Indian actor, film producer, writer and former model working in Hindi films. He has won a National Film Award and received five Filmfare nominations. After modelling for advertisements and companies ...

(13th overall), quarterback

Chad Pennington James Chadwick Pennington (born June 26, 1976) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. He played college football at Marshall, where he won the Sammy Baugh Trophy, and was sele ...

(18th overall), and tight end

Anthony Becht Anthony G. Becht (born August 8, 1977) is a former American football tight end who played in the National Football League (NFL). He is currently the head coach of the St. Louis BattleHawks of the XFL. He was drafted by the New York Jets 27th ov ...

(27th overall). Ellis was an immediate impact player. In his rookie season, he recorded 8.5 sacks. Only defensive end Hugh Douglas, with 10 sacks in the 1995 season, ranks higher in Jets history for most sacks by a rookie. After

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...

and

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains independence from Indonesia and ...

campaigns which saw his overall numbers drop, Ellis rebounded in the 2003 season with an impressive 12.5 sacks. Ellis followed up his

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

season with 11 sacks in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

. Ellis anchored a strong Jets run defense which contributed to a 10-6 season and a wild card berth. In Week 17, he recorded three sacks in the final game of the 2004 regular season against 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 ...

. On December 14, 2008, in a home game against their

AFC East The American Football Conference – Eastern Division or AFC East is one of the four divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). There are currently four teams that reside in the division: the Buf ...

divisional rival

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division ...

, Ellis recovered a fumble from quarterback

J. P. Losman Jonathan Paul Losman (born March 12, 1981) is an American football coach and former quarterback. Losman played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons, primarily with the Buffalo Bills. He played college football at UCLA and Tul ...

and ran it for a touchdown in the final two minutes, giving the Jets the lead and the eventual 31-27 win. On December 23, 2008, Ellis was fined $10,000 for tossing snow at opposing fans when the Jets played 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 a ...

Qwest Field Lumen Field is a multi-purpose stadium in Seattle, Washington, United States. Located in the city's SoDo neighborhood, it is the home field for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL), the Seattle Sea Dragons of the XFL, ...

the previous Sunday. Ellis claimed that it was "all in good fun." In 2009, Ellis became the longest tenured player on the Jets roster. Under new head coach

Rex Ryan Rex Ashley Ryan (born December 13, 1962) is an American former football coach and analyst. Ryan was formerly the head coach of the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL), and also held various coaching positions ...

, Ellis helped lead the Jets to the postseason where the Jets made the AFC Championship for the first time in 11 years but lost to the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 20 ...

by a score of 30–17. Ellis helped lead the Jets to the AFC Championship for the second consecutive season in 2010 as they lost to the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Stee ...

by a score of 24-19. On January 26, 2010, Ellis was named to the

2010 Pro Bowl The 2010 Pro Bowl was the National Football League's all-star game for the 2009 season. It took place at 8:00 PM EST on Sunday, January 31, 2010, at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, the home stadium of the Miami Dolphins and host sit ...

as a replacement for

defensive end

Robert Mathis Robert Nathan Mathis (born February 26, 1981) is a former American football defensive end and outside linebacker who played his entire 14-year career with the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). He played college footbal ...

New England Patriots (2011)

Ellis signed with the

on August 7, 2011, ending his 11-year tenure with the New York Jets. During the 2011 season, Ellis played in 14 games with 14 total tackles and one sack. The Patriots would finish the regular season with a 13-3 record and advanced to

Super Bowl XLVI Super Bowl XLVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

, which was Ellis's first career trip to the Super Bowl. The Patriots lost to the

Giants A giant is a being of human appearance, sometimes of prodigious size and strength, common in folklore. Giant(s) or The Giant(s) may also refer to: Mythology and religion *Giants (Greek mythology) *Jötunn, a Germanic term often translated as 'gi ...

by a score of 21–17. Ellis was released by the Patriots after the 2011 season ended.

Free agency and retirement

Ellis spent most of the 2012 season on free agency and eventually announced his retirement from professional football.

NFL career statistics

References

External links

New York Jets profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Shaun 1977 births Living people African-American players of American football American Conference Pro Bowl players American football defensive ends New England Patriots players New York Jets players People from Anderson, South Carolina Players of American football from South Carolina Tennessee Volunteers football players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople Ed Block Courage Award recipients