Justin Ellis Ready To Go To Work For The Raiders... Monroe, LA During the countless hours of NFL Draft coverage this past weekend, a constant range of emotions were captured from tears to shock to disappointment. Deep down inside, Justin Ellis was as nervous as the rest of the 256 players selected, but no one would have known that Saturday at Ellis’ draft party at Neville High School. Maybe it was because Ellis had to wait just seven picks in Saturday’s fourth round before the Oakland Raiders called his name, or maybe it was just his personality. There were no tears or fist pumps, just a wide smile as family and friends congratulated him. To Ellis, a former Louisiana Tech and Neville product, it was a dream come true, but only the beginning of a dream, and certainly not one he can hang his hat on. “Now it’s time to work,” Ellis said. “Right now, it’s just a weight lifted off my back. Now it’s time to grind and try to make the team for real.” Ellis did admit, though, that it hadn’t sunk in yet that he was going to the NFL. However, his calm and easygoing demeanor comes from his childhood, and specifically his mother, Gloria. “My mom raised me to be humble,” Ellis said. “That’s why I don’t brag or anything. I just embrace it all.” Looking back at his youth, the humbleness can also come from a child that seemed hardly destined to play in the NFL. Ellis played YMCA football from a young age and came to Neville as a mammoth teenager that would require some serious molding from head football coach Mickey McCarty and his assistant Michael Moore. “He was such a big, ole lazy rascal. He was terribly lazy,” McCarty recalled. “He didn’t want to work and didn’t want to do things like we wanted him to do. I remember vividly, we have a coach here Michael Moore who was back coaching with us at the time, we told Jelly he could possibly one day be paid to play this game. “God gave him the body to possibly do it, but without the work ethic, it just wasn’t going to happen. Through time he finally developed that.” Ellis ended up earning all-state honors as a senior, was a two-time all-district performer and two-time All-Northeast Louisiana selection by The News-Star. But he made his name as an offensive lineman, not on defense. Whether he was up or down, Ellis always had a smile on his face. Soon enough, his nickname “Jelly Bean” emerged, and it’s stuck ever since. “What we always enjoyed about Justin was his demeanor,” McCarty said. “He’s got a great personality, great smile. By the time he was a senior here he was an outstanding football player.” The Monroe native earned a scholarship at Tech as a two-star recruit, according to Rivals, although his stock could have been higher. “I had a bad attitude,” Ellis said. “I didn’t want to condition. I just wanted to play football. (The Neville coaches) broke me out of that. I’m thankful for that and they gave me a shot at football. I’m grateful for it.” The attitude wasn’t completely gone at Tech, especially when Ellis reported to Ruston at nearly 400 pounds. Something clicked, and Ellis started carving out his role after redshirting in 2009. “When he came to college he was like 387 and he got his weight down. He worked at it and went through some things like all college kids do,” said former Oakland Raider and Tech defensive line coach Ed Jackson. “He adjusted and to see where he’s at today is awesome.” The change of heart goes back to Ellis’ childhood dreams of playing in the NFL. At Tech, which is still regarded as a mid-major program, he knew something was needed to separate himself from the thousands of players who shared his same dream. Ellis wrapped up his career with 102 total tackles — not exactly eye-popping numbers, but that was mainly due to constant double teams. So off he went to the East-West Shrine game as an unheralded recruit. In the span of a few months, he was invited to the Senior Bowl then the NFL Combine and followed it up with a Pro Day that helped him shoot up draft boards. “In order for you to know about Justin Ellis, you have to have been watching La. Tech football and know my history,” he said. “A lot of guys wondered ‘Who is this guy?’ I had to prove to the world. You never know, I probably wouldn’t have gotten drafted.” The last sentence is irrelevant now. The next goal is actually having an impact in the NFL.
Posted on: Wed, 14 May 2014 23:25:33 +0000
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