Sedrick Ellis
Encyclopedia
New Orleans Saints
Ellis was drafted by the New Orleans SaintsNew Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are members of the South Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League ....
seventh overall in the 2008 NFL Draft
2008 NFL Draft
The 2008 NFL Draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on April 26 and April 27, 2008. For the 29th consecutive year, ESPN televised the draft; the NFL Network also broadcast the event, its third year doing so...
. The Saints original draft spot was 10th, but they traded up with the New England Patriots
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...
. 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
-2008 season:Mayo was drafted by the New England Patriots with the tenth overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft. He was signed on July 24, 2008, to a five-year contract worth $18.9 million, including $13.8 million in bonuses and guarantees...
.
Initially, New Orleans attempted to trade up for LSU DT Glenn Dorsey
Glenn Dorsey
-Kansas City Chiefs:Dorsey was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs fifth overall in the 2008 NFL Draft. On July 26, 2008, he signed a five-year, $51 million contract with $23 million guaranteed....
, whom they had valued higher than Ellis. They had purportedly offered a deal to the Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
which included their first- and second-round picks and their first-round pick in the 2009 NFL Draft
2009 NFL Draft
The 2009 NFL Draft was the seventy-fourth annual meeting of National Football League franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on April 25 and 26, 2009. The draft consisted of two rounds on the first day starting at 4:00...
but the Chiefs decided to draft Dorsey instead.
In New Orleans, Ellis was reunited with Saints defensive line coach Ed Orgeron
Ed Orgeron
Ed Orgeron is an American football coach who is currently serving as the defensive coordinator/defensive line coach/recruiting coordinator for the USC Trojans. Orgeron previously served as the head football coach of the Ole Miss Rebels from 2005 to 2007...
, 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 contact 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.
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 XLIVSuper Bowl XLIV
Super Bowl XLIV was an American football game between the American Football Conference champion Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference champion New Orleans Saints to decide the National Football League champion for the 2009 season. The Saints defeated the Colts by a score of...
. Sedrick recorded 34 tackles (26 of them 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 of them solo). Ellis led the Saints with 6 sacks on the year. New Orleans finished 11-5 on the season. Ellis started at Defensive Tackle in the Wild Card game for the Saints, recording 3 tackles in a 41-36 loss to the Seattle SeahawksSeattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle, Washington. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team joined the NFL in 1976 as an expansion team...
.
Personal
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 (226.8 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. In addition to benching a team-best 510 lb (231.3 kg), 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 dumbbellDumbbell
The dumbbell, a type of free weight, is a piece of equipment used in weight training. It can be used individually or in pairs .-History:...
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. Ellis has a pet Rottweiler
Rottweiler
The Rottweiler is a medium to large size breed of domestic dog that originated in Rottweil, Germany. The dogs were known as "Rottweil butchers' dogs" because they were used to herd livestock and pull carts laden with butchered meat and other products to market...
named Junior.
In late 2008 Ellis moved to New Orleans and adopted a Dogo Argentino puppy named Legend Sampson.