Atiyyah Ramadan Ellison h-TEE-ah(born September 29, 1981) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

defensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line (D ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He was selected by the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

in the third round of the

2005 NFL draft The 2005 NFL draft, the 70th in league history, took place on April 23 and 24, 2005 NFL season, 2005. The draft was held at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City and was televised for the 26th consecutive year, with coverage on E ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Missouri Tigers The Missouri Tigers intercollegiate athletics programs represent the University of Missouri, located in Columbia. The name comes from a band of armed Union Home Guards called the "Fighting Tigers of Columbia" who, in 1864, protected Columbia ...

. Ellison was also a member of the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the 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 ...

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

, and

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

. He now works at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

Columbia, Missouri Columbia is a city in Missouri, United States. It was founded in 1821 as the county seat of Boone County, Missouri, Boone County and had a population of 126,254 as recorded in the 2020 United States census, making it the List of cities in Misso ...

as the Director of Player Development - Football.

Early life

As a senior at Parkway South High School in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

, Ellison had three sacks and 47

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position) A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent ...

. He was ranked one of the top defensive lineman in the Midwest, won All-State honors, and was an All-Metro choice. Ellison also was a standout

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player and received all-conference honors his senior year. He owns his high school

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

record and competed at the state track meet his junior and senior years. Parkway South High School retired Ellison's jersey in 2006.

College career

Coffeyville Community College

Ellison attended Coffeyville Community College in

Coffeyville, Kansas Coffeyville is a city in southeastern Montgomery County, Kansas, United States, located along the Verdigris River in the state's southeastern region. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 8,826. Coffeyville is the most pop ...

, for two seasons, where he

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically ...

ed in 2000. As a freshman in 2001, Ellison started 9 of 10 games, recording 57 tackles and five sacks. Inducted into the Coffeyville Hall of Fame in 2016.

University of Missouri

After community college, Ellison attended the

, where as a sophomore in 2002 he played in 12 games (9 starts), finishing with 39 tackles and two forced fumbles at

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 formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

. In 2003, Ellison earned third-team All-

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

honors after recording 72 tackles, four sacks, and two forced fumbles. As a senior in 2004, Ellison played in 11 games, finishing with 60 tackles and 2.5 sacks, earning first-team All-Big 12 honors.

Professional career

Carolina Panthers

Ellison was selected by the

in the third round (89th overall) of the

. He was waived by Carolina during final cuts on September 3, 2005, and re-signed to their

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

two days later. On September 14, 2005, he was promoted to the 53-man roster, but was waived again on September 24, 2005. He returned to the practice squad on September 27, 2005, and was elevated to the active roster again on October 31, 2005, where he spent the remainder of the season as an inactive. He was waived by the Panthers on September 2, 2006.

Houston Texans

The

claimed Ellison off waivers on September 3, 2006, but waived him on September 7, 2006, before the start of the regular season.

Baltimore Ravens

Ellison was signed to the

of the

on September 12, 2006, and was elevated to the 53-man roster on December 4, 2006. He was inactive for three games before being placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

with a shoulder injury on December 30, 2006. He was waived by the Ravens on September 1, 2007, and re-signed to their practice squad the next day.

San Francisco 49ers

The

signed Ellison to their 53-man roster off the Ravens' practice squad on September 5, 2007. He was inactive for the entire 2007 season and was waived by the 49ers on August 30, 2008, and re-signed to the 49ers' practice squad the next day.

Jacksonville Jaguars

The

signed Ellison off the 49ers' practice squad on December 10, 2008, but he was inactive for the final three games of the regular season. Ellison made his NFL debut as a reserve in Week 1 of the

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

season. He went on to play in 15 games for the Jaguars in 2009, starting nine at defensive tackle. He finished the season with 28 tackles and one and a half sack. He was waived by the Jaguars on September 4, 2010.

Kansas City Chiefs

The

signed Ellison on October 20, 2010. He was inactive for one game before being waived on October 27, 2010.

New England Patriots

Ellison was signed by the

on January 4, 2011, prior to their first

playoff The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

game. He was waived on January 8, 2011.

References

External links

New England Patriots bioJacksonville Jaguars bioKansas City Chiefs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellison, Atiyyah 1981 births Living people Players of American football from St. Louis American football defensive tackles American football defensive ends Coffeyville Red Ravens football players Missouri Tigers football players Carolina Panthers players Houston Texans players 21st-century American sportsmen Baltimore Ravens players San Francisco 49ers players Jacksonville Jaguars players Kansas City Chiefs players New England Patriots players Missouri Tigers football coaches