Gerry Ellis (born November 12, 1957) 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

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

for seven seasons with the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

of 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 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 ...

and was selected by the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

in the

1980 NFL draft The 1980 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 29–30, 1980, at the New York Sh ...

. He was inducted into the

Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame The Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame is a team-specific hall of fame honoring players, coaches, executives and other contributors to the history and success of the Green Bay Packers, an American football team in the National Football League (NFL). ...

in 1994.

College career

After playing high school football at Hickman High School in

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 ...

, Ellis spent his first year post-high school at

Fort Scott Junior College Fort Scott Community College is a public community college in Fort Scott, Kansas. It has satellite buildings in other cities in Crawford County, including Pittsburg and Frontenac, along with sites in Paola and at the Hillsdale Learning Center. ...

. He later played at

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, where he started at fullback but was injured midway through his senior year. He returned in time for the

1979 Hall of Fame Classic The 1979 Hall of Fame Classic was a college football postseason bowl game that featured the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Missouri Tigers. Background Missouri had finished 4th in the Big Eight Conference, in their second straight bowl appeara ...

against

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, where he scored a touchdown.

Professional career

Ellis was drafted by the

in the seventh round

, but was cut by the team in his first preseason and was claimed by the

in free agency during the opening stages of the 1980 season. After rising to starting fullback in the middle of September 1980, Ellis scored his first career NFL touchdown against the Rams. He set Packers single-season team records for total offense by a running back and receiving yards by a running back in 1981, accumulating more than a quarter of Green Bay's total offensive yards. On September 30, 1984, Ellis caught a lateral from

James Lofton James David Lofton (born July 5, 1956) is an American former professional football player and coach. He played in the National Football League (NFL) as a wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers (1978–1986), Los Angeles Raiders (1987&nda ...

as time expired against the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

, scoring a touchdown and sending the game into overtime. The Packers unfortunately lost the game in overtime. After playing at fullback from 1980 to 1983, Ellis moved to running back before 1984. He led the Packers in rushing in both 1983 and 1984, and returned kicks for the Packers in 1985. Before the 1987 season, Ellis was volunteering at a football camp for underserved youth and tore his Achilles tendon while working out, never to step on an NFL field again. Ellis was inducted into the

in 1994.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Personal life

Ellis grew up in

with eight siblings, where he competed in track and field and set Central Missouri Conference records in discus and shot put. While attending college 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 ...

, Ellis majored in education. He invested in real estate as a side job during his football career.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Gerry 1957 births Living people Players of American football from Columbia, Missouri American football fullbacks Hickman High School alumni Missouri Tigers football players Green Bay Packers players Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame