Jack Duane Ellena (October 27, 1931 – March 23, 2012) was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

player. Ellena played

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...

for coach

Red Sanders Henry Russell "Red" Sanders (May 7, 1905 – August 14, 1958) was an American college football player and coach. He was head footnall coach at Vanderbilt University (1940–1942, 1946–1948) and the University of California, Los Angeles (1949 ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

from 1952 to 1954. He was a member of the Bruins team that lost the

1954 Rose Bowl The 1954 Rose Bowl was the 40th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on Friday, January 1. The third-ranked Michigan State Spartans of the Big Ten Conference defeated the #5 UCLA Bruins of t ...

and was named that year's FWAA & UPI national champions. That same year, Ellena was named to the

College Football All-America Team The College Football All-America Team is an honor given annually to the best college football players in the United States at their respective positions. The original use of the term '' All-America'' seems to have been to the 1889 College Footbal ...

and won the

UPI Lineman of the Year The United Press International Lineman of the Year award was given annually by United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided ...

. In addition to playing football for the Bruins, Ellena wrestled heavyweight at UCLA. He was a two-time Pacific Coast Intercollegiate heavyweight champ (1953, 1954), and placed fourth at the 1953 NCAA wrestling championships at Penn State, earning All-American honors. Ellena was selected in the 19th round (228th overall) of the

1953 NFL draft The 1953 National Football League draft was held on January 22, 1953, at Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia. Selections made by the folded Dallas Texans were assigned to the Baltimore Colts, since the Dallas team had moved to Baltimore. ...

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 ...

. He played

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

and

nose guard A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive tackles. Defensive tackles are typically ...

for the Rams from 1955 to 1956. He was cut by the Rams in 1957 and was unable sign with any teams 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 ...

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

. After his football career, Ellena ran Mountain Meadow Ranch, a

summer camp A summer camp, also known as a sleepaway camp or residential camp, is a supervised overnight program for children conducted during the summer vacation from school in many countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer residential camps ...

located near his home town of

Susanville, California Susanville (formerly known as Rooptown) (, ''bush creek country'')Simmons, W. S., Morales, R., Williams, V., & Camacho, S. (1997). Honey Lake Maidu Ethnogeography of Lassen County, California . Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropolog ...

. In 1987, he was inducted into the

UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) ...

References

1931 births 2012 deaths All-American college football players American football offensive linemen American football linebackers Los Angeles Rams players UCLA Bruins football players People from Susanville, California Sportspeople from Lassen County, California Players of American football from California 20th-century American sportsmen {{Offensive-lineman-1930s-stub