First, can you tell me about your scooting work and how you got started with PrimeTime Scouting?
I was technically a teacher for 25 years – I taught PE but I helped kids understand how to go to college when I did that. I wanted them to have the same opportunity I did – I was the first in my family to graduate from college.
I was a six-time All American hurdler at Pitt and was at the national championship in my hometown of Durham – my college roommate then was Lee McCrae. Our godmothers were sisters and he told me Mark Everett happened to be at his godmother’s house and I should go over there to meet him. Everett was on the Olympic track team.
Well, Everett had this bad arm – had it since he was a kid. When I sat down next to him we started talking and I asked him why when he ran, he embarrassed people because he looked like a third-grade school girl with that flapping bad arm off his. He just cracked up.
Well, I didn’t know it, but that turned into a job interview. Years later when I got laid off I saw a video of his about his scouting business. I wanted to be a scout for years – I applied to many places but no one wanted to hire me. Well, I called Mark and asked him how I could work for him and he told me I was hired.
I became a scout for him after that.
How does the program work?
We get kids guaranteed scholarships at school of all levels – all divisions. Many of the coaches at those schools we know because they played when we did. Some are friends. So we help the kids with the recruiting and getting scholarships.
The recruiting landscape has changed dramatically since we were kids. We use every avenue to get kids into schools.
How has your track and NFL experience helped you?
I’ve been through it all. It’s like driving a car – you know how to do it, but explaining to someone else how to is another thing. Everyone is different – some learn quickly, some are panicky, some do as they are told easily. Some parents are panicky too. And some parents think their kids are the best thing since buttered bread, but maybe the coaches don’t think so. So I get all of that.
I have a 14 year-old who already had 10 scholarships lined up. My daughter is a Junior in college and her last bill was for $18 – and she’s not an athlete. We help non-athletes as well.
You also have an older son that almost played for Pitt basketball right?
I do yes. I talked to Coach Capell when he first came out but no one came out to see him. Now they had interest him but he signed with Arkansas.
What is the biggest thing you help kids with?
The biggest thing is showing them that they don’t have to go into debt to go to school. Some want to go to a winning school but they end up sitting on the bench and go into debt. There are many schools who are looking for that kid they’ll roll out the red carpet for and offer big scholarships to. We ride with these kids throughout their lives and even have Hall of Famers behind the scenes to help them.
So stepping back – how did you as a guy who didn’t play football in college end up with the Steelers?
I was starting off as a teacher – living with a group of guys – sleeping on their floor because I was only making $150 a month.
Over that Christmas, an agent in Florida started looking for me. He saw my film at the Pan Am games. I was dead last but caught up to almost everyone and ended up in third place. He was looking for me and finally found my cousin in Durham and through him met with me. He thought I could play in the NFL – he had me training six days a week – lifting weights, running routes, catching balls….
I rode the bus every day. Crazy story – the bus driver started talking to me- his name was Dave Zumba – he turned around and asked me what I was doing every day. He saw me reading the Bible then get off the bus and walk up this big hill. I told him I was working out to get to the NFL combine. He told me then that he knew someone who worked for the Steelers and asked if I had any information I could give him. Well, the day before Roger Kingdom told me I should have a sheet typed up – my sports resume – and I had just done that. So, I gave that to Dave. He passed it on to the Steelers.
My agent later got me set up with a local tryout with the Steelers. I ran a 4.38 40 at the tryout. Cowher was looking at his stopwatch and when he saw the time he yelled out “Gentlemen, this guy is legit!” I heard other coaches whispering that I broke the 20 yard dash record. I turned around and told them then “Stop looking at your stopwatches. I am that fast!”
After that they signed me and that preseason I caught 7 passes for 111 yards and a 52-yard touchdown on Monday Night Football.
Did anyone take you under their wing at all and help you since you were basically starting as someone new to the game?
Chan Gailey told me he was going to have to teach me 10 years of football in camp. I was learning the game – it was crazy. Football is the biggest chess game you’ll ever see – people don’t understand that. If you lost your playbook it cost you $5,000 to replace it.
I just tried to learn as much as I could. I remember sitting there trying to figure the playbook out. I decided to start at page one – I flipped to the page and it covered the offensive line. I got halfway down and got a migraine and never did that again. There were 1,000 different ways to block – what was a “U Block?” I stayed in my lane after that and just learned the receiver routes. There were three routes for every call and you had to be on the same page as the quarterback and coach. And the pressure – if you don’t like pressure there is no need to play football!
I was the X receiver – they kept it simple for me. I studied a lot. When I later left Pittsburgh for New England I was able to learn the playbook in two days. The New England playbook was that simple.
If I would have been able to understand cover-two better and earlier I would have played more. Chris Palmer in New England taught me that the more you played the more you saw – you just had to look. Parcells – he could see the whole field at once – what everyone was doing at the same time.
What on-field memories stand out most to you of your time in Pittsburgh?
Of all the teams I played for – there was nothing like Steeler Town. That is the best place to play on the planet. I’ve been to a lot of other stadiums but there’s nothing like the lunch pail feeling you get with all of those guys behind you no matter what you do.
A couple of plays in preseason stand out. When we played the Raiders they were choking the receivers at the line of scrimmage and leg whipping them. I said to myself that they wouldn’t do that to me! I ended up catching a pass on the sidelines – I was going to go out of bounds anyway but the defensive back hit me, which he didn’t need to do. So on the next play – it was a running play – I ran across the field and knocked him down. He get upset and called me a “B*tch” – But I said “Who’s the b*tch – you’re the one on the ground!”
Another time Tomczak was running and I went and blocked the safety – he went flying about three-to-five feet. When they replayed it the crowd went crazy. When I got the sidelines I was about to take my helmet off when Pat Hodgson – the tight ends coach – he came over and grabbed me by the helmet and told me he didn’t care what the fans thought, I wasn’t a punk. I remember Kirkland and Chad Brown nodding their head in approval.
Tomczak and I were always on the same page – I’m not sure why. When I caught the 52-yard touchdown from him, it was a double-seam move. He told me before the play he was going to throw it to me and he didn’t lie. Greg Lloyd chest-bumping me after – I remember that, and sitting on the bus on the way home with vets like Rod Woodson who were telling me it was a great catch. Getting that approval from the vets was special.
Did any of the players help you in camp?
Most didn’t help too much because you were there to take their job, as if I had any chance to do that. Yancey Thigpen though – he would drive me to practice. I didn’t have my own car. On the way I had to get breakfast for the receivers as a rookie. I’d get them Burger King and we’d watch film together.
What caused you to leave Pittsburgh for New England?
Stupidity. Sean Flaherty – my agent – he wanted to get me on a roster where I’d play more and get a bigger salary. Sean still won’t let me pay him anything to this day. But back then Parcells was after me and called Sean every day for two weeks asking how he could get me in New England. He drove Sean crazy. I finally went – I thought I could get on the field more. I had the talent but I couldn’t make the reads.
And fun off-field memories stand out?
I remember Roger Kingdom and I got to a game very early one day and a guy there recognized me. “You’re Ellis! You gotta eat one of my sausages!” he said. Roger told me I couldn’t disrespect the man so I tried one and I am glad I did! I wish I could find those today! He told me I made his life, trying one of his sausages!
Also in camp there was a fan- John Vigilaro -who came to see me in the morning an afternoon practices. For some reason I was his guy. His wife made me eight pies during camp! He told Coach Cowher every day that if he cut me it would be the worst day of his life. Finally my agent told me I had to tell John to stop – that Coach Cowher was starting to get upset!
And the pranks the vets played on me. We had five minutes to get on the field for practice when I went to my locker to get my helmet and it was taped to the hook at my locker. I was freaking out – I had to take the tape off strip by strip! They were all laughing at me. I didn’t know it though but they also put Icy Hot on my mouthpiece. And those are specially fit for players – you couldn’t replace them easily. I didn’t know until I was on the field – my mouth was on fire the entire practice! I never did figure out who did it!
Maybe my best memory was when I was about to have dinner the night before a game and Greg Lloyd and John L. Williams asked me to sit with them. As a rookie you don’t say much – you just sit there and listen and learn. The whole time they didn’t talk about football or the coaches – they talked about their kids. Greg was talking about his kid asking if he could kick another kid if the kid kicked him – Greg said yes of course! But they were just being regular people. I was in awe sitting there listening to them.
What advice would you give young players trying to make it in the NFL?
Have a good woman in your life! If you don’t you’ll blow it! Having a solid woman made all the difference for me. I found out in our CTE meetings that most players get divorced. We become different people when we play. You need someone who can be a foundation for you and understand you.
Read more by former Steelers via the book Steelers Takeaways: Player Memories Through the Decades. To order, just click on the book:
