As the Denver Broncos prepared to acquire a third-round pick in April's NFL Draft, they were elated to see Jonah Ellis' name still on the board.
Denver coach Sean Payton said earlier this season that the team had a second-round pick, a pass rusher from the University of Utah. They believed he had the ability to be a first-year contributor, but that need was heightened by the spring injury to Drew Sanders, a third-round pick from the previous year.
There was just one problem. The Atlanta Falcons picked two spots ahead of the Broncos. The general manager is Terry Fontenot, who worked in the New Orleans Saints' front office for nearly all of Payton's 16 seasons as the team's head coach. Also on Atlanta's roster was linebacker Kayden Ellis, Jonah's younger brother and a seventh-round pick of Payton, Fontenot and the Saints in 2019.
“I turned to George (Payton, Denver's general manager) and said, 'Terry's going to draft his brother. I know that,'” Payton said this week. “They drafted another player, so naturally we were excited to make our selection.
The Falcons selected Washington outside linebacker Bralen Trice, who suffered a season-ending ACL tear during the preseason, with the 74th pick. Two picks later, the Broncos took Jonah Ellis.
Peyton's phone immediately buzzed with text messages. It was Kaden.
“I won't tell you what was written, but I will say that exposure with Caden was very helpful in understanding the football mindset surrounding the next pick,” Payton said with a laugh.
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Kayden Ellis also didn't reveal many details about the exchange.
“(I) just thought, 'You got a good one,'” the Falcons linebacker said. “I've been told a lot of other things, but that's what I'm saying. I'm very excited to have him in Denver with Sean[and]a great staff. I have family out west, so I'm very excited to have him here in Denver, with Sean (and) a great staff. is a good place.”
Two weeks after the draft, the NFL schedule was announced and the date for the Ellis family reunion was set. On Sunday, Kayden and Jonah will face off against each other for the first time in the NFL as the Falcons take on the Broncos in a matchup between the two teams that takes another step toward the playoffs. Both players play defense, with Caden leading the Falcons with 88 tackles as the starting inside linebacker. Jonah plays a role in the pass rush rotation as an outside linebacker and has two sacks, so there won't be a direct conflict between the two brothers.
Unless…
“Maybe we can find a way to sneak in some special teams matchups,” Caden said.
Atlanta linebacker Kayden Ellis leads the Falcons with 88 tackles through 10 games. (Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
The brothers are two of five members of the Ellis family to reach the NFL. Christian Ellis is a linebacker for the New England Patriots, and Noah Ellis is a free agent and defensive tackle who spent the past two seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles. Along with Kayden and Jonah, they are believed to be the only four brothers to have played in the NFL. Jonah said Friday that he wouldn't be surprised to see University of Utah freshman defensive end Elijah Ellis join his family's NFL fraternity in a few years.
“It's hard not to know about Ellis,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said this week. “There are millions.”
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Their father, Luther Ellis, played 10 seasons in the league as a defensive tackle. The first nine joined the Detroit Lions and were drafted in the first round in 1995 after an All-American college career at the University of Utah. Ellis spent his final season with the Broncos in 2004, a fitting end to his career for the Mancos, Colorado, native. Ellis later became the Broncos' team chaplain, serving in that role during the 2015 Super Bowl season.
This 1pm slate is actually quite entertaining. Because we saw Ellis 55 try to sack Dak, then we saw Ellis 52 try to cover Justice Hill, then we saw Ellis 53 take on Tony Pollard.
— Benjamin Solak (@BenjaminSolak) November 3, 2024
During Ellis' only season with the Broncos, it was not unusual to see the family's full-size van parked at the team's facility. Luther and his wife Rebecca have 12 children, seven of whom are adopted. With a family this large, competition was inevitable. Sometimes the fiercest races were on the table.
“We made up the game. We were going to play any game, any sport under the sun,” Kayden said. “Sometimes it was football. Sometimes it was soccer or some random game we made up.”
Luther's career served as a roadmap. Most of the Ellis boys didn't play tackle football until eighth grade (Kaden missed out on his fifth and seventh grade seasons), but their love for the sport was built into their collective upbringing. grew rapidly.
“My dad was obviously able to guide us in our work,” Kayden said. “So working smarter, not just working harder, showed me where I needed to improve and what I needed to do to take that step.”
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Broncos rookie Jonah Ellis has steadily improved his pass rush scheme.
Sunday's matchup between the Broncos and Falcons is full of familiar connections. Falcons safety Justin Simmons spent the first eight years of his career in Denver after the team drafted him in the third round in 2016. Thirty of his 31 career interceptions came in a Broncos uniform. He and his wife, Taryn Simmons, have deep roots in the Denver community through their work with the Justin Simmons Foundation, and the safety has been nominated for the team's Walter Payton Man of the Year award three times. He said this week that he will be a “Bronco for life,” and Sunday's focus will help the Falcons to their seventh win.
“It's different to practice with him for years, but it's going to be fun to get live fire,” Broncos wide receiver Courtland Sutton said. “I jokingly said to him, 'Hey, brother, when you see me trying to cross the middle, remember we're friends.'”
Falcons offensive coordinator Zach Robinson, on the other hand, grew up in Denver. He was a Broncos fan and his family had season tickets. He later became a standout football player at Chatfield High School outside Littleton, Colorado.
“Definitely, (my) family was excited when we found out we were going to Denver,” Robinson said. “The atmosphere is hard to beat. That and KC are probably the top two in the NFL. I'm looking forward to getting home.”
Those returns will be special, but reunions and homecomings happen every week in the NFL. A match between brothers at their father's home stadium with over 30 family members? There aren't that many.
“I played with one of my brothers in college, but this is definitely different,” Broncos tight end Adam Trautman said. His locker is next to Jonah's in Denver, and he was previously a teammate of Kayden's in New Orleans. “He's always been competitive with me and my brother, and I'm sure they treat us the same way.”
Broncos rookie Jonah Ellis, 52, has 21 tackles and two sacks for Denver this season. (C. Morgan Engel/Getty Images)
The Ellis brothers aren't taking Sunday's opportunity for granted. But at the end of the day, it's just another competition in a never-ending series of competitions. Every year, families gather at Ellis Olympic, usually during the Fourth of July weekend. This multi-day event features rotating competitions ranging from corn holes to board games. This event includes a trophy with the winner's name engraved on it that is displayed in Luther and Rebecca's home. Including spouses and close family friends, the contest may involve more than 30 participants.
Idle talk is an essential part of this show. Jonah said this week that he and his fiancée were winning a pickleball tournament, a fact that irritated his brother.
“I think the most I've seen someone score up to 11 points in a game is three or four,” Jonah said. “We're doing pretty well. We killed (Kaden). He didn't like it.”
But most people seem to agree that Kaden sets the pace for the Twitter department. So it may be no surprise that the Falcons linebacker, who has already won a head-to-head matchup with Christian in the NFL, said goodbye before facing Christian in 2022. do not have.
“I’m 1-0,” he said of the matchup with Ellis. “We're going to go 2-0 this week.”
(Top photo of Kayden and Jonah Ellis:
Todd Kirkland, Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)
