DB Ray Ellis (official thread)

[Buckskin86]

Ray Ellis (American football)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ray Ellis
No. 24
Safety
Personal information
Date of birth: April 27, 1959 (age 54)
Place of birth: Canton, Ohio
Career information
College: Ohio State
NFL Draft: 1981 / Round: 12 / Pick: 331
Debuted in 1981 for the Philadelphia Eagles
Last played in 1987 for the Cleveland Browns
Career history
Philadelphia Eagles (1981?1985)
Cleveland Browns (1986?1987)

Kerwin Ray Ellis (born April 27, 1959 in Canton, Ohio) is a former professional American football safety in the National Football League for the Philadelphia Eagles and the Cleveland Browns from 1981?1987. He finished with 3 sacks, and 14 interceptions in his career.
References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Ellis_(American_football)

Rob Oller commentary: Ex-Buckeye Ellis part of lawsuit vs. NCAA
By Rob Oller
The Columbus Dispatch? Saturday June 22, 2013

The injustice appeared on Ray Ellis? feet as he prepared to take the field with his Ohio State teammates for the 1980 Fiesta Bowl against Penn State.

Ellis, the Buckeyes? starting right cornerback, wanted to wear the Converse cleats he preferred for grass fields, but the team was told it had to wear Nikes, which Ellis only wore on synthetic surfaces.

?That (contractual) deal had to do with something other than football,? Ellis said. ?It didn?t benefit me, but put me at a disadvantage. I would never want a player to be compromised.?

Ellis already was scratching his head over the seeming contradiction he had witnessed throughout bowl week. While Ohio State coaches and athletic department administrators enjoyed Arizona with their families, Ellis? loved ones were left behind in Canton.

?For us, it was sad, and I recall thinking at the time it was a little unfair,? said Ellis, who is one of more than a dozen plaintiffs listed in a lawsuit, Ed O?Bannon vs. NCAA, that seeks to grant former, current and future college athletes (O?Bannon played basketball at UCLA) financial compensation for the use of their likenesses on television and video games.

?That?s when I began thinking about the business model of it,? Ellis said yesterday from his home near Phoenix, where he is sports channel director for web-based VoiceAmerica radio. ?That was my first time thinking about revenue and how it was dispersed.?

It would not be his last. As the years rolled by, Ellis saw his likeness ? a player wearing his No. 27 for the 1979 team ? on a video game published by Electronic Arts.

?My brother-in-law asked if I was being compensated,? Ellis said.

He wasn?t. Later, a friend asked Ellis if he had been watching ESPN Classic when the network replayed the 1980 Rose Bowl game between Ohio State and Southern California.

?I thought about it and decided it wasn?t right ? so I thought I needed to say something and become an advocate for former players and future players and current players,? he said.

Ellis considers himself more a fan than an activist.

?There?s not a more committed fan of Ohio State than Ray Ellis,? he said.

cont...

http://buckeyextra.dispatch.com/con...x-buckeye-ellis-part-of-lawsuit-vs--ncaa.html