2008 Woodie Awards
Linebacker surprised by SI cover
Ellerbe rises as '08 leader
JASON BUTT
Issue date: 8/20/08 Section: Sports
| |
|
After all, he's a humble linebacker from the 6,000-person town of Hamlet, N.C. who would rather lead by example than talk a lot. So when Sports Illustrated chose Ellerbe as one of Georgia's three front men, along with Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno, it came as a complete shock.
"I was surprised they let me do it," Ellerbe said. "I was surprised, that's big pub."
Now, what exactly is surprising about a national magazine picking the leading tackler from Georgia's defense a year ago for the cover? In 2007, Ellerbe led the way, tallying 93 tackles, 12 of which went for a loss.
"I mean, I don't know," Ellerbe said. "I never thought I'd be on the front of the Sports Illustrated cover. Just to be on one is crazy. It got the whole state of North Carolina buzzing, and South Carolina too."
And of course it has the state of Georgia buzzing pretty loud as well. Ellerbe said he went to pick up some copies to send to his family but certain stores had run out.
It also didn't help that some of Ellerbe's family members lived in other parts of the country weren't able to pick up a Georgia cover because Sports Illustrated decided to do five separate regional covers this year.
"I had some family in Texas and New York that couldn't get it because it was regional. They had it but they had the wrong team. My uncle went to go get one (in New York) and it had Ohio State, and man, he was cussing. He was mad about that," Ellerbe said, laughing.
Ellerbe's road as a football prospect from jazz musician John Coltrane's hometown to senior linebacker on the No. 1 team in America hasn't been the easiest. In 2006, Ellerbe's chances of playing football for Georgia seemed diminished after he was initially suspended indefinitely following an incident where he ran a teammate's car off the road after a night of drinking.
Ellerbe, 20 at the time of the incident, eventually pleaded guilty to reduced charges of reckless driving, underage possession of alcohol while driving and unlawful use of a license.
Following his plea, head coach Mark Richt gave Ellerbe another chance and lessened his suspension to just the first three games. It was a learning experience for the talented linebacker as Ellerbe said he now tries to offer others advice so they can stay away from similar scenarios. He also said Richt was like a father to him, someone that helped steer him in a positive direction.
"He's the head guy, he's the lead guy in all our lives right now," Ellerbe said. "He's like a father figure. He always tries to get us to do the right thing. He gives us encouragement and tells us the right things to do. He couldn't tell you anything wrong."
Richt said all he could do was handle the situation as if Ellerbe was his son.
"Our goal is to get them back in line and to help them succeed, like Dannell is doing right now," Richt said. "He's a great example of learning a lesson."
With that lesson in hand, Ellerbe has matured as he took on the role as big brother of the linebackers, if Richt is supposedly the father roaming the sidelines.
"Dannell, he's a total package," linebacker Akeem Dent said. "He's the leader of the whole linebacking group right now. When everything goes wrong, we always look to him to pick us up."
Bouncing back from possibly being kicked off the team to appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated has been quite the journey for Ellerbe. And the last thing he's going to believe is that the Bulldogs are soon to be the latest victim of the "SI jinx."
When told about the jinx, most notably how Oregon State stumbled to a 5-6 season in 2001 after being placed on the front of SI, Ellerbe admitted he had never heard of such a thing. But he did make a promise.
"Oh we're definitely not going 5-6. Definitely not," Ellerbe said. "But I'm not a superstitious person. I like to change it up. I don't have a pre-game ritual or anything like that. I just like to go out there and play."
Be the first to comment on this story