STARS AND STRIPES
Former MLB commissioner Fay Vincent after the Miami Marlins traded US$160 million of their most expensive players to Toronto last week.
doing it over and over like a machine. Just consistent.
‘‘He was a joy to coach and he’s doing the same thing now in the NFL from what I hear in talking to the general manager and assistant general manager at the Vikings.
‘‘He’s working hard there and nobody will outwork Rhett. If you give him a direction, nobody will outwork him.’’
While others in the nationally ranked Trojans team were blessed with the sort of power, speed and agility to catch the eye of the visiting NFL scouts, Ellison was not so dynamic.
He was good, no doubt, just not exceptional.
So when he was picked up by the Vikings in the fourth round of this year’s NFL draft, some football pundits wondered what was going on in America’s far north.
In February, after a less than spectacular showing at the NFL Scouting Combine – a camp where hopeful players carry out a spate of key tests under the watchful eye of NFL clubs – Ellison thought his dreams were over.
Still, he decided to put his name forward for the draft anyway and when the Vikings took him with the 128th pick overall, the 24-year-old was so overwhelmed he began bawling like a baby.
Only a week before the draft, he’d been in Washington DC with his well-connected father looking for a job.
Talking on a handsfree set while driving through the chilly streets of Minneapolis, Ellison looks back fondly on his time in Los Angeles, describing the Trojans as his second family.
But in the space of a mere six months, his life has changed exponentially.
In April, he inked a four-year $US2.4 million deal with the Vikings, complete with $US300,000 signing bonus. He’s now got money in the bank and, perhaps most importantly, appears to be making the cut in the NFL.
Through the first nine weeks of the season, he’s played in every game for the Vikings, mainly as part of the side’s special teams but also as a tight end.
‘‘The season has flown by. Looking back now, it feels like it was just yesterday that I was in pre-season camp and trying hard just to make the team,’’ Ellison says.
‘‘Now, we are nine games into the season.
‘‘It’s gone super fast. But at the same time, you’re in the grind, the routine so much that you almost don’t notice that everything’s going by so quickly.’’
As far as careers go, it’s early days, of course, but just as he did for the Trojans, Ellison’s leaving nothing to chance.
By 6.30am on most days, he’s already at Vikings HQ and admits he doesn’t usually leave the place until 7.30pm.
During gruelling days, he lifts weights, studies video and trains with his colleagues before returning to the video room for extra sessions.
It was the same back at USC where he was always the first to arrive and the last to leave.
‘‘I’m not surprised at all that he’s made it to the NFL,’’ Polamalu says.
‘‘That young man, even if it wasn’t football, if it was something else, I would be very proud because I know that he’d put everything into it.’’
As the son of a three-time Super Bowl winner, and the first New Zealander to play in the NFL, there is pressure on the younger Ellison.
After his father and David Dixon, he’s only the third Kiwi to play in one of the toughest sporting competitions on the planet and while he speaks with a Californian lilt, the product of a childhood spent largely in the States, he still thinks of himself as a New Zealander.
It helps, he admits, that he lived in Christchurch for three years as a youngster, attending St Andrew’s College.
In another life, he could have gone on to be an All Black. The iconic Tom Ellison – a great uncle – was one more than a century ago. So, too, his cousin Tamati, who made his debut in the black jersey in 2009.
But with Riki Ellison as his dad, there was really only one career path for Rhett.
‘‘Dad’s made every single game so far this season. He’s enjoying it and he’s very excited,’’ Ellison said. ‘‘He’s my No 1 fan in the stands and he’s there every Sunday.’’
Back to sunny Southern California and Ellison’s former teammates are as quick to sing his praises as his former coach.
Wide receiver Roberts Woods – a player blessed with an abundance of talent and undoubtedly bound for the NFL – smiles as he recalls how The Machine went about his business.
‘‘He was a great leader, a great person and a great captain – one of the best,’’ he says.
‘‘Even when he was hurt, he was out here battling, wearing big knee braces and he was always the first one to the meetings.
‘‘He’s The Machine. He’s a complete Trojan.’’
And running back Curtis McNeal – another player with genuine NFL aspirations – echoes Woods’ sentiments.
‘‘We called him The Machine because he kept going on every play.
‘‘It could be the beginning of practice or the last play of practice and you wouldn’t see any difference in him.’’ Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is out of tomorrow’s crucial NFL game against the Baltimore Ravens after discovering an injury to his first rib after suffering a shoulder sprain in their win over the Kansas City Chiefs. ‘‘The rib is the more scary part because I guess if it goes in the wrong direction it could puncture the aorta,’’ Roethlisberger said this week. ‘‘I’m going to get back as soon as I can, I know that much.’’ Backup quarterback Byron Leftwich came in for Roethlisberger, going 7-for-14 for 73 yards in his first regular season game in two years, as the Steelers won 16-13. The injury-hit Minnesota Timberwolves were dealt another blow this week, with forward Chase Budinger expected to be sidelined for at least three months after having knee surgery. Budinger, who has flourished as a perimeter player this season, tore a lateral meniscus in his left knee during the final quarter of Monday’s 87-80 loss to the Chicago Bulls. The 24-year-old had surgery in Florida to repair the tear and is expected to be out of action for three to four months. RA Dickey of the New York Mets became the first knuckleball pitcher to win a Cy Young Award, while Tampa Bay Rays’ left-hander David Price won the American League’s top pitching award after the closest vote in 43 years. Dickey, who turned 38 last month, confounded hitters by being able to change speeds on his dipping, darting knuckleball, posting a 20-6 record with a 2.73 earned run average. He led the National League in innings (233.2) and strikeouts (230). Price was second in the American League voting two years ago but came out on top this time, edging last season’s Cy Young and MVP winner Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers by the narrowest margin since a tie in the 1969 voting. Injured Baltimore Ravens veteran Ray Lewis has no intention of retiring. The 37-year-old has been sidelined for a month since tearing his triceps muscle and is unlikely to return to the field this year. ‘‘I am focused on rehabbing and getting my arm and body as strong as they can be,’’ Lewis said.