Ellis' Worries Have Comeback, Too
Josh Ellis -
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DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
January 14, 2008 7:20 PM
Ellis was voted the AP NFL Comeback Player of the Year over the weekend.
IRVING, Texas - It's the off-season now, which means the Greg Ellis drama has begun anew.
The 10-year veteran outside linebacker says his backup, Anthony Spencer, is bound to start - his first-round pick status makes it all but assured. And Ellis thinks it's time to have a talk with the boss.
"Jerry made a big investment in Anthony," Ellis said. "There's something to be said about that - do you keep Greg who's getting older and his salary is going up and you invested new money in Anthony Spencer? What do you do in that situation?"
The whole idea brought a chuckle to Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips.
"He's the NFL Comeback Player of the Year," Phillips said. "He was pretty instrumental in us playing well on defense and our front seven being as strong as it was. I don't see him going anywhere."
See, Phillips knows how Ellis is. He worries. Professional athletes aren't generally known for their insecurities, but Ellis makes up for the rest of them.
Before the 2006 season he worried about whether he could successfully make the transition from defensive end to outside linebacker. He did, and well, basically anchored the team's run defense and supplied enough pass rush to keep teams from loading up to stop fellow outside 'backer DeMarcus Ware. After Ellis tore his Achilles' tendon in the ninth game of the season, the defense was never the same.
And last summer Ellis was so apprehensive about his ability to return from the injury, and thinking Spencer was going to pass him up then because of draft status, he asked to be released, or traded.
"You'd have to be dumb and blind or crazy not to realize you can't draft first-rounders and leave them on the bench," Ellis said. "I'm not naïve to that. If you know anything about the NFL you can't draft first-rounders and leave them on the bench for two or three years."
Ellis sat out the first three games rehabbing his heel, then came back and had his best season, finishing with a career-high 12½ sacks and three forced fumbles. You just get the feeling Ellis thinks his success has more to do with teams focusing their protection on Ware.
And as for what his value might be if he ever got on the open market now that he's come back from the injury?
"That had to be proven - that I still can do it," Ellis said. "The question mark has been removed; he's a safe guy to deal with now."
Ellis just feels like the move to draft Spencer showed the Cowboys intend to get younger at the position, and he said even if he could remain the starter and make the same money, a fresh start somewhere else is more appealing.
"When you see the things that have gone on here, maybe it's time to move on," he said.
"With no animosity, not being mad at Jerry - with no controversy, none of that stuff that's been going on for the last two or three years.
"It's none of that. They got Anthony and he's a first-rounder. I put myself in Jerry's situation and said if I was Jerry, what would I do? Jerry and I haven't had that conversation yet. He and I both said, well we'll talk after the season is over. We'll address it later on."
Ellis said being replaced by younger players is what's supposed to happen.
"Jerry may come to me and say, 'No, that's not the way it is,'" Ellis said. "It very well would surprise me."
