Sedrick Ellis Sedrick Dwayne Ellis ( born July 9 , 1985 ) is a former American football player . He was a defensive tackle who played for the New Orleans Saints and was briefly under contract to the Chicago Bears before retiring at 28 . He played college football for the University of Southern California ( USC ) , and earned All - American honors . He was drafted by the New Orleans Saints seventh overall in the 2008 NFL Draft , and played for the Saints for five seasons . Early years . Ellis was born in Chino , California . Ellis prepped at Chino High School . He was involved with teams that went to back to back CIF title games 2000 , 2001 . Ellis , along with teammate Chris McFoy , who was on these Chino teams , played in the NFL . While in high school Ellis played defensive tackle and fullback in goal line situations . College career . Ellis attended the University of Southern California , where he played for coach Pete Carroll ' s USC Trojans football team from 2003 to 2007 . As an underclassman , he learned under All - American Mike Patterson Ellis finished his redshirt junior season at the University of Southern California during the 2006 season . He was first team coaches and Rivals . com All - Pac - 10 conference , first - team " College Football News " All - America team and won the Morris Trophy . Ellis was a major force in USC ' s victory over then - No . 3 Michigan in the 2007 Rose Bowl , recording a season - high 7 tackles , a sack and a pass deflection . Following the performance , Ellis considered making the jump to the National Football League in the 2007 NFL Draft but decided to come back for his senior season and would go pro in 2008 ; part of his decision to stay was tied to classmate and highly touted defensive lineman Lawrence Jackson . Bench press ing more than 500 pounds , he was the strongest player on the Trojans roster and was named one of the " Pac - 10 ' s Top 10 Players " by " Sports Illustrated " going into the 2007 season . At the end of the 2007 season , Ellis was voted the Pacific - 10 Conference Defensive Player of the Year by league coaches , and was selected to the all - conference first team . Ellis was recognized as a unanimous first - team All - American , having received first - team honors from the Associated Press , SI . com , Rivals . com , AFCA , Walter Camp Football Foundation , FWAA and Sporting News . Although Ellis was the strongest person on the 2007 Trojans and only the third player under Pete Carroll ' s Trojan tenure to lift over , he had only started lifting weights since he was 15 ( 10 years as of 2010 ) because his father would not allow him to lift at a younger age . In addition to benching a team - best , at the 2007 spring pro day Ellis hoisted 225 lb 42 times . Because of his strength , the Trojans had to purchase a set of 200 - pound dumbbell s for their weight room just to accommodate him ( the previous high were 160s ) ; Ellis would do sets of eight reps on the incline bench with the 200s . Professional career . Pre - draft . " Bench Press " : ; " Squat " : New Orleans Saints . Ellis was drafted by the New Orleans Saints seventh overall in the 2008 NFL Draft . The Saints original draft spot was 10th , but they traded up with the New England Patriots . The teams swapped first round picks , the Saints gave up their third round selection ( 78th ) and the Pats gave back their fifth round selection ( 164th ) . The Patriots used the tenth pick to select linebacker Jerod Mayo . Initially , New Orleans attempted to trade up for LSU DT Glenn Dorsey , whom they had valued higher than Ellis . They had purportedly offered a deal to the Kansas City Chiefs which included their first - and second - round picks and their first - round pick in the 2009 NFL Draft but the Chiefs decided to draft Dorsey instead . In New Orleans , Ellis was reunited with Saints defensive line coach Ed Orgeron , who was his assistant coach at USC for his freshman year and responsible for recruiting him . Extended negotiations over contract details , not uncommon with high draft picks , led the defensive tackle to miss six days and 12 practices of training camp until a contract was agreed to on July 29 . His initial five - year contract is worth a maximum value of $ 49 million , with $ 19 . 5 million in guarantees ; however portions are based on hard - to - reach incentives that may bring the realized value of the agreement lower . 2008 season . Ellis started and played 13 regular season games in his rookie season for the Saints , who finished 8 - 8 . Sedrick recorded 30 tackles ( 20 solo ) and 4 sacks . 2009 season . Ellis started and played 10 regular season games in his second season with the Saints , who finished 13 - 3 and went on to win Super Bowl XLIV . Sedrick recorded 34 tackles ( 26 solo ) and 2 sacks in the regular season . Ellis started at Defensive Tackle for the Saints in the Super Bowl , recording three tackles . 2010 season . Ellis started and played in all 16 regular season games for the Saints for the first time in his NFL career , recording 44 tackles ( 30 solo ) , which marked a career high . Ellis also led all Saints defenders with 6 sacks on the year . New Orleans finished 11 - 5 , good for 2nd place in the NFC South . Ellis started at defensive tackle in the Saints ' Wild Card playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks , recording 3 total tackles . 2011 season . Ellis started all but one game during the Saints 13 - 3 run in 2011 that resulted in another NFC South title . He had 32 tackles ( including playoffs ) and four passes defended . 2012 season . Ellis started and played in all 16 regular season games , recording 36 tackles ( 13 solo ) . Chicago Bears . On June 11 , 2013 , Ellis signed a one year . $ 1 million contract with the Chicago Bears , a team that had a top five defense in yards and point - per - game allowed the year prior . On July 25 , 2013 , Ellis did not report to training camp and advised the Bears of his intention to retire from the NFL . Personal . Ellis has a pet Rottweiler named Junior .