Greg Ellis ( American football ) Gregory Lemont Ellis ( born August 14 , 1975 ) is a former American college and professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League ( NFL ) for twelve seasons . He played college football for the University of North Carolina ( UNC ) , and was recognized as an All - American . He was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the first round of the 1998 NFL Draft , and he played professionally for the Cowboys and Oakland Raiders of the NFL . Early years . Ellis was born in Wendell , North Carolina . He attended East Wake High School in Wendell . An all - state selection as a tight end and defensive end , he intercepted five passes and returned all of them for touchdown s . He also blocked four punts and returned two of them for scores . An outstanding basketball player , Ellis was selected to play in the North Carolina East / West Shrine Game . The " Greensboro News and Observer " voted him the Male High School Athlete of the Year in 1993 . College career . Ellis attended the University of North Carolina , and played for the North Carolina Tar Heels football team from 1994 to 1997 . As a back - up defensive end during his redshirt freshman year , he ranked second on the team with four sacks . In 1995 , he became the first UNC sophomore to be named first - team All - ACC since Reuben Davis in 1985 . Ellis was also named honorable mention All - American by UPI , while recording 71 tackles and seven sacks . As a junior , Ellis was named second - team All - American by " The Sporting News " and was a first - team All - ACC selection after closing the season with 62 tackles , a school - record 38 quarterback pressures and 12 . 5 sacks — the second most sacks in Tar Heels history , behind Lawrence Taylor ' s 16 in 1979 . As a senior in 1997 , he earned consensus first - team All - America honors , was a finalist for the Lombardi Award and an All - ACC selection for the third straight season after collecting 87 tackles , nine sacks and 32 quarterback pressures . Ellis received his degree in communications studies at UNC , where he was also a member of the junior varsity basketball team as a sophomore . He graduated from UNC as the school ' s all - time sack leader . Professional career . Dallas Cowboys . Ellis was drafted with the 8th pick of first round in the 1998 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys , a selection which caused a great stir among Dallas Cowboys fans who were disappointed that the team passed on the opportunity to take Randy Moss . Although rumored to be the destination where Moss would end up , Dallas opted to take a player in Ellis who did not possess the character issues that Moss did . Ellis became a starter at defensive end for Dallas immediately and started 155 of 162 games during his Cowboy career from 1998 - 2008 . For the first eight years he spent a similar amount of time as the starting right end as he did the starting left end . In 2006 he was moved to outside linebacker as Bill Parcells implemented his 3 - 4 defense . Ellis started 35 games and made 38 total appearances at outside linebacker from 2006 - 2008 . During his tenure in Dallas Ellis totaled 77 quarterback sacks , 377 tackles , 20 forced fumbles nine fumble recoveries and four interceptions . He scored two touchdowns , both in 1999 , one coming on an 87 - yard interception return and the other on a 98 - yard return of a fumble recovery . Ellis ' top season in quarterback sacks was 2007 when he tallied 12 . 5 sacks in only 13 games . Other top sack seasons were 2004 ( 9 . 0 ) , 2003 and 2004 ( 8 . 0 each ) and 1999 and 2002 ( 7 . 5 each ) . In 2007 Ellis was selected for the NFC Pro Bowl roster and was named the NFL Comeback Player of the Year , acknowledging his return from a season - ending Achilles tendon suffered during the 2006 campaign . The Cowboys decided to release Ellis on June 2 , 2009 , saving $ 4 . 15 million in cap space . Oakland Raiders . Ellis agreed on a 3 - year contract for $ 10 million with the Oakland Raiders on June 15 , 2009 . In Oakland , Ellis returned to the position of defensive end in a 4 - 3 scheme . Ellis joined a Raiders line that would also include former Patriot and all - pro Richard Seymour . Ellis started all 14 games he appeared in for the Raiders in 2009 at right defensive end . He amassed seven quarterback sacks , 26 tackles , two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries . He was released on March 8 , 2010 . Personal . While attending East Wake High School , he met his wife Tangie Love . They have three children together : Tyann , Geremiah and Taliah .