Because the Denver Broncos ready to make their third-round decide within the NFL Draft in April, they had been ecstatic to see Jonah Elliss’ identify nonetheless on the board.
Denver coach Sean Payton mentioned earlier this season that the group had a second-round grade on the go rusher out of the College of Utah. They believed he had the instruments to be a Yr 1 contributor on the sting, a necessity enhanced by a spring harm to the prior yr’s third-round decide, Drew Sanders.
There was just one downside. Deciding on two picks forward of the Broncos had been the Atlanta Falcons. Their common supervisor is Terry Fontenot, who beforehand labored within the entrance workplace of the New Orleans Saints throughout practically all of Payton’s 16 seasons because the group’s head coach. And on Atlanta’s roster was a linebacker named Kaden Elliss, Jonah’s brother and a seventh-round decide of Payton, Fontenot and the Saints in 2019.
“I turned to George (Paton, Denver’s common supervisor) and I mentioned, ‘Terry’s going to draft the brother; I do know it,’” Payton mentioned this week. “They drafted one other participant after which we had been excited, clearly, to make our choice.
The Falcons chosen Washington exterior linebacker Bralen Trice, who suffered a season-ending ACL harm within the preseason, with the 74th decide. Two picks later, the Broncos took Jonah Elliss.
Payton’s cellphone instantly buzzed with a textual content message. It was Kaden.
“I received’t inform you what it mentioned,” Payton mentioned with amusing, “however I’d say the publicity with Kaden actually helped us perceive the soccer mindset because it pertained to the following decide.”
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Kaden Elliss didn’t spill many particulars of the trade, both.
“(I used to be) simply, ‘You bought a superb one,’” the Falcons linebacker mentioned. “Different issues had been mentioned, however it’s what it’s. I’m simply so excited he’s in Denver and with Sean (and) a superb employees on the market. We’ve bought household out west so it’s a great spot.”
Two weeks after the draft, the NFL’s schedule was launched and a date for an Elliss household reunion was born. On Sunday, when the Falcons go to the Broncos in a matchup of two groups attempting to take one other step towards the playoffs, Kaden and Jonah will face one another within the NFL for the primary time. Each play protection — Kaden as a beginning inside linebacker who leads the Falcons with 88 tackles; Jonah as an outdoor linebacker who has carved a job within the pass-rush rotation and has two sacks — so there received’t be any direct clashes between the 2 brothers.
Except …
“We could discover a approach to sneak in a particular groups matchup,” Kaden mentioned.
Atlanta linebacker Kaden Elliss leads the Falcons with 88 tackles by way of 10 video games. (Jonathan Bachman / Getty Photographs)
The brothers are two of 5 Elliss relations who’ve reached the NFL. Christian Elliss is linebacker for the New England Patriots and Noah Elliss is a defensive deal with who frolicked through the previous two seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles and is a free agent. Together with Kaden and Jonah, they’re believed to be the one set of 4 brothers to have performed within the NFL. Jonah mentioned Friday he wouldn’t be shocked to see Elijah Elliss, a freshman defensive finish at Utah, be part of the household’s NFL fraternity within the coming years.
“Can’t assist however know an Elliss,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris mentioned this week. “There’s 1,000,000 of them.”
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Their father, Luther Elliss, performed 10 seasons within the league as a defensive deal with. The primary 9 got here with the Detroit Lions, who drafted him within the first spherical in 1995 after an All-American faculty profession at Utah. He performed his remaining season, in 2004, with the Broncos, a becoming profession finish for somebody who grew up in Mancos, Colo. Elliss later turned a group chaplain for the Broncos, a job he crammed through the group’s Tremendous Bowl season in 2015.
This 1 pm slate is definitely very humorous as a result of I simply watched Elliss 55 attempt to sack Dak after which watched Elliss 52 attempt to cowl Justice Hill after which I noticed Elliss 53 step as much as deal with Tony Pollard.
— Benjamin Solak (@BenjaminSolak) November 3, 2024
Throughout Elliss’ lone season with the Broncos, it wasn’t uncommon to see the household’s full-sized van pull as much as the group’s facility. Luther and his spouse Rebecca have 12 kids, seven of whom had been adopted. With a household that dimension, competitors was inevitable. Typically the fiercest races had been those to the dinner desk.
“We’d make up video games. We’d play each sport underneath the solar, each sport,” Kaden mentioned. “Typically it was soccer. Typically it was soccer or random video games we made up.”
Luther’s profession served as a street map. A lot of the Elliss boys didn’t play deal with soccer till eighth grade — Kaden snuck in seasons in fifth and seventh grade — however love for the game that was baked into their collective upbringing grew rapidly.
“My dad was clearly in a position to information our work,” Kaden mentioned. “So not solely working laborious however working good, displaying us the place we would have liked to enhance, what we would have liked to do if we wished to make that step.”
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The matchup between the Broncos and Falcons on Sunday is filled with acquainted connections. Falcons security Justin Simmons spent the primary eight years in Denver after the group drafted him with a third-round decide in 2016. Thirty of his 31 profession interceptions got here in a Broncos uniform. He and his spouse, Taryn Simmons, rooted themselves deeply into the Denver group by way of their work with the Justin Simmons Basis, and the security was named the group’s Walter Payton Man of the Yr nominee three completely different occasions. He mentioned this week he’ll be “a Bronco for all times,” however his focus Sunday might be serving to the Falcons get their seventh win.
“Practising in opposition to him for years is one factor, however to get dwell bullets goes to be enjoyable,” mentioned Broncos extensive receiver Courtland Sutton. “I jokingly instructed him, ‘Hey, bro, in the event you see me coming throughout the center, simply bear in mind we’re mates.’”
Falcons offensive coordinator Zac Robinson, in the meantime, grew up in Denver. He was a Broncos fan whose household had season tickets. He later turned a standout soccer participant at Chatfield Excessive College within the suburb of Littleton, Colo.
“Positively, once I noticed we had been going to Denver, (my) household bought excited,” Robinson mentioned. “The ambiance is hard to beat. Most likely there and Okay.C. are the highest two within the NFL. Wanting ahead to getting again dwelling.”
These returns might be particular, however reunion video games and homecomings occur each week within the NFL. A matchup of brothers, in one in all their father’s dwelling stadiums, with greater than 30 relations available? Not a lot.
“I performed with one in all my brothers in faculty, however that is clearly completely different,” mentioned Broncos tight finish Adam Trautman, whose locker is subsequent to Jonah’s in Denver and who was beforehand a teammate of Kaden’s in New Orleans. “It was at all times aggressive with me and my brother, and I’m positive that’s how they’re treating it, too.”
Broncos rookie Jonah Elliss (52) has 21 tackles and two sacks for Denver this season. (C. Morgan Engel / Getty Photographs)
The Elliss brothers aren’t taking Sunday’s alternative without any consideration. However on the finish of the day, it’s one other competitors in a endless string of them. Every year, normally throughout Fourth of July weekend, the household gathers for the Elliss Olympics, an occasion that spans a number of days and has a rotating listing of competitions, from corn gap to board video games. The occasion features a trophy, emblazoned with the names of the winners, that resides at Luther and Rebecca’s dwelling. Together with spouses and shut household mates, the competitors can embrace greater than three dozen individuals.
Trash-talking is an inherent a part of the spectacle. Jonah shared this week that he and his fiancée dominate the pickleball competitors, a indisputable fact that rankled his older brother.
“I feel probably the most somebody scored on us in a sport to 11 is three or 4,” Jonah mentioned. “We’re fairly good. We killed (Kaden). He didn’t prefer it.”
Most appear to agree, although, that Kaden units the tempo within the chirping division. So maybe it’s no shock the Falcons linebacker, who already owns a head-to-head NFL win over Christian once they met in 2022, delivered the parting phrases forward of his matchup with Jonah.
“I’m 1-0,” he mentioned of the Elliss matchups. “We’re going to make this 2-0 this week.”
(Prime pictures of Kaden and Jonah Elliss:
Todd Kirkland and Justin Edmonds / Getty Photographs)