Riki Ellison

Infobox NFLretired


name=Riki Ellison
|caption=Ellison in November 2007
width=200px
position=Cornerback
number=
birthdate=birth date and age|1960|8|15
Christchurch, New Zealand
deathdate=
debutyear=1983
finalyear=1992
draftyear=1983
draftround=5
draftpick=117
college=USC
teams=
* San Francisco 49ers (1983-1988)
* Los Angeles Raiders (1990-1992)
stat1label=
stat1value=
stat2label=
stat2value=
stat3label=
stat3value=
nfl=ELL724098
highlights=
* Super Bowl champion (x2) (XIX, XIII)
HOF=
CollegeHOF=

Riki Morgan Ellison (born August 15, 1960, in Christchurch, New Zealand) is a former linebacker, who went by Riki Gray while in college at USC as an All Pac 10 player in 1982.

College career

Ellison was part of a USC Trojans team that went to the Rose Bowl and won a national championship.

Professional career

The NFL San Francisco 49ers chose him with their fifth-round pick in the 1983 NFL Draft. Jerry Attaway, his conditioning coach at USC and (teammate) Ronnie Lott had convinced Bill Walsh to take him.

Ellison won three Super Bowls during his six years with the 49ers and was drafted alongside a pair of future Pro Bowlers, running back Roger Craig and center/guard Jesse Sapolu. He played his final three seasons with the Los Angeles Raiders.

Personal

Ellison is part Māori. At eight, Ellison moved to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with his father, Dan, who went on to become an economic advisor to the United Nations. Shortly thereafter, Riki's parents divorced and he relocated with his mother to Los Angeles, where she remarried Dennis Gray. Ellison went to high school in Tucson, AZ.

In 1992, Ellison relocated his family to New Zealand and attempted to bring a college bowl game called the [http://www.ncaa.org/releases/champother/1996/1996101602co.htm Haka Bowl] to New Zealand.

In 2001 while working for Lockheed Martin in Washington DC, Riki was named the Head Coach of T.C. Williams High School in Alexandra Virginia. This is the same high school that was portrayed in "Remember The Titans". He did this without pay. As he said it was all about "helping kids".

Ellison became committed to the cause of missile defense in college when he studied under Professor Dr. Bill Van Cleave in USC's international relations department. Van Cleave was part of the SALT talks and an advisor to Ronald Reagan. Ellison received his bachelor's degree in international relations with a certificate in strategic defense from USC.

Ellison is an advocate for building a missile defense system that would protect the United States. In 2002, he founded the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance (www.missiledefenseadvocacy.org), a non-profit coalition based in Washington, D.C.