Roger Ellis Professional Football Papers

Collection

Identifier: MSSP_10103

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Papers related to the professional football career of Roger Ellis. Materials include original contracts from the American Football League, the National Football League, and the Canadian Football League; correspondence and ephemera from his playing days from several teams including the New York Giants, New York Titans, New York Jets, the Oakland Area Football Club, the Saskatchewan Roughriders, and the Montreal Alouette. The correspondence documents the daily life of a professional football player in the late 1950s and 1960s, and the correspondence between Ellis and the New York Titans, in particular, contains significant information about negotiations over his contracts. The collection also includes notes that Ellis made about phone calls with professional football teams while he was still in college, and opponent scouting notes from his time with the New York Giants. The collection includes a small number of letters from the 1990s and 2000s to Ellis from several college and professional football coaches. Formats include correspondence, ephemera, photographs, notes, and contracts.

Dates

Creation: 1957-2008
Creation: Majority of material found within 1957-1964

Creator

Ellis, Roger Calvin, 1938-2008 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

There are no access restrictions on this collection.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright status for collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Biographical / Historical

Roger Calvin Ellis was born February 1, 1938, in Boston, Massachusetts, and died in Brewer, Maine, on May 14, 2008. He played high school football for Westwood High School in Westwood, Massachusetts, and played college football at the University of Maine. At Maine, he was an all-Yankee Conference selection at center in 1957 and 1958, and he was named the team’s Most Valuable Player in 1959. The New York Giants of the National Football League drafted Ellis in the 14th round of the 1959 NFL draft. Ellis attended training camp with the Giants in 1959, but he was released in September of 1959. In 1960, he signed with the New York Titans of the American Football League, and he played with the Titans as an offensive and defensive lineman and linebacker in 1960, 1961, and 1962. He briefly played with the New York Jets of the American Football League in 1963. He subsequently played with the Montreal Allouette and the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League. After he retired from professional football, he worked as a member of the Secret Service. Ellis has been elected to the University of Maine Sports Hall of Fame.