Ellis remembered as people ‘magnet’

There was loud thunder outside Lookout Mountain Presbyterian Church during Saturday afternoon’s nearly two-hour service to remember Victor Ellis, perhaps indicating Ellis didn’t need long to find a quarterback to sack in heaven.

Members of the Red Bank High School and University of Alabama athletic communities were among the many paying tribute to Ellis, the former linebacker who died last Tuesday night at the age of 28 following a bout with cancer. Ellis played at Red Bank in 1996-97 and at Alabama from 1998 to 2001 and had been working for Alabama as a recruiter for prospective students throughout the Carolinas.

“From the very first day he walked into Red Bank, he became a magnet,” former Red Bank basketball coach Scott Cook said before the service. “Everybody just loved the guy, because he loved everybody.”

Alabama athletic director Mal Moore attended Saturday’s service, as did legendary Crimson Tide linebacker Barry Krauss. There were also numerous Tide players who teamed with Ellis, such as tailback Ahmaad Galloway, receiver Calvin Hall, and linebackers Marvin Constant and Tito Smith.

Former Red Bank football coach Tom Weathers attended, as did former Lions defensive assistant Bumper Reese, who was asked by the Ellis family to speak. Reese remembered Ellis as a student, a football player and a loyal friend who excelled academically and socially.

“He was the type of person who would see someone eating lunch by himself and would sit down next to him,” Reese said. “Victor spoke to every person drawn to him, making each and every one of them feel special.”

Reese said Ellis may not have defeated cancer but has received the ultimate victory, adding that former Alabama coach Paul “Bear” Bryant has probably already found him.

Clemson receivers coach Dabo Swinney, who held that same position at Alabama in 1998 when he signed Ellis to a scholarship, also spoke. Swinney described Ellis as having an infectious smile and commended Alabama for remaining so loyal to him in recent months.

Ellis and his father, Victor Ellis Sr., were guests of Swinney when Clemson played Auburn in the Chick-fil-A Bowl this past New Year’s Eve. Swinney said Ellis rode with the team to the game and joined in giving Clemson fans high-fives when the players got off the bus and walked the short distance to the Georgia Dome.

“That joker was ready to hit somebody,” said Swinney, who keeps a picture of him and Ellis from 10 years ago in his office.

Speaking on behalf of Ellis’ family were his father and sister, with each giving thanks for the life he lived and the examples he set. Each also used the opportunity to thank Tim and Kathy Miller, who housed Ellis at their Lookout Mountain residence after he was diagnosed with medullary renal cell carcinoma last August.

Tim Miller is the Chattanooga chapter president of the Alabama Alumni & Friends Association, and their youngest daughter attended Alabama with Ellis.

Ellis Sr. thanked the Millers for doing “everything a father and mother would do for a dying son.”