FAYETTEVILLE -- It's hard to fathom anyone playing more games in his hometown than Brooks Ellis.
It's even harder to fathom that Ellis will play no more football in Fayetteville after tonight. The University of Arkansas senior middle linebacker still has two SEC games and a bowl game to play, but none will be at Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville after tonight's 6 p.m game against LSU.
"It's going to be weird walking off that field for the last time," Ellis said. "We've got to make it a special one."
From starring on consecutive state championship teams at Fayetteville High School to going on four full seasons with the Razorbacks, Ellis never ceased to represent his hometown with the best of brain and brawn.
Since joining Coach Bret Bielema's Razorbacks as a freshman in 2013, Ellis has played 45 games and started his past 37. He has excelled in nearly all of them.
Ellis co-starred in a linebacking tandem with senior SEC leading tackler and current NFL linebacker Martrell Spaight in 2014, then led last year's Razorbacks with 102 tackles. His 62 tackles leads the 6-3 Hogs now.
Majoring in exercise science with a biology minor, Ellis is one of 12 finalists for the Campbell Trophy, which is often called the "Academic Heisman."
Coaching a lot of players at a lot of places since 1980, Arkansas linebackers coach Vernon Hargreaves calls Ellis the smartest player he's ever coached.
"He is a 4.0 student and going to be a doctor and all those types of things," Hargreaves said. "It doesn't get better than that."
Except it does, because Ellis is not just book smart but football smart. The two often correlate but not always.
"His intelligence, obviously, and his football IQ is really high," Hargreaves said. "I have had some guys that had great football IQs. Brooksie probably tops them all."
Hargreaves and defensive coordinator Robb Smith liken Ellis to a player-coach. He served as an on-field mentor last year to Dre Greenlaw, who started at weakside linebacker as a freshman fresh out of Fayetteville.
With Greenlaw sidelined the past three games and quite possibly for the season with a broken foot, Ellis has mentored Dwayne Eugene -- a junior who had only one start at weakside linebacker prior to these past three games -- and freshman De'Jon Harris.
"I thought Dwayne Eugene played a solid game for us this past Saturday [the 31-10 victory over Florida]," Smith said. "I think Dwayne will be the first to tell you a lot of that has to do with Brooks. Brooks gets more on his plate, and he doesn't complain. He just puts himself in the right position to make plays. That's everything you can want and ask for in a mike linebacker."
It combines with everything that Fayetteville could ask from a special one of its own.
Sports on 11/12/2016