Before Ezekiel Elliot was drafted into the NFL, picked fourth overall by
the Dallas Cowboys
Before inking a four year rookie contract with the Cowboys, worth a reported 24.9 million
dollars, with a 16.3 million dollar signing bonus
Before Ezekial was suspended from the NFL for alleged domestic violence, but managed
to get that suspension put on hold indefinitely,
Ezekiel Elliot was born to an Athletic family in the St Louis suburb of Alton Illinois.
Even as a little kid, he showed promise on the football field, with skills that would
eventually lead him to the NFL.
But along the way, he'd face tough decisions and experience a heart breaking tragedy.
My name's Michael McCrudden, documenting the life and career of Ezekiel Elliot prior to
fame, here for you on Before They Were Famous.
Big shout out to Seat Geek for sponsoring this video.
I've covered a ton of foot ball players in the past, like Odell Beckham Jr, Marshawn
Lynch and Colin Kaepernick.
Be sure to check out those videos and let me know who's next in the comments down below.
Ezekiel Elijah Elliot was born on July 22nd, 1995 in Alton, Illinois.
His father, Stacy, was a social worker, and his mother, Dawn was an accounts manager.
But, both had a strong backgrounds in athletics.
Dawn, had been a high school state champion in three sports before running track at the
University of Missouri.
Stacy was a four year outside linebacker for the Missouri Tigers.
On top of this, Zeke's maternal grandfather played basketball for Drake University.
Zeke grew up on Brown Street in Alton, and attended elementary school there, before enrolling
in a private St. Louis school.
As a kid, he showed promise in all sports, but foot ball was a favourite from the beginning.
For high school, Zeke would stay in the St Louis private system, opting to study at the
academically driven John Burroughs Prep in Ladue.
There, Ezekiel was a standout track and field athlete, specializing in sprinting and hurdles
events.
He won four state championships in track, taking home Ws for the 100 meter dash, 200
meter, 110 meter high hurdles, and the 300 meter hurdles.
He was also named the Gatorade Track Athlete of the Year in the state of Missouri.
On top of that Zeke played baseball, basketball, and of course, football.
As a junior, he rushed for 1802 yards and 34 touchdowns, and received 23 passes for
401 yards and six touch downs.
In 2012, the St. Louis Post Dispatch named him the offensive player of the year.
In his senior year, he had 3061 yards and scored 50 touchdowns.
His talents on the field turned the John Burroughs Bombers around.
He lead the team to three straight title games.
But they lost all three.
Coming out of high school in 2013, Scout dot com ranked Ezekiel as a four star recruit,
and listed him as the number 9 running back in the country.
He was recruited by over 40 schools, and there was tremendous pressure for him sign with
his parents' alma mater, the University of Missouri.
But he opted to take his talents elsewhere.
As a freshman at Ohio State University, Zeke played back up to starting running back Carlos
Hyde, but still managed to rush for 262 yards and 2 touchdowns, and score his only receiving
touch down in his NCAA career.
The next year, Ezekiel took over as a starter for the Buckeyes.
He scored 18 touchdowns, rushing for 1878 yards and receiving for 220.
But while Zeke and the Buckeys had a lot to celebrate on the field, off the field was
a different matter.
Kosta Karageorge became one of Ezekiel's team mates for the 2014 season, and the two became
fast friends.
As a college athlete, Kosta had suffered 15 reported concussions.
After his last, he began suffering recurring headaches.
One November night, after a fight with his girlfriend, he texted her a series of messages
late into the night, saying,
“i nvr felt this dark.”
“bc i got nothing eles” “i am gonna kill myself” “i deserve to die anyways”
and, “all time low”
He also texted his mother, saying he was sorry for being a disappointment.
The message woke her up, and she quickly responded asking if he was okay.
She did not receive a response, and soon after reported her son missing.
Kosta missed football practices and a big game between Ohio State and the University
of Michigan.
He was later found in a dumpster, dead from a self inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
Kosta's death shocked Ezekiel.
He told ESPN,
“Our hearts dropped.
It was just a hard moment for all of us.
For me, personally, that was my first time losing someone that I was very close with.”
Ezekiel was a pall bearer at Kosta's funeral.
Three days later, Ezekiel and the Ohio State Buckeyes would be facing off against the Wisconsin
Badgers in the 2014 Big Ten Championship Game.
Zeke ran for 220 yards, leading Ohio State to victory, and a spot in the first ever college
football play offs.
Ohio would win the Sugar Bowl against Alabama, and Zeke would be named Offensive Player of
the game.
In the championship game against the Oregon Ducks, he would named MVP again, and earn
the third most rushing yards in Ohio State history.
The Buckeyes defeated the Ducks 42 to 20.
In the 2015, season, Zeke would receive for 206 yards, and rush for 1821 and 23 touch
downs.
He lead the team to a victory over Michigan, and ended his college career scoring four
touchdowns in a Fiesta Bowl win over Notre Dame.
On top of that, according to his mother, Zeke was doing it all while suffering through constant
injuries.
She said,
“He basically played with a broken wrist the entire season...he broke it on August
8th, had surgery August 9th, and re-injured it during the season...He got all those yards
with one hand.”
Over the course of his college career, Zeke scored 44 touchdowns, and 4,410 yards.
He was even considered a strong contender for the Heisman trophy.
Zeke announced that he would enter the 2016 NFL Draft on November 21st, 2015.
Despite being a running back, he was widely predicted to be a top 10 selection, and sure
enough, with the fourth pick in the draft...
Dude, this is a big day.
Get off the phone....Anyway, the cowboys offered Ezekiel a massive four year 24.9 million dollar
contract with a 16.3 million dollar signing bonus.
Going into his first NFL season, he was widely regarded as an early favourite for the 2016
Offensive Rookie of the Year.
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In his rookie Season, Ezekiel Elliot was named the starting running back for the Dallas Cowboys,
ahead of veteran players, Darren McFadden and Alfred Morris.
Sure enough, the faith the cowboys put in the rookie was paid back in kind.
In his professional debut, Ezekiel scored a touchdown on an 8 yard run against the New
York giant and rushed for 51 yards.
After the ninth game of the season, he became the second Cowboy in history to rush for more
than 1000 yards in his Rookie season.
He finished the season as the NFL's top rusher, recording 1631 yards and 15 touch downs in
15 games.
He was selected as First Team All Pro, and in his first career playoff game, became the
only Cowboy rookie since 1971 to rush for over 100 yards in a playoff game.
But while once again, while he was thriving on the field, off the field was another matter.
Of course, it wasn't stupidity that Zeke was facing a suspension for.
His ex girlfriend, Tiffany Thompson accused Zeke of committing domestic violence against
her on five occasions throughout 2016.
While police authorities decided not to charge him for the alleged crimes, the NFL conducted
their own year long investigation into the allegations, and spurred controversy with
their decion to suspend Ezekiel from the first six games of the 2017 season for violating
the league's personal conduct policy.
Zeke appealed the suspension, but it was upheld by the league-appointed arbitrator on September
6th, 2017.
Then, two days later, a federal judge basically reversed this decision, by granting the NFL
Player's association's request to put the suspension on hold indefinitely, which put
Zeke back on the field.
Ezekiel would go on to play in the Cowboy's season opening game against the Giants, helping
his team to secure a 19-3 win.
As for the rest of the story, well, we'll have to wait and see.
This is Before They Were Famous.
My name's Michael McCrudden.
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