ELLISON READY TO TACKLE LIFE.Byline: Bob Rodman The Register-Guard CORVALLIS - With one eye on football and the other on the world, Keith Ellison Keith Ellison may refer to:
One he plans on fulfilling. "There are so many things I want to do in my life besides football," said the hard-hitting Oregon State linebacker, whose 14 1/2 tackles for loss are the most by a Pac-10 Conference defenseman this season. "I love football, and I'd love to play professionally, but there are so many other things to do." Like what? "Learn," said Ellison, a 6-foot-2, 227-pound senior who is a history major at OSU (Open Source UNIX) Refers to the Unix variants that are maintained as open source, which were primarily BSD Unix and Linux until Sun made its Solaris operating system open source in 2005. . "When you learn about the past, you see how we got to where we are today ... how our country evolved. "Learn more," he said, noting the civil rights movement and people like Malcolm X Malcolm X, 1925–65, militant black leader in the United States, also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, b. Malcolm Little in Omaha, Neb. He was introduced to the Black Muslims while serving a prison term and became a Muslim minister upon his release in 1952. , Martin Luther King and the Black Panthers Black Panthers, U.S. African-American militant party, founded (1966) in Oakland, Calif., by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. Originally espousing violent revolution as the only means of achieving black liberation, the Black Panthers called on African Americans to arm . "It's all a part of our history and being African-American, civil rights is a real big part of my history. "Teach," he continued. "Someday I want to help people through teaching, go into the inner-city schools where teachers are needed and where people who care about kids are needed. "Help," Ellison said. "I'd like to go to Africa where some of the poorest countries in the world are and help people. I think I can make an impact on so many people's lives that way." Until then, Ellison works to make a difference on an OSU defense that from time to time this season has been punctured like a pin cushion. "There were a lot of times we were flat-out bad, dominated and looked just horrible," said Ellison, preparing this week for Saturday's Pac-10 game against Stanford, the final home game of the season for OSU and the final appearance at Reser Stadium History and use The stadium was built in 1953 and named in honor of Portland businessman Charles T. Parker, who played a significant role in the initial fundraising. The stadium was renamed in 1999 to honor one of the school's major athletic donors, the Reser family, owners of for Ellison and 13 other Beavers. For much of the year, Oregon State's defense, which yielded 63 points to Louisville, 42 to Arizona State and 51 to UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX , was the most porous in the conference. Its pass defense - manned by a secondary including three freshmen - continues to rest at the bottom of that category. But the Beaver defenders now own the best rush defense in the Pac-10, yielding just 108.9 yards a game. OSU's last two opponents - Arizona and Washington - have combined for just 68 rushing yards. Oregon State - at 5-4 and chasing that bowl-eligible sixth win - also now possesses the fifth-best total defense - allowing 444.4 yards. That is well behind USC's league-leading 348 but down from the high-water mark high-water mark n. 1. Abbr. HWM A mark indicating the highest level reached by a body of water. 2. The highest point, as of achievement; the apex. of nearly 470. Ellison is a big reason why. He is fourth in the Pac-10 in tackles, averaging 8.9 a game. His 14 1/2 tackles for loss this season ranks fourth on the single-season OSU record chart. The 21-year-old from Inglewood, Calif., leads the Beavers with 57 solo tackles, had a career-high 12 tackles for a game (against Boise State earlier this year) and trails only OSU middle linebacker Trent Bray Trent Antony Bray (born September 1, 1973 in Auckland) is a former freestyle swimmer and surf lifesaver from New Zealand, who competed at two consequentive Summer Olympics for his native country. in total tackles - 89-80. "Trent has been the biggest influence on how I play," said Ellison, who began his college football career at San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. State, made a one-year stop at El Camino College El Camino College is a two-year public community college located in the city of Torrance in Los Angeles County, California. It is commonly referred to as "El Co" or "ECC". It consists of 37 buildings spanning an area of roughly 26 acres (105,000 m²). in Torrance, Calif., and transferred to OSU in 2004. "He's amazing a·maze v. a·mazed, a·maz·ing, a·maz·es v.tr. 1. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise. 2. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex. v.intr. . When I first got here, he would see plays and be running over me to make the play before I started moving. It's an honor to play alongside him." Oregon State coach Mike Riley
Tackling, speed and focus are Ellison's trademarks. But he can catch, too. In Oregon State's 24-19 win over Stanford last season, Ellison clinched the win with an interception in the game's final minutes. Last week, amid the wind, rain and cold of the Beavers' 18-10 win at Washington, Ellison snagged snag n. 1. A rough, sharp, or jagged protuberance, as: a. A tree or a part of a tree that protrudes above the surface in a body of water. Also called sawyer. See Regional Note at preacher. b. A snaggletooth. a Husky onside kick onside kick n. Football A kickoff in which the ball carries just far enough, at least ten yards, to be recovered legally by the kicking team. with less than a minute to play to preserve the victory. "I've been safety (and a quarterback in high school)," he said. "I have hands. I can catch the ball." Ellison admits to being driven, and he does not hide the reason why. "I want to be the best. It's what drives me the most," said Ellison, who passed for 1,300 yards and rushed for 900 more as a senior quarterback in high school and doubled back to record 103 tackles. "But I am really scared of failure," he said. "I've failed many times and I hate the feeling. When you've worked so hard but don't get it accomplished ... I hate that." Not to worry, Riley said. "Keith Ellison makes plays. He sees what is happening and goes after it. He can cover the pass, the run and he can blitz," Riley said. "This team is still developing its identity," Ellison said, "but one thing is for sure. We don't give up. By the time we've played these next two games and hopefully a bowl game, we'll finally see who we are." Would he have preferred four years at OSU? "That would have been nice," Ellison said, "but who knows how things would have turned out. I have no regrets. This is the way things are. Sometimes you take a different road to get where you're going." CAPTION(S): Oregon State linebacker Keith Ellison (4) leads the Pac-10 Conference in tackles for loss this season. "I want to be the best. It's what drives me the most." - KEITH ELLISON, OREGON STATE LINEBACKER `I am really scared of failure. I've failed many times and I hate the feeling. When you've worked so hard but don't get it accomplished ... I hate that." KEITH ELLISON OSU LINEBACKER |
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