Carl Eller

{{Infobox NFL biography

| name = Carl Eller

| image = Carl Eller 2007.jpg

| image_size =

| alt =

| caption = Eller in 2007

| number = 81, 71

| position = Defensive end

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1942|1|25}}

| birth_place = Winston-Salem, North Carolina, U.S.

| death_date =

| death_place =

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 6

| weight_lb = 247

| high_school = Atkins
(Winston-Salem, North Carolina)

| college = Minnesota (1961–1963)

| draftyear = 1964

| draftround = 1

| draftpick = 6

| afldraftyear = 1964

| afldraftround = 1

| afldraftpick = 5

| pastteams =

Minnesota Vikings ({{NFL Year|1964|1978}})
Seattle Seahawks ({{NFL Year|1979}})

| highlights =

NFL champion (1969)
NEA NFL Defensive Player of the Year (1971)
5× First-team All-Pro (1968–1971, 1973)
2× Second-team All-Pro (1967, 1972)
6× Pro Bowl (1968–1971, 1973, 1974)
NFL sacks co-leader (1969)
NFL 1970s All-Decade Team
Minnesota Vikings Ring of Honor
50 Greatest Vikings
Minnesota Vikings 25th Anniversary Team
Minnesota Vikings 40th Anniversary Team
National champion (1960)
Consensus All-American (1963)
First-team All-Big Ten (1963)
Second-team All-Big Ten (1962)
Rose Bowl champion (1961)

| statlabel1 = Sacks

| statvalue1 = 133.5

| statlabel2 = Safeties

| statvalue2 = 2

| statlabel3 = Interceptions

| statvalue3 = 1

| statlabel4 = Fumble recoveries

| statvalue4 = 23

| statlabel5 = Defensive touchdowns

| statvalue5 = 1

| pfr = E/ElleCa00

| HOF = carl-eller

| CollegeHOF = 2178

}}

Carl Eller (born January 25, 1942) is an American former professional football player who played as a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) from 1964 through 1979. He was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and played college football for the Minnesota Golden Gophers. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2004.

Early life

Eller was born on January 25, 1942, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.{{Cite web |title=Carl Eller Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft, College |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/E/ElleCa00.htm |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}} Eller's family was poor, and his father died when Eller was young. Early in his Professional Football Hall of Fame acceptance speech, Eller acknowledges how great his parents were in his life.{{Cite web |title=Carl Eller {{!}} Pro Football Hall of Fame |url=https://www.profootballhof.com/players/carl-eller/ |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=pfhof |language=en}}

He attended Atkins High School, where he excelled in football, and was inspired and given direction by his high school football coaches. His team won the 1959 state football championship. One of his championship teammates was future National Basketball Association player Happy Hairston.{{Cite news |last=Overbea |first=Luix |date=May 15, 1966 |title=Carl Eller's Homecoming |work=Winston-Salem Journal |pages=12}}{{Cite web |title=Happy Hairston Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft Status and more |url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/h/hairsha01.html |access-date=2025-05-06 |website=Basketball-Reference.com |language=en}} He was also on the track team, in discus and shot put.{{Cite news |last=Overbea |first=Luix |date=May 3, 1959 |title=Atkins Places Nine In State Track Event |work=Winston-Salem Journal |pages=21}}

He got the nickname "Moose" while playing sandlot football around the same time.{{Cite web |last=Press |first=BOB SANSEVERE St Paul (Minn ) Pioneer |date=2004-08-08 |title=PROUD PURPLE PEOPLE EATER FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS IN WINSTON-SALEM, CARL ELLER'S FOOTBALL CAREER TAKES HIM TO THE HALL OF FAME AS A ... |url=https://greensboro.com/proud-purple-people-eater-from-humble-beginnings-in-winston-salem-carl-ellers-football-career-takes/article_e5be32c9-96ce-5a02-b712-ab6cb66a6348.html |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=Greensboro News and Record |language=en}}

College career

He was recruited to the University of Minnesota by head coach Murrary Warmath, on the recommendation of Bobby Bell, a fellow North Carolina high school player, from Shelby. Eller played defensive tackle from 1961-1963, and began starting in his sophomore year (1961), playing with a broken hand that year.{{College Football HoF|id=2178}}{{Cite web |title=Carl Eller - M Club Hall of Fame |url=https://gophersports.com/sports/2018/5/21/sports-m-club-spec-rel-hof-eller-html |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=University of Minnesota Athletics |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=de la Rosa |first=Poch |date=2022-12-15 |title=The Life And Career Of Carl Eller (Story) |url=https://www.profootballhistory.com/carl-eller/ |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=Pro Football History |language=en-US}} In 1961 and 1962, Eller played tackle alongside Bell, a future NFL Hall of fame linebacker and the 1962 Outland Trophy winner.{{Cite web |title=Bobby Bell - M Club Hall of Fame |url=https://gophersports.com/sports/2018/5/21/sports-m-club-spec-rel-hof-bell-html |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=University of Minnesota Athletics |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Shelby to Immortalize Football Hall of Famer Bobby Bell. Here's How. {{!}} Pro Football Hall of Fame |url=https://www.profootballhof.com/news/2020/08/shelby-nc-to-immortalize-football-hall-of-famer-bobby-bell-heres-how/ |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=pfhof |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Bobby Bell {{!}} Pro Football Hall of Fame |url=https://www.profootballhof.com/players/bobby-bell/ |access-date=2025-05-06 |website=pfhof |language=en}}

As a sophomore, on January 1, 1962, Eller starred in helping lead the Golden Gophers to a 21–3 Rose Bowl victory over UCLA.{{Cite web |title=Rose Bowl - Minnesota at UCLA Box Score, January 1, 1962 |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/boxscores/1962-01-01-ucla.html |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=College Football at Sports-Reference.com |language=en}} Eller played both offensive left tackle and defensive tackle in the game, throwing key blocks as an offensive lineman during the game.{{Cite news |date=January 2, 1962 |title=W-S's Eller Is Rose Bowl Star |work=Winston-Salem Journal |pages=16}} The team had been divided on whether to go back to the Rose Bowl, after losing the game one year earlier,{{Cite web |title=Rose Bowl - Washington vs Minnesota Box Score, January 2, 1961 |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/boxscores/1961-01-02-minnesota.html |access-date=2025-05-06 |website=College Football at Sports-Reference.com |language=en}} but quarterback Sandy Stevens convinced the team they should go for Eller's sake, as he might never have another opportunity to play in the game. In 1972, a group of writers and Rose Bowl experts included Eller at defensive tackle on their 50-year Rose Bowl team.{{Cite news |date=January 1, 1972 |title=Hutson Tops Rose Star Team |work=Detroit Free Press |pages=14}}

While Eller shared the starting position at offensive tackle as a sophomore,{{Cite news |last=Garber |first=Mary |date=October 2, 1961 |title=Skirt-In' Sports, Something on Carl Eller |work=The Sentinel (Winston-Salem, North Carolina) |pages=21}} he became a full-time, two-way player as a junior and senior{{Cite web |last=Reusse |first=Patrick |date=2023-01-07 |title=Carl Eller has had a good view for two of the strangest teams in Vikings franchise history |url=https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-vikings-carl-eller-strangest-two-teams-in-franchise-history-patrick-reusse/600241453 |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=www.startribune.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Carl Eller College Stats, School, Draft, Gamelog, Splits |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/carl-eller-1.html |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=College Football at Sports-Reference.com |language=en}} and was voted All-America in 1962{{citation needed|date=January 2025}} and 1963.{{Cite news |date=December 6, 1963 |title=Three Quarterbacks Are Named on AP's All-America Team |work=The Buffalo News |pages=1}}

The 1962 Naval Academy team included Eller on its all-opponent team.{{Cite news |date=December 7, 1962 |title=Bell Heads List Of Opponents On Middies' Unit |work=The Mercury (Pottstown, Pennsylvania) |pages=31}} As a junior in 1962, he was second team All-Big Ten,{{Cite web |title=Honors and Awards |url=https://gophersports.com/sports/2018/5/21/sports-m-footbl-spec-rel-honors-awards-html |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=University of Minnesota Athletics |language=en}} and the following year Eller was a consensus All-American and first team All-Big Ten.{{Cite web |title=1963 College Football Summary |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/years/1963.html#all_all_americans |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=College Football at Sports-Reference.com |language=en}} In 1963, he also won the school's Bronko Nagurski Award as the team's most valuable player. As a senior (1963), Eller was the runner-up for the Outland Trophy.

During his freshman year in college, the 1960 Gophers were National Champions and Big Ten Champions, losing in the Rose Bowl; though Eller did not play on that team.{{Cite web |title=1960 National Champions |url=https://gophersports.com/sports/2018/5/21/sports-m-footbl-spec-rel-1960-champions-html |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=University of Minnesota Athletics |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Big Ten Conference Index |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/conferences/big-ten/ |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=College Football at Sports-Reference.com |language=en}} Minnesota was a losing team in the immediate prior seasons, and coach Warmath had decided to field a racially and geographically diverse team. Eller, who was on the 1960 freshman team, believed and emphasized that the ultimately successful Minnesota teams during that era were “'a major, major factor in the [Black] freedom movement.'"{{Cite news |last=Johnson |first=Rick |date=2020-12-08 |title=That Championship Season (Minnesota Alumni magazine) |url=https://www.minnesotaalumni.org/stories/that-championship-season |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250115085120/https://www.minnesotaalumni.org/stories/that-championship-season |archive-date=2025-01-15 |access-date=2025-05-06 |language=en-US}}

At the University of Minnesota, Eller joined the Mu chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.{{Cite web|url=http://www.nicindy.org/whos_greek/greeks_in_sports/football/AmericanFootballHOF.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016061857/http://nicindy.org/whos_greek/greeks_in_sports/football/AmericanFootballHOF.htm|url-status=dead|title=Greeks in Football|archive-date=October 16, 2007}}

Professional career

In 1964, Eller was selected in the first round of the NFL draft by the Minnesota Vikings (6th overall). He was also selected in the first round of the American Football League draft by the Buffalo Bills (5th overall), who could not sign him.{{Cite web |title=1964 AFL Draft Listing |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1964_AFL/draft.htm |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}} As the left defensive end in the Vikings front four, he was a major factor in the unit known as the "Purple People Eaters" (the other members being Alan Page, Jim Marshall and Gary Larsen).{{Cite web |title=Carl Eller, Defensive End, The Official Site of the Minnesota Vikings |url=https://www.vikings.com/team/front-office-roster/carl-eller |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=www.vikings.com |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=NFL's Purple People Eaters |url=https://www.nfl.com/photos/nfl-s-purple-people-eaters-0ap1000000088765#e7844cdb-ac3e-4cdd-a02f-d2b7d8796f69 |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=NFL.com |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Ragatz |first=Will |date=2024-01-31 |title=A Documentary on the Purple People Eaters is On the Way |url=https://www.si.com/nfl/vikings/news/documentary-purple-people-eaters-on-the-way-vikings |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=Minnesota Vikings On SI |language=en-US}}

Starting in 1968, Eller's fifth campaign, Minnesota won 10 Central Division titles in the next 11 seasons. The Vikings won the NFL Championship in 1969,{{Cite web |url=https://www.profootballhof.com/nfl-champions/ |title=NFL Champions 1920-2015 |access-date=December 18, 2018}} losing to the AFL Champion Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl IV.{{Cite web |title=Super Bowl IV - Minnesota Vikings vs. Kansas City Chiefs - January 11th, 1970 |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/197001110kan.htm |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}} The Vikings also won the NFC Championships in 1973, 1974, and 1976,{{Cite web |title=NFC Champions: Complete list of winners by year |url=https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/nfc-champions-complete-list-winners-year |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=FOX Sports |language=en-US}} but lost in the Super Bowl each year. Eller was one of 11 Vikings to play in all four of their Super Bowls.{{Cite web |last=Sansevere |first=Bob |date=2018-02-01 |title=1970s Vikings remember four trips to Super Bowl as success … and failure |url=https://www.twincities.com/2018/02/01/1970s-vikings-remember-four-trips-to-super-bowl-as-success-and-failure/ |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=Twin Cities |language=en-US}}

He was selected to play in six Pro Bowls (1968–1971, 1973, and 1974). After being traded with an eighth-round pick to Seattle Seahawks for defensive tackle Steve Niehaus,{{Cite news |date=1979-07-31 |title=Vikings Trade Eller |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/07/31/archives/vikings-trade-eller.html |access-date=2025-01-14 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} Eller played his final season in 1979 with the Seattle Seahawks, where he ran his career total to 225 games. In his career, "Moose" only missed three games and started 209 out of the 225 he played.{{Cite web |last=Henn |first=Donnie |date=2016-09-23 |title=Eller: 'If you could make it back to the huddle you were okay' |url=https://www.postbulletin.com/sports/eller-if-you-could-make-it-back-to-the-huddle-you-were-okay |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=Rochester Post Bulletin |language=en}}

Eller is credited as the Vikings' all-time sack leader with 130½.{{Cite web |url=http://www.vikings.com/TeamHistoryPage_HistoryRingOfHonor.aspx |title=Vikings.com Ring of Honor |access-date=December 2, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090205005245/http://www.vikings.com/TeamHistoryPage_HistoryRingOfHonor.aspx |archive-date=February 5, 2009 |url-status=dead }} He also had 3 sacks with the Seahawks in 1979 for a career total of 133½. He set a career high with 15 sacks in 1969 and matched that total in 1977; he also amassed 7 seasons with 10 or more sacks.{{Cite web|url=http://www.vikings.com/historyalumni_detail_objectname_CarlEller.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051101095217/http://www.vikings.com/historyalumni_detail_objectname_CarlEller.html|url-status=dead|title=Vikings.com|archive-date=November 1, 2005}} He recovered 23 fumbles during his career.

Eller was First-team All-NFL from 1968 to 1971, and again in 1973. He was also Second-team All-Pro in 1967{{Cite web |title=1967 NFL All-Pros |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1967/allpro.htm |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}} and 1972{{Cite web |title=1972 NFL All-Pros |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1972/allpro.htm |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}} and was named first team All-NFC by the AP, UPI, {{Cite web |title=1975 NFL All-Pros |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1975/allpro.htm |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}} and The Sporting News {{citation needed|date=January 2025}}in 1975. Including his Pro Bowls, Eller had a nine-year consecutive streak of post-season honors which began in 1967 with his Second-team All-Pro selection and ended in 1975 with his All-NFC honors. He was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame 1970s All-Decade Team.{{Cite web |title=Pro Football Hall of Fame All-Decade Teams - 1970s |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/awards/pfhof_all_decade_1970.htm |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}}

He was voted the winner of the George Halas Trophy in 1971 as the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year as awarded by the Newspaper Enterprise Association.{{Cite web|url=http://www.profootballhof.com/players/carl-eller/|title=Carl Eller | Pro Football Hall of Fame Official Site|website=www.profootballhof.com}}

Honors and awards

In 2004, Eller was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2006. In 2000, Eller was named to the Vikings' 40th Anniversary Team and in 2010, he was named to the Vikings' 50th Anniversary team. Beginning in 1984, following each football season, the Carl Eller Award is given to the University of Minnesota's Defensive Player of the Year. In 1992, he was inducted into the University of Minnesota's M Club Hall of Fame.

In 2003, he was named to the Professional Football Researchers Association Hall of Very Good in the association's inaugural HOVG class.{{cite web |title=Hall of Very Good |url=http://www.profootballresearchers.org/hall-of-very-good-2003.html |accessdate=November 29, 2021}}

Life after football

As a licensed drug and alcohol counselor, Eller founded a group of substance-abuse clinics in the Twin Cities called Triumph Life Centers in 1986.

He obtained a college degree in Human Services from Metropolitan State University in 1994 and went on to work for the Minnesota Department of Human Services, addressing issues of health disparities between white people and people of color.[http://www.alumni.umn.edu/printview/f5831e66-4f6b-42aa-9c75-43d0e76ba797.html Carl Eller Takes a Stand], University of Minnesota Alumni Association, July–August 2005

Eller was arrested in 2006 for driving under the influence and pleaded guilty.{{Cite web |url=https://www.espn.com/nfl/news/story?id=2346348 |title=Hall of Famer Eller faces misdemeanor DUI charge |date=February 27, 2006 |website=ESPN.com}} He was arrested in 2008 for fourth-degree assault of a police officer and second-degree refusal to submit to chemical testing, both gross misdemeanors.{{Cite web|url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/football/2008-04-09-3316541816_x.htm|title=Ex-Viking Eller arrested after chase - USATODAY.com|website=usatoday30.usatoday.com}} He was sentenced and served 60 days in the county workhouse.{{Cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/nfl/news/story?id=3928168|title=Ex-Vikings great Eller sentenced to workhouse|date=February 23, 2009|website=ESPN.com}}

Eller later served as president of the NFL Retired Players Association. In 2020, he joined the Halberd Corporation, a research-based publicly traded company that helps discover and develop medical treatments for diseases, as a consultant.{{Cite news |date=July 27, 2020 |title=Retired NFL Great Carl Eller Joins Halberd Corporation |url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/retired-nfl-great-carl-eller-120000384.html |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20230924064238/https://finance.yahoo.com/news/retired-nfl-great-carl-eller-120000384.html |archive-date=2023-09-24 |access-date=2025-01-14 |work=Yahoo Finance |language=en-US}}