Former Rice, Texans, Roughnecks linebacker Emmanuel Ellerbee shares message at annual youth football camp

HOUST – Hustling from drill to drill while imparting a message about the importance of education, former Rice University all-conference linebacker Emmanuel Ellerbe held his third annual youth football camp Saturday on the Rice campus.

A Strake Jesuit graduate and All-Conference USA selection, Ellerbee, 27, has played professionally for the Atlanta Falcons, Los Angeles Chargers, Seattle Seahawks, Texans and the Houston Roughnecks.

‘It’s great to be back at my alma mater the Rice University, being born and bred at Houston,” said Ellerbee, a former all-district and honorable-mention all-state selection who chose the Owls over Princeton and Harvard and recorded 273 career tackles with 16 1/2 for losses, five sacks and one interception. “It’s so great to have the kids do school, thrills and drills and learn a lot of skills from the different coaches we have. We have a lot of college coaches, a couple of college players, a couple of retired NFL players here as well.to be able to teach the kids.”

Ellerbee supervised some one-on-one and seven-on-seven drills followed by yoga to close out the the camp.

“We teach them about active recovery,” Ellerbee said. “They have to take care of their bodies to be able to make it to the next level.”

Ellerbee holds the camp through his nonprofit organization, Bees Believers, which stands for Be Exceptional N’ Everything.

“We care as much for the students to do well on the field and in academics because we want the best of both worlds,” Ellerbee said. “When you’re done being an athlete, use being an athlete as a vehicle to your destination, not your final destination because we’re so much more than what we do on this field on Sundays.”

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com.