William Henry Ellison is a former American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 running back

Running back

A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...

 who played eight seasons in the National Football League

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

 for the Los Angeles Rams

History of the St. Louis Rams

The following is a detailed history of the St. Louis Rams a professional American football team and member of the National Football League .-AFL Cleveland Rams :...

 and the Kansas City Chiefs

Kansas City Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...

. Sporting #33, he spent his first four seasons in the NFL as backup behind Larry Smith

Larry Smith (running back)

William Lawrence "Larry" Smith is a former American college and professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League for six seasons during the 1960s and 1970s...

, before taking over as starting tailback in 1971. On December 5, 1971 against the New Orleans Saints

New Orleans Saints

The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are members of the South Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League ....

 he rushed 26 times for 247 yards thus breaking Cookie Gilchrist

Cookie Gilchrist

Carlton Chester "Cookie" Gilchrist was a gridiron football player in the American Football League and Canadian Football League.-Career:...

's pro football record of 243 yards. The NFL record at the time was held by Jim Brown

Jim Brown

James Nathaniel "Jim" Brown is an American former professional football player who has also made his mark as an actor. He is best known for his exceptional and record-setting nine-year career as a running back for the NFL Cleveland Browns from 1957 to 1965. In 2002, he was named by Sporting News...

, who ran 237 against the Los Angeles Rams in 1957. Ellison was subsequently named NFL Offensive Player of the Week by the Associated Press

Associated Press

The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...

. Eillison went on to the Pro Bowl

Pro Bowl

In professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...

 after the 1971 NFL season

1971 NFL season

The 1971 NFL season was the 52nd regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl VI when the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Miami Dolphins...

. He played college football

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 at Texas Southern

Texas Southern University

Texas Southern University is a historically black university located in Houston, Texas, United States....

.