Two men who had a history from playing against each other in the Pac-10, had much different experiences when the NFL held its draft in 1996. But they ended up on the same team - the Jets.
USC wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson was taken with the first-overall pick. And Kwame Ellis, a cornerback from Stanford, who was the Defensive MVP of the 1995 Liberty Bowl, wasn't chosen, but was definitely wanted by New York.
"The general manager at the time, (James) Shack Harris, called, 'We're going to end up taking this other guy, but you're our first free agent that we would like to sign. And you've got a good chance of making the team,'" Ellis said.
Which was saying a lot since the Jets picked two defensive backs in that draft: Ray Mickens, a cornerback from Texas A&M, in the third round; and Texas Tech safety Marcus Coleman in the fifth. Heading into training camp, Ellis' mindset was simple and to the point.
"Just make it difficult for them to get rid of me," he said. "Coming out of Stanford, Bill Walsh was my coach for my first three years, and Tyrone Willingham came in my senior year. I had great relationships with them, and they told me, 'You want to make a ripple in a pond. And the more things that you can do will make it very difficult for them to get rid of you.'
"So I knew that I had to have an impact on special teams and needed to practice as hard as hell, like it was a game because I wasn't going to get all the reps. And I did that. I knew I was building up a reputation.
"I was very impactful early on special teams, and nobody was catching balls because I was jumping in line and guarding Keyshawn most of the time. I knew everything because I guarded him for two years and did well in that. So that caught people's attention. The veterans were like, 'Oh man, you might have a chance to stick around.'"
They were right. When the opening day roster was released following camp, Ellis, the only undrafted DB, beat the odds and was on it.
"I had a feeling, but wouldn't allow myself to think that I made it because I wanted to make sure that I continued to keep my competitive edge," Ellis said. "But what happened prior to the fourth preseason game against Oakland was, they released Vance Joseph. And then they released Otis Smith right after the game. So I said, 'Oh, my goodness. There's nobody here left.' There was (Carl) Greenwood, myself and Ray. And on the final cut day, I still didn't know.
"Then Aaron Glenn came over to me, 'It looks like you made your way onto the team!' And I finally took a breath at that moment. I remember calling my mom and dad and saying, 'Well, I guess I'll have to look for a place in New York now.' It was pretty emotional.
"I worked my ass off. To be an undrafted free agent on a team that only kept four corners, it was tough. But it was a good feeling. I felt vindicated. I felt like I belonged. I felt really good about myself."
They may have been opponents in college, but now as teammates, Ellis and Johnson had a bond which paid off for both on occasion. Such as when following a game in Arizona and with a bye week coming up, Ellis suggested to Johnson, who had more influence, that a cross-country trip back to New York only to turn around and fly back home to the West Coast during their time off, seemed a bit much.
"I told Keyshawn, 'I can't say it, but you can. Why would we have to fly all the way back on the charter when we're coming right back to California?' And he was like, 'We're not going to do that.' So I said, 'Go say something.' And he said, 'Hell, yeah, I'm going to say something.' So, believe it or not, the coach at the time, Rich Kotite, made an announcement – and this is how much power Keyshawn had as a rookie – 'Everyone has to come home on the charter jet even though we have a bye. Except people that live in California,'" Ellis laughed.
"It was just me and Keyshawn. I got a kick out of that because, I mean, he's the big money. He's the star player. And I got a chance to ride those coattails for a little bit."
Ellis' ride with the Jets wasn't as long as he would have liked. He was waived following the November 17 game in Indianapolis.
"I kind of felt I was going to get released after the game. That was the day when Marcus Coleman was called on to play the nickel because there was a tall receiver, Sean Dawkins, a 6-foot-4 guy. And Marcus had a hell of a game. He locked him up," Ellis said.
"Meanwhile, I was stumbling on special teams. I missed a tackle and almost ran into Wayne Chrebet on a punt trying to block the gunner on the outside. That would have been really embarrassing. I just wasn't having a good game. We lost and I asked Carl Greenwood, 'Can they cut you this late in the season? Would they let you go?' And he was like, 'No, they wouldn't do that.' But I had an inkling something was coming.
"And so that next day, we have conditioning. I come in and walk upstairs, and the secretary who's usually very cheerful, she didn't have a look on her face. She just had a 'I think I see a ghost.' So I'm going around like everything was good and James Harris calls me, 'I hate to have to tell you this, but we're going to have to let you go today.' I thought he was joking. And he said, 'Look, you did really well for yourself. You're going to be okay.'"
Ellis heard from Minnesota's head coach Dennis Green that afternoon and traveled there the next day, where he finished up that season and the next on the Vikings' practice squad. Signing with Kansas City in 1998, he spent that year playing in NFL Europe for the Scottish Claymores.
In 2001, Ellis followed the advice of his former Jets teammate Marvin Jones and went from the football field to the real estate field. Buying homes in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, he was fixing them up and then renting them out.
Meanwhile, a childhood friend, Khalid Shabazz, was doing similar things in California. With separate operations, they started to informally work together. But then the housing market crash hit in 2007 and '08.
"I lost some assets," Ellis said. "I struggled, but still had a passion for it. I said, 'Well, Khalid, here's what we'll do. We're going to do this again, but we're not going to work independently this time. Let's put all our mental capacity, emotional capacity, and be teammates. Run this race together.'"
And 10 years ago, they founded Titan & Associates, a real estate development business, and bought distressed properties in Dallas-Fort Worth, had repairs done and sold them. Their goal was and still is to develop affordable communities and not just single-family properties.
"We got really good at basically rehabbing homes, and we sold this service to the municipalities who really have a big need to restore dilapidated, outdated housing stock," Ellis said. "They don't want houses to be torn down and big houses brought online and out-pricing the current constituents that live in that area.
"Whether they work for the city or are first responders, all those individuals that need to live kind of in close proximity to where they work."
Currently working on multiple independent projects, there are plans to expand the business to Houston; Chicago; Gary, Indiana; and Detroit.
"In any market, this is happening," Ellis said. "Everything's getting too expensive to work closer to the epicenter. The government has funds to basically restore existing assets, but they don't have the bandwidth to do the work. So they contract my company to come in and do it. It's a whole thriving business to itself."
The father of four: Nyah, Ayanna, Kwame, and Khair; Ellis and his wife, Brenda, make their home in suburban Dallas.
