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Henry Austin Ellard (born July 21, 1961) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for the Los Angeles Rams (1983–1993), Washington Redskins (1994–1998), and New England Patriots (1998) of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Fresno State Bulldogs. Ellard also qualified for the Olympic trials in 1992 in the triple jump, although he injured his hamstring during the Trials and did not make the team.
Ellard still holds the NCAA record for yards per catch in a season, 24.4, set while playing for Fresno State in 1982. His Quarterback was current Fresno State head coach Jeff Tedford.
Ellard was also an All-American triple jumper on the Fresno State track and field team. In 1982, he set and still holds the Fresno State school record in the triple jump at 55' 0.5".
In the following year, Ellard would be used slightly more on the offensive side of the ball, starting each game of the season. He caught 34 total passes for 622 yards with six touchdowns, all of which were highs on the team. Ellard would score eight total touchdowns in the season, with a significant part of that being a four-game stretch from September 30 to October 22. In those four games, he caught a combined 6 passes for 134 total yards with three touchdowns while returning six punts for 207 yards and two touchdowns Ellard was selected as a punt returner for the Pro Bowl that year (alongside an All-Pro selection), having returned 30 punts for 403 yards and two touchdowns. The Rams made it back to the postseason once again with Ellard as a starter this time. He would catch 2 passes for 22 yards while returning 2 punts for 17 yards, but the Rams would lose 16–13.
The following year, Ellard kept improving (despite no selections from the press). He caught 54 passes for 811 yards and five touchdowns. He had his first 100-yard game of his career against the Atlanta Falcons on September 29, catching five passes for 123 yards and a touchdown. On punt returns, he made 37 of them for 501 yards and a touchdown. The Rams made it back to the playoffs once again. Ellard played a small key role in the Divisional Round game versus the Dallas Cowboys. He had a 23-yard punt return that would be followed by a 21-yard catch to eventually lead L.A. to the only points of the first half (a field goal). Ellard caught 2 passes for 33 yards while returning four punts for 37 yards while Dickerson and the Rams ran over Dallas 20–0. In the NFC Championship Game the following week, Ellard caught and returned just once as the Bears won 24–0. In the 1986 season, Ellard missed the first eight games before returning to catch 34 passes in eight starts for 447 yards and four touchdowns. In the strike plagued 1987 season, Ellard started in 12 of 15 games for the Rams. He caught 51 passes for 799 yards and three touchdowns.
In 1988, Ellard finally soared. He caught a career high 86 passes for a league-high 1,414 yards with ten touchdowns. His 88.4 yards per game also led the league. Ellard was awarded the NFC Offensive Player of the Month award for December, having caught 18 total passes for 298 yards and three touchdowns in three wins to help the Rams into the playoffs. He continued his run in 1989, although he played in fourteen games. He caught 70 passes for 1,382 yards for 8 touchdowns while leading the league again with 98.7 yards per game. He had the best game of his career in Week 2, catching 12 passes for 230 yards and three touchdowns against the Indianapolis Colts. Although Ellard led the team in receptions/yards/touchdowns once again, he was joined this time with Flipper Anderson to create a duo of 1,000 yard receivers, which they would do again the following year. Ellard finally had a playoff run to remember in 1989. His four catches for 87 yards with a touchdown was his best game to his career in the postseason (which was his eighth played), as the Rams charged to the NFC title game, with Ellard having a 100-yard game against the Giants. However, the San Francisco 49ers neutralized him for two catches on 18 yards in a 30–3 loss. Despite playing for nearly ten more years, Ellard had played his last postseason game, as the Rams were doomed to irrelevance for the rest of their tenure in the city.
Ellard continued on in 1990 at the start of the decline of the Rams. In 15 games he caught 76 passes for 1,294 yards for four touchdowns (ranking in the top five for the former two alongside yards per catch and game). For 1991, he caught 64 passes for 1,052 yards (his fourth straight) with three touchdowns, ranking in the top ten for yards per catch and per game. Ellard moved down in 1992 in every category to break a 1000-yard season. For the first time since his rookie year, Ellard did not lead the way in the receiving side, as Cleveland Gary had more catches (52) with equal touchdowns (although Ellard outfoxed him in yards). 1993 however proved somewhat better, as he caught over 60 passes for the fifth time in his last six seasons with 945 yards to lead the team in both categories. However, it would be his last season with the Rams, as he moved to the Washington Redskins. At the time of his move, Ellard held Rams' team records for career receptions (593), receiving yards (9,761), 100-yard games (26), punt return average (11.3), and total offense (11,663). Planet Rams
Despite Ellard's numbers, it took decades for him to even reach being a semifinalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He believes this to be a consequence of the eventual move of the Rams to St. Louis, as well as his having caught passes from less stellar quarterbacks than similar receivers of his era. Curiously, his closest comparison among receiving leaders is in the Hall of Fame, as Ellard played six fewer games than Andre Reed (who entered the league in 1985 and retired after Ellard in 2000) but managed slightly more receiving yards (each had over 13,000) despite having a hundred fewer catches (Reed had 951 while Ellard had 814); Reed had more touchdowns and Pro Bowl selections while Ellard was named an All-Pro twice and led the league in receiving yards (as opposed to Reed doing neither of those things). Returns and run-happy offenses hampered Ellard for five years before he began to flourish as a receiver. At the time of his retirement in 1998, Ellard was sixth all-time in receptions. Each player above him is in the Hall of Fame, while only one other in the top ten (Irving Fryar, who eventually passed him) is not already inducted. Ellard also ranked third at the time of retirement for yards (between James Lofton and Steve Largent). All except him and Fryar in the top ten are in the Hall of Fame. Ellard became a semifinalist for the Hall of Fame the class of 2023, which is both his first time reaching this stage and his last year with the Modern Era class. 28 Modern-Era Players named as Semifinalists for Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2023 profootballhof.com
In the 1991 cult classic Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) video game Tecmo Super Bowl, Ellard is the only player besides Jerry Rice to have a Receptions Score of 81, the highest rating for all receivers in the game set during the 1990–91 NFL season.
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