"THEY WERE SAINTS": TONY ELLIOTT

5/8/2020
By: Terrill J. Weil
Da Boot Sports!


       The Saints drafted Nose Guard Tony Elliott in the 5th round of the 1982 NFL draft. Elliott attended both North Texas and Wisconsin. He went on to total 13 sacks in 84 games for the Saints. His best season was 1983, when he totaled 5.5 sacks in only 12 games.
     Elliott was a player that had some good games, and some good years with the Saints. Sadly, however, a drug addiction probably kept him from having a better career, and certainly kept him from having a longer, more productive life. Elliott would reveal in a 1986 column that he blew a $30,000 signing bonus in a matter of two weeks on a cocaine binge.
      On the playing field, Tony Elliott was a big force in the 1980s for the Saints. The big nose tackle  had his best years between 1985-1987, missing just two of 47 games.
       After his NFL career, he would still battle personal issues. In 2000 he was shot by a drug dealer. Elliott survived, but became paralyzed from the waist down. 
     On December 31, 2007 Elliott, who was restricted to a wheelchair, suffering from congestive heart failure, high blood pressure, and diabetes, died at the age of 48.