1 week Ago By Chris Tomasson [email protected]
Each July 4 in Salt Lake City, there’s an event known as the Elliss Family Olympics. Former Broncos defensive tackle Luther Elliss and his wife Rebecca, who have 12 children, round up members of the family for a day of competition. On Sunday at Empower Field at Mile High, there will be another big event for the family.
The Broncos, featuring outside linebacker Jonah Elliss, will play host to the Atlanta Falcons, with Jonah’s brother, inside linebacker Kaden Elliss. There are four Elliss kids who have played in the NFL, with three currently on rosters, and this is just the second time two have faced each other. In Week 17 in 2022, Kaden, then with New Orleans, was on the winning side of the Saints’ 20-10 win over Philadelphia, which then had linebacker Christian Elliss.
Christian is now with New England. “I’m 1-0,’’ Kaden said of the family battles. “I’m trying to go 2-0.
” While these brothers are close, they are also very competitive. The fourth Elliss brother with NFL experience is Noah, 25, a defensive tackle who has spent time with the Eagles and is now a free agent. On Sunday, about 35 members of the Elliss family will be on hand for the latest battle.
Luther can’t make it to the game even though he will be in Colorado during the weekend. He is the defensive tackles coach at Utah, which will play the Colorado Buffaloes on Saturday at Folsom Field. Then he must fly back to Salt Lake City to do continued coaching work.
“It’s exciting,’’ Luther said about the matchup of brothers that he will watch on television. “They both want to get the win, and then it’s bragging rights.” Indeed it is.
“Whoever wins it, gets bragging rights for a year until the next time we play,’’ Jonah said. “I’m just excited to go out there and see him. I’ve never played with him.
It will be fun to go out there and play with him.” Considering the Broncos and Falcons aren’t scheduled to play again until 2028, it could be bragging rights for a lot longer than a year. In the meantime, Jonah has gotten some bragging rights in recent years at the Elliss Family Olympics.
Luther said family members were divided up into three teams last year, one led by Kaden, 29, one by Christian, 25, and one by Jonah, 21. He said events that take place in the battles between brothers and sisters include pickleball, bocce ball, cornhole, board games, video games and cooking. Yes, cooking.
“It’s very competitive,’’ said Luther, who made two Pro Bowls while playing for Detroit from 1995-2003, finished his career with the Broncos in 2004 and then was their team chaplain from 2015-16. “But last year it got pretty heated at the end and we just decided to call it. So it was a tie.
’’ But Jonah’s team won the overall competition in 2022. Luther said one key was how well Jonah and his fiancée Kasey Wardle performed in pickleball. “We’ve killed him,’’ Jonah said of being better at pickleball than Kaden.
“He doesn’t like it.” Overall, though, Kaden has shown over the years plenty of support for Jonah. Luther said Kaden, eight years older, has been a “great big brother” to Jonah and has imparted much wisdom.
“There’s too many to state here,’’ Jonah said of those lessons. “A lot of it is like our pass rush. He sends a lot of videos and has pretty much taught me a lot about it.
I’d say that’s probably one of the biggest ones, but there’s a lot more for sure.” Kaden is in his sixth NFL season after being drafted in the seventh round by New Orleans in 2019 out of Idaho. He played with the Saints for his first four seasons before joining the Falcons in 2023.
When Kaden was drafted, current Broncos coach Sean Payton was with the Saints and played a key role in the selection. After the Broncos selected Jonah in the third round last April out of Utah, Kaden said he texted Payton, writing, “You got a good one.” “I’m so excited to see him on the field,’’ Kaden said.
“You just see this little boy that grew up and all the work he put in and now he’s an NFL stud.” Jonah has had a solid NFL start for the Broncos, having two sacks and 21 overall tackles while playing in all 10 games. Kaden is an established NFL player.
Since signing a three-year, $21.5 million contract with Atlanta in 2023, he has started all 27 of the team’s games. He has 88 tackles this season.
“I would actually say we’re pretty similar (players),’’ Jonah said. “He’s playing inside (linebacker) so it’s a little different. But I would say we have the same sort of savviness.
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I tried to replicate that a lot during college. I really tried to watch him and learn from him.” For Sunday’s game, Kaden said the family might display “a little more blue and orange than red and black” since many members are Denver fans due to his father.
Luther, a native of Mancos, Colo., grew up cheering for the Broncos before eventually playing for them and serving as their chaplain. But Luther insisted the family will cheer equally for each side.
He said Rebecca considered wearing a split jersey but opted against it due to the weather and will wear a white coat on a day when the temperature is projected to be a high of 52. While the two defensive players won’t be on the field at the same time during plays from scrimmage, they are expected to meet up on special teams. Kaden is on Atlanta’s punt return team and Jonah on Denver’s punting team.
“When Kaden and Christian went against each other on special teams, Christian was trying to block Kaden and they both we laughing,’’ Luther said. “But they were competing against each other.” Of the 12 children, Luther said seven were adopted, including Noah.
The three current NFL players are all biological children as is Elijah, a Utah freshman defensive end whom Jonah hopes will be another Elliss player to make the NFL. Regardless of how Sunday’s game turns out, the Elliss brothers will be back at it for the Family Olympics. “It’s probably the most competitive time in our family and it’s probably the most fun as well,’’ Jonah said.
But it’s not as much fun to be on the losing side since bragging rights are also at stake each July 4 in Salt Lake City..
