NFL player is in the lineup of the 2024 North Coast Wine Challenge

For NFL player DeShon Elliott, there aren’t many things that stand up to the thrill of reading an offense, the adrenaline rush of the play and the frenzy of the fans.

But uncorking a bottle of Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon is one of them.

The 26-year-old safety for the Miami Dolphins will be an associate judge this year in The Press Democrat’s North Coast Wine Challenge. Elliott will taste through the entries April 2 and 3, and while his scores won’t be tabulated, he’ll be part of the discussion in vetting the wines.

Developing his palate is Elliott’s goal for taking part in the competition, now in its 12th year. The athlete has been fascinated with cooking for years, and he has a keen sensibility of aromas and flavors.

“Why out of all things outside of football would I be pursuing wine?” asked Elliott, who posed the question himself during a recent Zoom-call interview. He was in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, taking a break during the off-season.

Wearing Jacques Marie Mage sunglasses and drinking a mimosa — a splash of sparkling wine and orange juice — Elliott explained, “The reason I choose it is there aren’t that many football players who know about wine and actually want to be in the industry. I think a lot of people limit themselves and put a ceiling on themselves. I don’t want to put a ceiling on myself.”

The game plan

With the goal of playing football until he’s 35, Elliott then hopes to find a California vineyard where he can grow grapes for himself and others and create a brand.

During the off-season, Elliott plans to spend time this summer at Healdsburg’s Aperture Cellars.

“I want to know the ins and outs of grape development, from grape growing to fermentation to when the wine hits the shelves,” he said.

Earning $1,770,000 in his current one-year contract, Elliott pointed out that he’s the first person in his family to go to college.

“I’m already breaking barriers,” he said. “I think I can create generational wealth for my family through my love of wine.”

The wine geek

When Elliott played for the Detroit Lions in 2022, his teammate Romeo Okwara piqued his interest in wine.

“At the time, he helped guide me in understanding my palate, different wines and how the wine industry worked,” Elliott explained. “Then, after that, I started doing my own research and trying my own wines.”

To delve further into the world of wine, Elliott asked his agency — Athletes First — to help him explore opportunities. He was pointed to Jesse Katz, founding winemaker of Healdsburg’s Aperture Cellars, who suggested he play a role in the North Coast Wine Challenge.

Chief judge of the contest and an award-winning winemaker, Daryl Groom of Groom Wines, said he initiated the Associate Judges Program in 2017 to mentor young winery professionals and future winemakers.

“Elliott came across as a perfect fit for why we have this program,” Groom said. “I think with his passion and notoriety, he’ll be successful. And it will be great for the competition to look back one day and say, ‘Wow, we were a little part of his success.’”

The 5-year-old dreamer

As a kindergartner watching TV, Elliot saw Emmitt Smith, then of the Dallas Cowboys, run the ball down the field, and told his father, “Dad, I want to do that.”

His father, Arme Elliott, listened.

“We went outside and he threw a football at me,” DeShon Elliott said, adding that his father coached him during those early years.

He said what he likes best about playing the position of safety is the pre-game strategy.

“It’s not what you do on Sunday,” he added. “It’s what you do throughout the week that prepares you for that moment.”

A remedy for hate

Elliott said his parents grew up in the “hood of Dallas” — Oak Cliff — a poor neighborhood with a high crime rate.

Later, his parents, Tiffany and Arme Elliott, could afford to move to the suburb of Mesquite, Texas to raise their family. Tiffany was a ticket clerk for the Garland Municipal Court and Arme was a truck driver.

“We weren’t well off,” DeShon said, “but to this day I consider my father the hardest working man I’ve ever known.”

For high school, the younger Elliott, traveled 30 miles away to Rockwall, Texas. The student body at the school was predominantly white, except for some of the athletes who were Black.

Elliott said he experienced racism during his high school years, as well as while he was in college at the University of Texas in Austin.

“I stuck out like a sore thumb, and it didn’t always go well with fraternity guys,” he said.

He remedied that problem, he said, by surrounding himself with people from varied ethnic and racial backgrounds and aligning himself with those who had “a good core, a good heart and a good soul.”

“Hate will always be in the world,” Elliott said. “Racism is taught. It’s a learned behavior. So people just have to unlearn what they’re taught.”

The anomaly

When 200+-pound men fight over a football, injuries are inevitable.

During a span of six years in Elliott’s NFL career, he has broken his arm, injured his knee and torn both his pectoral muscle and his shoulder.

“When I hurt my knee, I spent a lot of time in isolation and in those circumstances you can either fold and give up or you can build yourself up and become a better version of yourself — not just physically, but mentally.”

A mentor of Elliott’s once told him he was an anomaly because a lot of guys lose their drive when they get hurt.

Elliott, though, said he loves the game of football too much to ever let that happen.

“But I’ve also found a love of wine, something I want to pursue over the next 10 to 30 years,” he said. “And anything I love — it doesn’t matter what it is — I put my all into it and nothing can stop me.”

You can reach Wine Writer Peg Melnik at 707-521-5310 or peg.melnik@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @pegmelnik.