Editing Carl Eller (section)

==College career==
He was recruited to the [[University of Minnesota]] by head coach [[Murray Warmath|Murrary Warmath]], on the recommendation of [[Bobby Bell]], a fellow North Carolina high school player, from [[Shelby, North Carolina|Shelby]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":10" /> Eller played defensive tackle from 1961-1963, and began starting in his sophomore year (1961), playing with a broken hand that year.<ref name=":2">{{College Football HoF|id=2178}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Carl Eller - M Club Hall of Fame |url=https://gophersports.com/sports/2018/5/21/sports-m-club-spec-rel-hof-eller-html |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=University of Minnesota Athletics |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=de la Rosa |first=Poch |date=2022-12-15 |title=The Life And Career Of Carl Eller (Story) |url=https://www.profootballhistory.com/carl-eller/ |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=Pro Football History |language=en-US}}</ref> In 1961 and 1962, Eller played tackle alongside Bell, a future NFL Hall of fame linebacker and the 1962 [[Outland Trophy]] winner.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bobby Bell - M Club Hall of Fame |url=https://gophersports.com/sports/2018/5/21/sports-m-club-spec-rel-hof-bell-html |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=University of Minnesota Athletics |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Shelby to Immortalize Football Hall of Famer Bobby Bell. Here's How. {{!}} Pro Football Hall of Fame |url=https://www.profootballhof.com/news/2020/08/shelby-nc-to-immortalize-football-hall-of-famer-bobby-bell-heres-how/ |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=pfhof |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Bobby Bell {{!}} Pro Football Hall of Fame |url=https://www.profootballhof.com/players/bobby-bell/ |access-date=2025-05-06 |website=pfhof |language=en}}</ref>

As a sophomore, on January 1, 1962, Eller starred in helping lead the Golden Gophers to a 21–3 [[1962 Rose Bowl|Rose Bowl]] victory over [[UCLA Bruins football|UCLA]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rose Bowl - Minnesota at UCLA Box Score, January 1, 1962 |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/boxscores/1962-01-01-ucla.html |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=College Football at Sports-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref> Eller played both offensive left tackle and defensive tackle in the game, throwing key [[Blocking (American football)|blocks]] as an offensive lineman during the game.<ref>{{Cite news |date=January 2, 1962 |title=W-S's Eller Is Rose Bowl Star |work=Winston-Salem Journal |pages=16}}</ref> The team had been divided on whether to go back to the Rose Bowl, after losing the game one year earlier,<ref name=":12">{{Cite web |title=Rose Bowl - Washington vs Minnesota Box Score, January 2, 1961 |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/boxscores/1961-01-02-minnesota.html |access-date=2025-05-06 |website=College Football at Sports-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref> but quarterback Sandy Stevens convinced the team they should go for Eller's sake, as he might never have another opportunity to play in the game.<ref name=":11" /> In 1972, a group of writers and Rose Bowl experts included Eller at defensive tackle on their 50-year Rose Bowl team.<ref>{{Cite news |date=January 1, 1972 |title=Hutson Tops Rose Star Team |work=Detroit Free Press |pages=14}}</ref>

While Eller shared the starting position at offensive tackle as a sophomore,<ref name=":10">{{Cite news |last=Garber |first=Mary |date=October 2, 1961 |title=Skirt-In' Sports, Something on Carl Eller |work=The Sentinel (Winston-Salem, North Carolina) |pages=21}}</ref> he became a full-time, [[two-way player]] as a junior and senior<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |last=Reusse |first=Patrick |date=2023-01-07 |title=Carl Eller has had a good view for two of the strangest teams in Vikings franchise history |url=https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-vikings-carl-eller-strangest-two-teams-in-franchise-history-patrick-reusse/600241453 |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=www.startribune.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Carl Eller College Stats, School, Draft, Gamelog, Splits |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/carl-eller-1.html |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=College Football at Sports-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref> and was voted [[All-America]] in 1962{{citation needed|date=January 2025}} and 1963.<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 6, 1963 |title=Three Quarterbacks Are Named on AP's All-America Team |work=The Buffalo News |pages=1}}</ref> 

The 1962 [[Navy Midshipmen football|Naval Academy]] team included Eller on its all-opponent team.<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 7, 1962 |title=Bell Heads List Of Opponents On Middies' Unit |work=The Mercury (Pottstown, Pennsylvania) |pages=31}}</ref> As a junior in 1962, he was second team All-Big Ten,<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |title=Honors and Awards |url=https://gophersports.com/sports/2018/5/21/sports-m-footbl-spec-rel-honors-awards-html |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=University of Minnesota Athletics |language=en}}</ref> and the following year Eller was a consensus All-American and first team All-Big Ten.<ref>{{Cite web |title=1963 College Football Summary |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/years/1963.html#all_all_americans |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=College Football at Sports-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> In 1963, he also won the school's [[Bronko Nagurski Trophy|Bronko Nagurski Award]] as the team's most valuable player.<ref name=":5" /> As a senior (1963), Eller was the runner-up for the Outland Trophy.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" />

During his freshman year in college, the [[1960 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team|1960 Gophers]] were National Champions and Big Ten Champions, losing in the Rose Bowl; though Eller did not play on that team.<ref>{{Cite web |title=1960 National Champions |url=https://gophersports.com/sports/2018/5/21/sports-m-footbl-spec-rel-1960-champions-html |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=University of Minnesota Athletics |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Big Ten Conference Index |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/conferences/big-ten/ |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=College Football at Sports-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":12" /> Minnesota was a losing team in the immediate prior seasons, and coach Warmath had decided to field a racially and geographically diverse team. Eller, who was on the 1960 freshman team, believed and emphasized that the ultimately successful Minnesota teams during that era were “'a major, major factor in the [Black] freedom movement.'"<ref name=":11">{{Cite news |last=Johnson |first=Rick |date=2020-12-08 |title=That Championship Season (Minnesota Alumni magazine) |url=https://www.minnesotaalumni.org/stories/that-championship-season |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250115085120/https://www.minnesotaalumni.org/stories/that-championship-season |archive-date=2025-01-15 |access-date=2025-05-06 |language=en-US}}</ref>

At the [[University of Minnesota]], Eller joined the Mu chapter of the [[Alpha Phi Alpha]] fraternity.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nicindy.org/whos_greek/greeks_in_sports/football/AmericanFootballHOF.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016061857/http://nicindy.org/whos_greek/greeks_in_sports/football/AmericanFootballHOF.htm|url-status=dead|title=Greeks in Football|archive-date=October 16, 2007}}</ref>