When you are arguably the best running back in Richmond Senior history, even the Mayor of Rockingham puts Nashville recording artist Bucky Covington on hold for a moment to shake your hand.

Such is the life of Walter “Flip” Ellerbe, who ran the Raiders to three straight 4-A state titles from 1988-1990. When Ellerbe walked off the football field for the final time as a Raider after beating West Forsyth, he set or tied nearly all of the school’s rushing records.

Now, Ellerbe sits in the stands watching as his son, Walter Jr., and others begin to chip away at his marks. Against South View last Friday, current Richmond Raider Labarrian Jones broke a record Ellerbe held with four others for the most rushing touchdowns in a single game.

“They (the records) started being broken after a few years,” Ellerbe said. “I knew they would be broken, but when I played the starters only played the first half. Today, some of the players are playing the entire game. Plus, when I played, I think the competition was stronger.”

Despite believing his opponents were tougher in his day, Ellerbe only lost one game in his three years at Richmond, a 24-21 Homecoming loss to Purnell Swett as a senior. In fact, Ellerbe said he lost only one other game in his football career, which began when he was 7-years-old.

Ellerbe’s assault on the Richmond record book almost didn’t occur because when he first started playing the game, he was at another position.

“The first year I played center,” Ellerbe said. “It was because of my height that they wouldn’t let me run the ball, but I kept asking.”

Once he showed his coaches what he was capable of doing, Ellerbe never stopped running. When he attended his first practice at Richmond as a 10th grader, Ellerbe was with the varsity team. Ellerbe credits a great deal of his success to a simple bit of advice his father gave him.

“My dad told me to keep my feet moving,” he said. “I was strong as a kid in the lower body, I had really strong legs. I did things around the house to help me with my balance and I just got good at them and I ended up using them in the game.”

Ellerbe became such a good runner that he ultimately started receiving letters of interests from college football programs across the country.

“I got letters from everywhere,” Ellerbe said. “I got letters all the time. In fact, I still got letters I didn’t even open.”

After finishing up his stellar high school career, Ellerbe decided accept a scholarship from North Carolina A&T and play football for the Aggies. However, Ellerbe never stepped foot onto the A&T campus and never played football again.

“I just loved the game, but I never thought about making a career out of it,” Ellerbe said. “At the end of my senior year, I thought I could and signed with A&T. But when it was time to go, I never went.”

According to Ellerbe, his mother was very vocal about him getting out of Richmond County and going to Greensboro to enroll at North Carolina A&T.

“My mom was hard on me and told me to head on to college,” he said. “But I was done with football, I was completely through with it. I still love the sport, but I didn’t want to play anymore.”

While some would question Ellerbe’s decision as being afraid he wouldn’t succeed at the next level, he feels different.

“I knew I could play at the next level, I loved competition,” he said. “I felt I was just as good as a lot of the guys who played in college and in the pros.”

The decision not to attend college and continue his football career crosses Ellerbe’s mind frequently. In fact, he tells his children to achieve everything they can, especially in the classroom.

“I tell them (his children) to focus on school and make sure you get the grades,” Ellerbe said. “I want them to make better decisions than I did. I tell them to make sure your school work comes first.”

Ellerbe’s words extended not only to his children, but others as well. As a youth football coach, Ellerbe said he asked his players to bring their report cards to practice and if they fell behind in their school work then they wouldn’t be able to play with the team.

“I told them a good football player with no education, can’t go no where,” Ellerbe said. “But a good football player with an education can go to the next level or anywhere.”