The local sports community is mourning the loss of a former Bridgeport resident who went on to become a standout NFL player.

Tony Elliot died on New Year?s Eve at the age of 48. Elliot grew up in the Beardsley Terrace projects on Trumbull Avenue. He became an all-state defensive football player for Harding High School and was a fifth-round draft pick for the New Orleans Saints in in 1982.

Friends say Elliot had a drug problem, which he kicked in the middle of his career. Elliot devoted his extra time during retirement to working with kids and motivating them to succeed.

Elliot was paralyzed in a Stamford shooting that took place in 2000. According to the Connecticut Post, Elliot had been suffering from congestive heart failure, high blood pressure and diabetes.