SAN FRANCISCO — When New England Patriots linebacker Christian Elliss takes the field Sunday in Super Bowl LX, he’ll have a large family contingent cheering him on. And they know the NFL well.
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Luther, his father, played 10 years in the NFL (1995-2004), nine with the Detroit Lions and one with the Denver Broncos. Luther’s oldest son, Kaden, was a seventh-round pick by the New Orleans Saints in 2019, joined the Atlanta Falcons in 2023, and just finished his seventh NFL season. Next is Christian, who was undrafted in 2021 but eventually joined the Philadelphia Eagles, then signed with the Patriots in 2023. He’s followed by Jonah, a third-round pick by the Denver Broncos in 2024 whom Christian beat in the AFC Championship Game to book a trip to the Bay Area. And the youngest son is Elijah, who just finished his redshirt freshman season at Utah, where Luther is the defensive tackles coach. All the boys are linebackers.
Christian is the first in the family to play in the Super Bowl, and he has enjoyed his best season as an individual. In his first year as a regular starter, he compiled a career-high 94 combined tackles in the regular season (second on the team), three pass deflections and a forced fumble. He’s elevated his play in New England’s three playoff games, with 16 combined tackles, two pass deflections, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and a sack.
He’ll be key in helping the Patriots stop the Seattle Seahawks’ explosive offense on Sunday. And watching him intently will of course be his brothers, father, mother (Rebecca) and sister (Olivia). But with them will also be numerous others grateful for the home the Elliss family has provided for decades — Christian’s seven adopted siblings: Noah, Isaiah, Isabelle, Sophia, Micah, Mia and Colsen.
The idea of adoption was always something Rebecca and Luther were open to, and they were given an opportunity years ago when one of Rebecca’s good friends founded an adoption agency. She told Rebecca and Luther of a baby named Isaiah who needed a home. It didn’t take much discussion before they welcomed him into their own, and many more children followed in the years to come.
Seeing the example set by his parents, Christian — who already has three biological sons with his wife, Kaysie — seeks to adopt one day too.
“It’s very clear in the Bible — God has a special heart for children,” Christian told Sports Spectrum this week. “And so anyone who needs a home, I think they just need to be taken care of. I think it’s a responsibility for all believers.”
"I think it's very clear in the Bible, God has a special heart for children. I think it's a responsibility for all believers."
New England Patriots LB Christian Elliss at Super Bowl LX media availability on faith and adoption. pic.twitter.com/o7vwV7emJ6
— Sports Spectrum (@Sports_Spectrum) February 5, 2026
Many in our culture today think there are only two options when faced with an unplanned pregnancy: parenting or abortion. If they’re even presented with the idea of choosing adoption, it often comes with a stigma, fear of judgment and lack of information.
This is what John Knox has set out to change. The entrepreneurial businessman launched his nonprofit, Adoption is an Option, in 2020 to equip “those closest to women in crisis — those who need to know — with the tools and resources to present adoption clearly and without pressure.” The organization seeks to “make sure adoption is seen as a supported path, not a stigmatized afterthought.”
Knox himself was adopted at 6 weeks old, and didn’t meet his birth mother until he was 38. That’s when he learned she got married and had five children after putting him up for adoption, but she never told any of her kids about him.
“She never wanted them to know about me, which was really a shame,” Knox told Sports Spectrum this week. “The secrecy around adoption is so different today from what it used to be and that’s what people don’t know today is how it’s different than the way it used to be. Today, birth parents get to pick what family’s going to adopt the child. They get to decide if they’re going to have an open relationship. That didn’t exist before.”
Knox was a successful businessman, buying and selling surety companies over a 40-year career, until he sold his last company in 2020. On a mission to discover what God had next for him, he set out on a road trip that summer which eventually took him to Northern California, where he stayed with one of his sisters. There, he couldn’t help but notice a next-door neighbor who had a number of women’s rights signs up in her yard, advocating for a woman’s right to choose when it came to unplanned pregnancy.
“Legally, it’s a woman’s right to choose but adoption is an option. That was really where I felt like God gave me the answer,” Knox said. “So for the rest of that trip, I was very focused on ‘adoption is an option.’ I came home and started a nonprofit and wanted to use the skills and resources that I’d gotten out of business to put it to something I think God wanted me to put it to. And He’s led me down a tremendous path as a result of that.”
Knox feels adoption is misunderstood and many women who might choose this path are held back. Meanwhile, thousands of families are ready and waiting to adopt. His goal is for a movement where adoption is seen not as an act of loss, but as an act of love, and where women in crisis feel surrounded by care.
As more and more people discover the resources available, he hopes the stigma surrounding adoption will begin to fade. Then more families like the Elliss clan will come to know the beauty of choosing adoption.
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