Austrian Football League: Vienna Vikings sign veteran QB Aaron Ellis

The Vienna Vikings have announced the signing of well-traveled quarterback Aaron Ellis for the 2025 Austrian Football League season.

The 6-3, 227 pound Ellis, a native of Valparaiso, Indiana, is coming off another excellent season in the Japanese X-League’s Area Division leading the Dentsu Caterpillars to a 5-1 regular season record and a berth in the promotional game. For this, he was named as the MVP of the league, the second time he was been honored with the award. He was also named league MVP in 2022.

Dentsu finished the regular season on a roll winning their final three games of the year. The 29 year old was far and away the passing leader in the X1 Area having thrown for 1,046 yards and 14 touchdowns in six games. In fact, he was the only quarterback in the X1 Area to pass for more than 1,000 yards and his 14 touchdown passes against just three interceptions also topped the league. The Caterpillars finished first in the East Division.

This was Ellis’ third season in Japan. Prior to his arrival in Asia, Ellis put together an eclectic football resume. He began his career in Denmark with the Frederikssund Oaks, playing five games before the team was forced to withdraw from Denmark’s top league due to a player shortage. He spent the cancelled 2020 season with the Ostrava Steelers of the Czech League, before returning to Denmark for a brief stint with the Søllerød Gold Diggers.

It was at that stage that Ellis received his big break, being called upon as a mid-season quarterback replacement for the European League of Football’s Stuttgart Surge. It was a challenging season for the organization that year, but Ellis acquitted himself well, throwing for 1,173 yards, nine touchdowns and seven interceptions despite being sacked 33 times in seven games. Following the season in Stuttgart, Ellis stayed on the move, joining ELF stars Joc Crawford  and Alpha Jalloh with the Bucharest Rebels in Romania, where they helped the team finish out a perfect season with the Ro Bowl (Romanian) championship.

Before heading to Japan, he started the 2022 season with the Telfs Patriots in the Austrian Football League leading the team to a 6-4 record and a berth in the semifinals. He was the second leading passer in the AFL that season throwing for 2,635 yards and 31 touchdowns in 10 games.

In college, Ellis played for the University of Saint Francis Fighting Saints (NAIA) in Joliet, Illinois where over two seasons he completed 153 of 283 passes for 2,380 yards and 27 touchdowns.