In the NFL, Elkins played in one game for the Kansas City Chiefs, and then later spent time with the Cleveland Browns and the Houston Oilers, but did not take the field for them.
[3] He led the team to winning records in both his junior and senior years, racking up 7304 career passing yards over 37 games.
The four months that he experienced from Senior Bowl week until he was picked by the Chiefs were chronicled in "Maximum Exposure," an article in the May 1, 1989 issue of Sports Illustrated.
His last game was spent on the sidelines in the playoffs as the Oilers blew the biggest lead in NFL history.
Following the season, he decided to walk away from football and took a job with a Cincinnati surgical instruments company.