Andy Kelly (American football)

Last updated

Andy Kelly
No. 8
Position: Quarterback
Personal information
Born: (1968-06-06) June 6, 1968 (age 55)
Dayton, Tennessee, U.S.
Height:6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight:220 lb (100 kg)
Career information
High school: Rhea County
(Evensville, Tennessee)
College: Tennessee
Undrafted: 1992
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career Arena statistics
Pass attempts-completions:6,224-3,886
Percentage:62.4
TDINT:809-164
Passing yards:42,519
Passer rating:104.09
Player stats at ArenaFan.com

Andy Kelly (born June 6, 1968) is a former American football quarterback in the Arena Football League (AFL). He played in the AFL for fifteen seasons for a total of eight different teams. He also played for two seasons for the Rhein Fire of the former World League of American Football (WLAF). He played college football at the University of Tennessee from 1988 to 1991.

Contents

Early years

Kelly attended Rhea County High School in Evensville, Tennessee. [1] As a member of the Golden Eagles high school football team, he won Gatorade All-America honors in football as a senior. [2]

College career

Kelly was a successful collegiate quarterback at the University of Tennessee from 19881991 under head coach Johnny Majors. [3] He took over as a starter for Sterling Henton in the 1989 SEC rivalry game against the Alabama Crimson Tide. [4] He became part of Tennessee football lore as part of team that accomplished a 35–34 victory at Notre Dame, later dubbed as "The Miracle at South Bend". The Vols trailed at one point 31–7 before Kelly helped instrument a comeback to beat the Fighting Irish. [5] He set numerous Tennessee and SEC passing records, most of them broken by his later successor at Tennessee, Peyton Manning.

College career statistics

NCAA collegiate career statistics
Tennessee Volunteers
SeasonPassingRushing
CmpAttYdsPctTDIntRtgAttYdsAvgTD
1988 15259860.00092.99-15-1.70
1989 921561,29959.079132.232-33-1.00
1990 1793042,24158.91414126.838180.50
1991 2283612,75963.21515132.857601.13
Career 5148466,39760.83638129.3136300.23

Professional career

Kelly's predominant professional football career was as an Arena Football League quarterback, playing some of his career with the New Orleans VooDoo, for whom he played for in 2005 and 2007, and which was the last team for which he actively appeared as a player. [6] [7] He previously played for the Charlotte Rage (1993, 1995–96), Nashville Kats (1997–2001), Dallas Desperados (2002), Detroit Fury (2003–2004), Kansas City Brigade (2006), and Utah Blaze (2006). At the end of the 2006 season, he held several all-time AFL career records, including touchdown passes (767), passing yards (39,948), pass attempts (5,827), pass completions (3,621), and interceptions (155).

On Friday, April 27, 2007, in a 72–57 home loss to their division-mate, the Georgia Force, Kelly joined Aaron Garcia, Clint Dolezel, and Sherdrick Bonner as the only quarterbacks in professional football history to throw for over 800 career touchdowns. [8]

On December 6, 2007, Kelly was named the head coach of the proposed new All American Football League's Tennessee team. [9] However, the league suspended operations March 12, 2008 (permanently, as things later developed, although only a delay was announced at the time), and Kelly signed with the Georgia Force two weeks later on March 26, 2008, but never actually participated in any games as an active player for the Force. [10] Kelly retired as an Arena Football player following the 2008 season and currently serves as a commentator on Tennessee Volunteers football radio broadcasts.

In June 2013, Kelly was nominated for the Arena Football Hall of Fame. [6]

AFL career statistics

YearPassing
CmpAttPctYdsTDIntRtg
1993 17833253.62,139341580.3
1995 9516657.21,00416878.9
1996 589461.767181100.0
1997 30949762.23,8218214113.7
1998 31551860.83,5377312106.7
1999 32450164.73,6096711110.2
2000 283429663,1075510109.5
2001 23038260.22,699477104.8
2002 31951162.43,2957316105.4
2003 39265459.93,967922099.7
2004 36058761.34,1847312105.4
2005 46670066.64,6579612112.4
2006 115162711,402274126.5
2006 17729460.21,856241380.5
2007 26539766.82,571429101.7
Career 3,8866,22462.442,519809164104.0

Personal life

After his professional football career, Kelly became a full-time insurance agent for State Farm. [11]

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References

  1. Johnson, Reed (June 16, 2016). "Andy Kelly guest speaker at library's 'Munch-a-Lunch'". The Herald-News. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
  2. "Andy Kelly, Mack McCarthy to be inducted into Greater Chattanooga Sports Hall of Fame". Chattanooga Times Free Press. February 2, 2014. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
  3. "Andy Kelly College Stats". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
  4. "Alabama Stuns Tennessee, 9-6". New York Times. Associated Press. October 21, 1990. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
  5. Strange, Mike (September 9, 2016). "Andy Kelly was resilient in 'Miracle at South Bend' for Vols". Knoxville News Sentinel. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  6. 1 2 "Former VooDoo QB Andy Kelly Nominated for AFL Hall of Fame". OurSports Central. June 24, 2013. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
  7. "Kelly named finalist for Arena Football Hall of Fame". WBIR. August 8, 2014. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
  8. "Vols Jersey Countdown #8". Tennessee Volunteers Athletics. August 23, 2012. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
  9. Hooker, Dave (December 6, 2007). "Kelly plans to stock AAFL team with quality people". Knoxville News Sentinel. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
  10. "Andy Kelly begins new season with expansion team in arena football; Former Kat is now a Dallas Desperado". The Herald-News. July 8, 2010. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
  11. Cobb, David (March 1, 2016). "Quarterbacking Claims". Chattanooga Times Free Press. Retrieved August 23, 2018.