Kameron Kelly
Kameron Rashad Kelly (born August 19, 1996) is a professional gridiron football defensive back for the San Antonio Brahmas. He played college football at San Diego State as a safety and cornerback.
![]() Kelly with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2021 | |||||||||||
No. 8 – San Antonio Brahmas | |||||||||||
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Position: | Defensive back | ||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||
Born: | Round Rock, Texas, U.S. | August 19, 1996||||||||||
Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||
Weight: | 205 lb (93 kg) | ||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||
High school: | Wylie (Wylie, Texas) | ||||||||||
College: | San Diego State | ||||||||||
Undrafted: | 2018 | ||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||
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* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||||
Roster status: | Active | ||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||
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Career NFL statistics as of 2022 | |||||||||||
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Player stats at NFL.com · CFL.ca |
Early years
Kelly was born in Round Rock, Texas, and grew up in Wylie, Texas, where he attended Wylie High School.[1] As a dual-threat quarterback, he was rated a two-star recruit by Rivals.com[2] and committed to play college football at San Diego State.
College career
In his true freshman season, Kelly converted to safety and was promoted to backup before suffering a knee injury that was complicated by compartment syndrome. He missed the final six games of the season. In his sophomore season, he started all 13 of his games, recording 37 tackles and two interceptions. He returned to a backup role in his junior season, but recorded a career-high five interceptions.
In his senior year, after converting to cornerback, he started all 13 games and had the most impressive season of his college career. He recorded a career-high 54 tackles, two sacks, and two forced fumbles, in addition to three interceptions. Both of his sacks were recorded in a game against then-19th ranked Stanford, in addition to six tackles, two of which were for a loss. That game earned him a Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week award, as well as a Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week award. At the end of the season, he was named a first-team all-Mountain West selection.[1]
Professional career
Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |||
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6 ft 1+5⁄8 in (1.87 m) |
204 lb (93 kg) |
31+3⁄4 in (0.81 m) |
8+7⁄8 in (0.23 m) | 4.66 s | 4.28 s | 6.94 s | 33.0 in (0.84 m) | 10 ft 0 in (3.05 m) | 9 reps | |||
All values from NFL Combine[3] |
Dallas Cowboys
After going undrafted in the 2018 NFL Draft, Kelly signed as an undrafted free agent with the Dallas Cowboys.[4] He was later released before the preseason began.[5]
San Diego Fleet
On October 27, 2018, Kelly was signed by the San Diego Fleet of the Alliance of American Football for the 2019 AAF season.[6] In early January, he was switched to the wide receiver position,[7] and on January 30, it was announced that he made the final roster at that position.[8] In practice before the week 3 game, head coach Mike Martz announced that Kelly would be moved back to cornerback due to injuries.[9]
In week 5 against the Salt Lake Stallions, Kelly intercepted Stallions quarterback Josh Woodrum three times, one of which was returned for a 22-yard touchdown, as the Fleet won 27–25.[10] He was eventually named the AAF Defensive Player of the Week.[11]
Pittsburgh Steelers
After the AAF suspended football operations, Kelly signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers on April 8, 2019.[12] Kelly made his debut with the Steelers in week 1 against the New England Patriots. In the game, Kelly made 7 tackles in the 33–3 loss. [13] In week 5 against the Baltimore Ravens, Kelly recorded his first career interception off Lamar Jackson in the 26–23 loss.[14]
On December 20, 2019, Kelly was arrested in Pittsburgh's southside after claims of threats towards police. He was waived by the Steelers later in the day.[15] The charges were dropped by December 2020, and Kelly was fined half of a game salary by the NFL.[16]
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Kelly signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the CFL on February 17, 2021.[17] He played in all 14 regular season games in 2021 where he had 36 defensive tackles, 10 pass deflections, one sack, and one interception.[18]
References
- "2017 San Diego State Final Bios: Kameron Kelly" (PDF). SDSU Athletics. San Diego State University Athletics. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
- "Rivals.com". n.rivals.com. Retrieved 2019-02-07.
- "NFL Events: Combine Player Profiles – Kameron Kelly". www.nfl.com. Retrieved 2019-02-08.
- Brandon George [@DMN_George] (28 April 2018). "Cowboys add San Diego State S Kameron Kelly (Wylie HS) as an undrafted rookie free agent ..." (Tweet). Retrieved 2019-02-08 – via Twitter.
- Bobby Belt [@BobbyBeltTX] (1 September 2018). "Agent Damarius Bilbo confirms the Cowboys have released DB Kameron Kelly" (Tweet). Retrieved 2019-02-08 – via Twitter.
- Nguyen, Alexander. "San Diego Fleet Signs Two More Former Aztecs". Times of San Diego. Times of San Diego LLC. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
- San Diego Fleet PR [@SDFleetPR] (8 January 2019). "⚓️ 🙌 Versatility personified. New 'X' look familiar? @kaetwice7 playing at WR today. The multi-talented Kam Kelly played QB, WR, DB at Wylie HS and successfully switched from safety to corner as a senior at @SDSUFootball. #FleetTrainingCamp #GreatestShowOnSurf" (Tweet). Retrieved 2019-02-08 – via Twitter.
- "San Diego Fleet Sets Final Roster". OurSports Central. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
- Goldberg, Jeff (February 20, 2019). "Fleet's defense makes strong bid to be called best of the West". Alliance of American Football. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
- Judd, Brandon (March 9, 2019). "Five turnovers, last-second field goal doom Salt Lake Stallions in 27–25 loss to San Diego Fleet". Deseret News. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
- Garcia, Jeff (March 12, 2019). "Commanders QB Logan Woodside named AAF offensive player of the week". WOAI-TV. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
- Varley, Teresa (April 8, 2019). "Steelers sign three". Steelers.com. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
- "Brady starts his 20th season by beating Steelers 33–3". www.espn.com. 8 September 2019. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
- "Rudolph exits after scary hit, Ravens edge Steelers in OT". www.espn.com. 6 October 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
- "Steelers waive Kameron Kelly after arrest in South Side bar scuffle with police officer". WTAE. 2019-12-20. Retrieved 2019-12-20.
- Pelissero, Tom [@TomPelissero] (December 1, 2020). "Ex-#Steelers DB Kam Kelly -- cut last year after an arrest for disorderly conduct and threats -- had all charges dropped and the NFL has closed its review, I'm told. He'll be fined half of his next game check. Kelly stood out in The Spring League and is a free agent" (Tweet). Retrieved March 6, 2021 – via Twitter.
- "Tiger-Cats sign six defensive backs". TiCats.ca. February 17, 2021. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
- "Kameron Kelly". Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Retrieved December 8, 2021.