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| Personal information | |||||||
| Born | (1935-05-17)May 17, 1935 Lake City, Florida, U.S. | ||||||
| Died | February 11, 2016(2016-02-11) (aged 80) Hamilton, Ontario, Canada | ||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||
| Listed weight | 235 lb (107 kg) | ||||||
| Career information | |||||||
| High school | Sandusky (Sandusky, Ohio) | ||||||
| College | Michigan St. | ||||||
| NFL draft | 1959: 5th round, 59th overall pick | ||||||
| Career history | |||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||
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Ellison Lamar Kelly (May 17, 1935 – February 11, 2016) was anAmerican andCanadian footballoffensive lineman for theHamilton Tiger-Cats from 1960 to 1970 and theToronto Argonauts from 1971 to 1972 of theCanadian Football League (CFL). He also played in theNational Football League (NFL) for theNew York Giants. Kelly never missed a game in his 12 seasons in the CFL, playing 175 consecutive games. Kelly usually played guard or tackle, but the versatile performer also provided depth at the defensive end and linebacker positions. Teammates recall him as being a tough, solid competitor, even when injured. He won threeGrey Cups for the Tiger-Cats in 1963, 1965 & 1967 and played in the 1971 Grey Cup with the Argonauts.
Kelly wasdrafted in the fifth round of the1959 NFL draft by the Giants after a stellar career atMichigan State University, but he opted to go to Canada to play in the CFL in his second season.
Kelly is one of the few football players to have a race horse named after him. "Wildcat Kelly" was a gelding pacer in the stable of Yellow and Black farms of Hamilton, a partnership of Dill (Pickles) Southwick, a former quarterback for the Hamilton Tigers, and businessmen Bruce Woodward and George Ridpath. (Yellow and Black were the colours of the Tiger Cats.) As of 1970, the six-year-old "Wildcat Kelly" had won $14,000 in its lifetime.[1]
Kelly was inducted into theCanadian Football Hall of Fame in 1992. He spent his entire post-football life in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, first as a teacher with the Hamilton Board of Education, and later as a Recreations Officer with the Hamilton-Wentworth Detention Centre, where he was regarded as a gentle giant and a gentleman. He was a frequent guest on Tiger Cat alumni days and was asked to speak on many occasions. His speeches were often dominated by a spiritual appreciation and gratitude for the wonderful life and opportunities he had been given. He continued to live in Hamilton until his death in 2016.[2]
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