Wildcat All-Americans
Jan 24, 2005 | General
JEFF KELLY
Linebacker
6-0, 250, 2L
La Grange , Texas ( La Grange HS/Garden City CC)
1998 (senior): First-Team All-America pick by Associated Press, Football Writers (FWAA) and Football News... Second-team All-America pick by The Sporting News... Runner up for the Bronko Nagurski Award... First-team All-Big 12 pick by Big 12 coaches, Associated Press, Ft. Worth Star-Telegram , Kansas City Star and Dallas Morning News ... Butkus Award Semifinalist... Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week vs. Texas after leading K-State's defensive effort that held Ricky Williams to 43 yard rushing on 25 carries... USA Today Player of the Week vs. Texas ... Named one of college football's Top 10 hardest hitters by Sports Illustrated ... Set a K-State record with six tackles-for-loss against Kansas and Baylor... Led a defense that ranked in the Top 10 in the nation in all defensive categories.
1997 (junior): Earned First-team All-Big 12 honors from the Big 12 coaches, Associated Press, Ft. Worth Star-Telegram , Kansas City Star , Dallas Morning News , Waco Tribune and Football News... Big 12 Defensive Newcomer of the Year by the Kansas City Star , Ft. Worth Star-Telegram , Waco Tribune and the Big 12 coaches... Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week vs. Texas A&M... Led the Wildcats with 110 tackles, including 24 for total losses of 110 yards... Led Big 12 in tackles-for-loss (24-110 yards) and finished sixth in sacks (7-63 yards)... His 110 tackles ranked sixth in the Big 12... Second on team with seven sacks for 63 yards in losses... His 24 tackles-for-loss rank second on K-State single-season list (four behind school record set in 1981 by Reggie Singletary)... Earned Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week honors following win over Texas A&M (11 tackles, 5 TFLs, two sacks)... Part of perhaps the best linebacker crew in the Big 12 along with Mark Simoneau and Travis Ochs... Had double-figure tackles against Ohio (16), Missouri (12), Texas A&M (11), Oklahoma (13), Colorado (11) and Iowa State (12)... Had at least one tackle-for-loss in nine of 11 games and at least two tackles-for-loss in seven games... Tied K-State single-game record with three sacks vs. Bowling Green ... Had two sacks among his five tackles-for-loss in a win over Texas A&M... Recovered a fumble vs. Kansas ... K-State Defensive Player of the Week vs. Texas A&M as chosen by coaching staff... K-State Defensive MVP.
Junior College / High School: Earned first-team Junior College All-America honors... First-team All-Jayhawk Conference selection... Jayhawk Conference Defensive Player of the Year... Rated No. 1 JuCo linebacker in the country by J.C. Gridwire ... Second-team all-state at LaGrange, and Houston 3A linebacker of the year in 1994... First-team all-conference selection as linebacker and fullback in 1994... Led the Jayhawk Conference with 169 tackles and 12 quarterback sacks, with four interceptions (one returned for touchdown)... Had 29 quarterback knockdowns and 32 tackles-for-loss in 1996... Also star baseball player at LaGrange as MVP of 3A schools in his district, and second-team all-state selection... Set a school record by scoring 48 points in a basketball game... Played four sports in high school, earning letters in football (3), basketball (3), track (2) and baseball (2).
Personal: One of four players from Garden City CC to sign with K-State in 1997... Played just one year at Garden City after playing as a freshman at Stephen F. Austin, a Div. I-AA school... Born Dec. 13, 1975... Parents are Jeff and Sheila Kelly... Listed favorite athlete as Reggie White of the Green Bay Packers ... Social science major.
Career Highs
Tackles: 16 vs. Ohio , 9/13/97
Solo Tackles: 9 vs. Baylor, 11/7/98
TFLs: 6 vs. Kansas (-24 yds), 10/31/98; 6 vs. Baylor, 11/7/98; 5 vs. Texas A&M (-55 yds), 10/18/97
Sacks: 3 vs. Bowling Green, 9/27/97
| Defensive Statistics |
| Year | G | TT | UT | AT | TFL | Sck | PB | FC | FR | Int |
| 1997 | 11 | 110 | 58 | 52 | 24-108 | 7-63 | 1 | 2 | 1-0 | 0 |
| 1998 | 11 | 87 | 51 | 36 | 23-92 | 6-49 | 2 | 3 | 2-25 | 3-18 |
| Totals | 22 | 197 | 109 | 88 | 46-198 | 13-112 | 3 | 5 | 3-25 | 3-18 |
