Kelly sets up return trip to Clemson

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sat May 28 00:21:28 GMT-04:00 2011

One of Clemson’s top two quarterback prospects is headed back to Clemson.

Quarterback

6-3, 205

Buffalo, NY

View Full Profile , out of St. Joseph’s (Buffalo, NY), told TigerNet Friday evening that his “football family” will be back on campus June 15th as he tries to narrow down his list even further.

“I love Clemson and I am excited to go back there,” Kelly said. “We fell in love with the campus and the people on the first visit, and now we are going to go back. I can't wait to get back and see all of the people we met the first time, and talk to the coaches. I can't wait to visit because we are very high on them.”

Kelly is the nephew of former NFL quarterback Jim Kelly, who played collegiately at Miami, and he told TigerNet that the football bloodlines extend beyond Jim.

“My uncle Pat played in the NFL with the Baltimore Colts and the Detroit Lions,” Kelly said. “He was also Michael Vick’s first agent when he got into the NFL. I have a cousin who was a center and long snapper at the University of Buffalo, and I have another cousin who played for the Richmond Spiders.

“My dad was around when my uncles were going through their recruiting and for their football careers, so he has been around football his whole life. When I went to Penn St., Joe Paterno came over and said hello to my dad because he remembers him. And my girlfriend’s dad played at Miami with my Uncle Jim. I have been around the sport my entire life.”

Kelly said that his recruitment is vastly different than his Uncle Jim’s.

“He was only offered by three schools, and one of those was Penn St. and they offered him as a linebacker,” he said. “He was definitely different than me. He only graduated with 50 or so people in his high school, so he just wasn’t recruited by everybody. But it turned out good for him.”

His famous uncle is still a great resource, however.

“I talk to him two or three times a day,” he said. “I really don’t talk to him about football all that much. He just tells me to be respectful of everybody, and to try and stay humble. He tells me to mind my manners, and be thankful of the opportunity that I have.”

He said his mother helps out on the academic side of his life, and leaves the football to the men.

“She is a teacher, and she looks more at the academics,” he said. “She knows that academics are huge, and that is why she has me in the school I am in now. She is very religious, and I pray with her two and three times a day about the direction of my life. My dad and my uncles are looking at the offense and the style of play, and she is looking at the academics. She is definitely one of the big decision makers in all of this.”