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Andy Kelly (American football)

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Andy Kelly
No. 8
Position:Quarterback
Personal information
Born: (1968-06-06) June 6, 1968 (age 56)
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 highlights and awards
Career Arena League statistics
Pass attempts-completions:6,224–3,886
Percentage:62.4
TDINT:809–164
Passing yards:42,519
Passer rating:104.09
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.

Early life

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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

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Kelly was a successful collegiate quarterback at the University of Tennessee from 1988–1991 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.

Statistics

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Tennessee Volunteers
Season Passing Rushing
Cmp Att Yds Pct TD Int Rtg Att Yds Avg TD
1988 15 25 98 60.0 0 0 92.9 9 −15 −1.7 0
1989 92 156 1,299 59.0 7 9 132.2 32 −33 −1.0 0
1990 179 304 2,241 58.9 14 14 126.8 38 18 0.5 0
1991 228 361 2,759 63.2 15 15 132.8 57 60 1.1 3
Career 514 846 6,397 60.8 36 38 129.3 136 30 0.2 3

Professional career

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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

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Year Passing
Cmp Att Pct Yds TD Int Rtg
1993 178 332 53.6 2,139 34 15 80.3
1995 95 166 57.2 1,004 16 8 78.9
1996 58 94 61.7 671 8 1 100.0
1997 309 497 62.2 3,821 82 14 113.7
1998 315 518 60.8 3,537 73 12 106.7
1999 324 501 64.7 3,609 67 11 110.2
2000 283 429 66 3,107 55 10 109.5
2001 230 382 60.2 2,699 47 7 104.8
2002 319 511 62.4 3,295 73 16 105.4
2003 392 654 59.9 3,967 92 20 99.7
2004 360 587 61.3 4,184 73 12 105.4
2005 466 700 66.6 4,657 96 12 112.4
2006 115 162 71 1,402 27 4 126.5
2006 177 294 60.2 1,856 24 13 80.5
2007 265 397 66.8 2,571 42 9 101.7
Career 3,886 6,224 62.4 42,519 809 164 104.0

Personal life

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

References

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  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. ^ a b "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.
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