Brian Lee Kelley (born September 1, 1951) is a former American football linebacker who played his entire professional career in the National Football League (NFL) for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

(1973–1983) after being drafted in the 14th round of the 1973 NFL Draft. Kelley grew up in

Fullerton, California Fullerton ( ) is a city located in northern Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 143,617. Fullerton was founded in 1887. It secured the land on behalf of the Atchison, Topeka and Sa ...

, where he was an outstanding athlete at

Sunny Hills High School Sunny Hills High School (SHHS) is a public high school located in Fullerton, California, United States. Established in 1959, it is part of the Fullerton Joint Union High School District. The campus, consisting mostly of single-story open plan bui ...

. He attended California Lutheran University, a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) member and played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

. Cal Lutheran won the NAIA National Championship in Kelley's junior year, but in his senior year, they lost, even though Kelley was named MVP of the championship game. He was also honored as a little All-American. On May 11, 2010, Kelley was elected into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

. As a member of the Giants, Kelley was one of the

Crunch Bunch The Crunch Bunch were the group of New York Giants football team's defensive linebackers in 1981, 1982 and 1983, one of the NFL's best group of linebackers.Associated PressNFL.com, February 18, 2009, Van Pelt, member of Giants' famed 'Crunch Bunc ...

, a team of fierce linebackers composed of Kelley,

Brad Van Pelt Brad Alan Van Pelt (April 5, 1951 – February 17, 2009) was an American football linebacker who played 14 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). A two-time All-American (1971, 1972) and the 1972 Maxwell Award winner as college football' ...

Lawrence Taylor Lawrence Julius Taylor (born February 4, 1959), nicknamed "L.T.", is an American former professional football player who spent his entire career as an outside linebacker for the New York Giants ( 1981–1993) in the National Football League (NF ...

, and Harry Carson. The group is widely considered one of the best linebacking combos in NFL history.Eisen, Michael

New York Giants.com, February 18, 2009, Van Pelt PassesAssociated Press

NFL.com, February 18, 2009, Van Pelt, member of Giants' famed 'Crunch Bunch,' dies at age 57

College career

Kelley had played defensive end and tight end at

prior to college. For college, Kelley played linebacker for

Cal Lutheran Kingsmen California Lutheran University (CLU, Cal Lutheran, or Cal Lu) is a private university in Thousand Oaks, California. It was founded in 1959 and is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, but is nonsectarian. It opened in 1960 ...

in Thousand Oaks, CA, a team he helped to win the NAIA National Championship in his junior year in 1971. He was selected by the Associated Press as a first-team linebacker on the

1972 Little All-America college football team The 1972 Little All-America college football team, also known as the College Division All-America football team, is composed of college football players from small colleges and universities who were selected by the Associated Press (AP) as the best ...

. Kelley, at 6’3” and 225 lbs was drafted for the

after assistant Jim Garrett had seen him play. He was named the team's most valuable player in the NAIA Championship and was selected to the NAIA All-America First-team as well as the NAIA District 3 Defensive First-team and the All-Lutheran College Defensive First-team. He was inducted into the CLU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003. After CLU, he played for eleven seasons starting as a linebacker for the New York Giants. Besides football, Kelley was also a member of the university's wrestling program and was named the NAIA District III heavyweight wrestling champion in 1970. He became CLU's first

inductee after his induction in 2010. He finished his college career with seventeen interceptions, which was a school record, and as a punter averaging 34.6 yards per punt.https://www.callutheran.edu/news/story.html?id=6673#story

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelley, Brian 1951 births Living people American football linebackers Cal Lutheran Kingsmen football players New York Giants players College Football Hall of Fame inductees Players of American football from Dallas Sportspeople from Fullerton, California Players of American football from California