Mark Alan Kelso (born July 23, 1963) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

player. He was a member of the Buffalo Bills teams that appeared in four consecutive Super Bowls from 1990 to 1993, and served as the color commentator for the

Buffalo Bills Radio Network The Buffalo Bills Radio Network is a broadcast radio network based in Buffalo, New York. Its primary programming is broadcasts of Buffalo Bills home and away games to a network of 24 stations in upstate New York, the Northwestern and Northern Ti ...

from 2006 until 2019.

Early life

Kelso was selected by the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

in the tenth round of the 1985 NFL Draft. A 5'11", 177 lbs.

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly dif ...

, he attended

North Hills High School North Hills High School is a suburban high school located in Ross Township, a northern suburb of Pittsburgh. It serves students in grades 9–12 in the North Hills School District. The school's mascot is the Indian and its official colors are r ...

and the

College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William I ...

. At William & Mary Kelso recorded the second-highest interception total in school history with 20. In 1983 Kelso recorded 141 tackles, third all-time in a single season for a player of any position at William & Mary and the most ever by a safety.

Playing career

Kelso played in eight NFL seasons and his entire career with the Buffalo Bills, from 1986 to 1993. His peak performance as a pro came during the 1988 season when he had intercepted seven passes for 180 yards and one touchdown. Kelso recorded seven interceptions again in 1992 and twice recorded six interceptions in a season (1987 and 1989). He started 99 regular-season games in his NFL career, and 16 playoff games. Kelso was elected as a captain and started in the Bill's four consecutive Super Bowl appearances from 1990-1993. His thirty career interceptions rank third all-time for the Bills. Kelso is the recipient of the 1994 "Byron Whizzer White" NFL Man of the Year Award which awards annually one NFL player who goes above and beyond to perform community service in his hometown and team city. He was well known for wearing a "pro cap" on his helmet which was used to reduce the risk of concussions.

Broadcasting, coaching, and other work

From 2006 until 2018, Kelso served as the

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main ( play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and ...

for Buffalo Bills radio broadcasts on both

WGRF WGRF (96.9 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station in Buffalo, New York, branded as "97 Rock". The station is owned by Cumulus Media and has a radio format playing classic rock, mostly from the 1970s and 1980s. WGRF competes for classic rock l ...

96.9 FM and

WGR WGR (550 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Buffalo, New York. Owned by Audacy, Inc., its studios and offices are located on Corporate Parkway in Amherst, and the transmitter site—utilized by WGR and co-owned WWKB—is in Ham ...

550. He was the development director at Saint Mary's High School in

Lancaster, New York Lancaster is a town in Erie County, New York, United States, centered 14 miles east of downtown Buffalo. Lancaster is an outer ring suburb of Buffalo. As of the 2020 Census, the town population was 45,106. Located within the town is the villa ...

, as well as its varsity football defensive coordinator, from the 2003 to 2010 seasons. Kelso left his position at Saint Mary's in order to work with a Georgia-based company named The Hanson Group. Kelso also is a local baseball coach. Prior to that he taught fifth grade at Main Street Elementary School in

East Aurora, New York East Aurora is a village in Erie County, New York, United States, southeast of Buffalo. It lies in the eastern half of the town of Aurora. The village population was 5,998 per the 2020 census. It is part of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls Metr ...

. Since at least 2018, Kelso has also worked for

JTG Daugherty Racing JTG Daugherty Racing (formerly ST Motorsports and JTG Racing) is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team is owned by former advertising executive Tad Geschickter and his wife Jodi, ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelso, Mark 1963 births Living people American football safeties Buffalo Bills announcers Buffalo Bills players High school football coaches in New York (state) National Football League announcers Players of American football from Pittsburgh William & Mary Tribe football players Ed Block Courage Award recipients