Reginald Kuta Kelly (born February 22, 1977) 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 ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Lik ...

. He was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the second round of the 1999 NFL Draft and played the majority of his career for the Cincinnati Bengals. He played college football at

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univer ...

College career

Kelly attended Mississippi State University. He played 44 times for his college and made 22 starts. He graduated with a degree in industrial technology. Kelly had a strong senior year at Mississippi State in 1998, earning First-team All-SEC, as he helped the Bulldogs win the SEC West Division title, earning a spot in the 1998 SEC Championship Game. After the Conference Championship, Kelly finished his college career playing in a New Years Day Bowl at the 1999 Cotton Bowl Classic.

Professional career

Atlanta Falcons

Kelly was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the second round (42nd overall) of the 1999 NFL draft. He made his first NFL start versus the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

on December 5. In his first season, he played in every game. In the 2000 season he started in every game and caught his first NFL touchdown pass versus the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

on September 24. He finished the season with 31 catches for 340 yards and two touchdowns. During the 2001 season he made 13 starts and finished the season with 16 catches for 142 yards. In the 2002 season he started every game in the regular season as Atlanta progressed to the Divisional playoffs. He finished the season with 14 catches for 162 yards.http://www.bengals.com/team/player.asp?player_id=20}

Cincinnati Bengals

On March 13, 2003, Kelly signed with the Cincinnati Bengals as an unrestricted free agent. He played in 12 games making 13 catches for 81 yards and one touchdown. During the 2004 season, Kelly played in every game for the Bengals with 15 starts and made 15 catches for 85 yards. In 2007, Kelly won the Ed Block Courage Award. This is an annual award presented to a player from each team in the National Football League (NFL) who are voted for by their teammates as role models of inspiration, sportsmanship, and courage. During a morning practice session on August 3, 2009, Kelly suffered a ruptured left

Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus ( grc-gre, Ἀχιλλεύς) was a hero of the Trojan War, the greatest of all the Greek warriors, and the central character of Homer's '' Iliad''. He was the son of the Nereid Thetis and Pele ...

. He was placed on injured reserve two days later. On May 13, 2010, Kelly re-signed with the Bengals.

Return to Atlanta

Kelly returned to the Atlanta Falcons on August 16, 2011 after signing a contract with them.

References

External links

Cincinnati Bengals bio
*http://www.reggiekelly82.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Reggie 1977 births Living people People from Aberdeen, Mississippi Players of American football from Mississippi American football tight ends Mississippi State Bulldogs football players Atlanta Falcons players Cincinnati Bengals players Ed Block Courage Award recipients