Kaelin Clay (born January 3, 1992) 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 ...

wide receiver. He was drafted by the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The cl ...

in the sixth round of the 2015 NFL Draft and played college football at

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

Early years

Clay attended

Long Beach Polytechnic High School Long Beach Polytechnic High School, founded in 1895 as Long Beach High School, is a four-year public high school located at 1600 Atlantic Avenue in Long Beach, California, United States. The school serves portions of Long Beach, including Bixby ...

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

. He caught 20 passes for 502 yards and six touchdowns in his junior season on a team that won the Southern Section title. He began his SuperPrep All-American and All-Moore League senior season as a wide receiver before moving to the backfield for the final four games. He rushed for 1,048 yards and posted another 524 receiving to combine for 1,572 rushing and receiving yards as a senior while scoring 15

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

(eight receiving, seven rushings) and adding 13 punt returns for 206 yards. Clay was ranked as the No. 53 wide receiver nationally by

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and the media outlet's No. 79 player overall in the state of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. Also a standout

track & field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete, Clay finished third in the state in the 100-meter dash (10.44) and fourth in the

200-meter dash The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

(21.07) as a senior in 2010 with career-best times in both. He helped his track squad win Moore League titles in each his four seasons, while he was a four-time winner (100 meters, 200 meters, 4x100 meter relay, 4x400 meter relay) at the league track meet in each of his final two seasons, as well as the winner in both the 100m and 200m for each of his final three campaigns.

College career

Clay played one year at Utah after transferring from Mt. San Antonio College, where he was named first-team all-conference with 16 touchdowns. He made four different All-American teams as a return specialist in 2014 with Utah and was named first-team All-Pac-12 as a return specialist. He also finished the season with a punt return average of 15.0 and three touchdowns. Also returned a kickoff for a touchdown last season and had a 24.9 average on kickoff returns. On November 8, 2014, Clay received national coverage when, with Utah up 7-0 against the

Oregon Ducks The Oregon Ducks are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Oregon, located in Eugene. The Ducks compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Pac-12 Conference. ...

, on what would have been Clay's defining 79-yard touchdown for his collegiate career, he celebrated prematurely and dropped the ball on the 1-yard line, allowing Oregon's Joe Walker to recover the ball and return it 99 yards for a touchdown in the opposite direction, changing the potential 14–0 score to a 7–7 tie; Oregon would go on to win the game 51–27.

Professional career

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The

selected Clay in the sixth round of the 2015 NFL Draft with the 184th overall pick. On September 5, 2015, he was waived by the Buccaneers and was signed to the practice squad. On September 15, 2015, he was released by the Buccaneers.

Detroit Lions

On September 22, 2015, Clay was signed by the Lions to the practice squad.

Baltimore Ravens

On November 17, 2015, Clay was signed by the Ravens from the Lions' practice squad. On November 22, 2015, Clay played in his first career game against 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 ...

. The next week against their divisional rival,

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

, Clay returned the Browns’ first punt for an 82-yard touchdown on ''

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''. During the August 11 preseason opener against the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

, Clay fumbled a punt, giving Carolina possession. He was waived/injured by the Ravens on August 15, 2016 and was placed on injured reserve. He was released from the Ravens' injured reserve list on November 11, 2016.

Carolina Panthers

On April 7, 2017, Clay signed a one-year contract with the

Buffalo Bills

On September 2, 2017, Clay was traded to the Buffalo Bills for

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

Kevon Seymour Kevon Seymour ( ; born November 30, 1993) is an American football cornerback that is a free agent. He played college football at USC. College career In four seasons at USC, Seymour had 126 tackles (4 for a loss), 19 deflections, one fumble re ...

. He was waived by the Bills on October 23, 2017.

Carolina Panthers (second stint)

On October 24, 2017, Clay was claimed off waivers by the Panthers. On November 26, 2017, he returned a punt for a touchdown against the New York Jets. It was the second of his career.

Buffalo Bills (second stint)

On March 29, 2018, Clay signed with the Buffalo Bills. He was waived on September 1, 2018.

New York Giants

On September 1, 2018, Clay was claimed off waivers by the New York Giants. He was placed on injured reserve on September 25, 2018 after suffering a sprained ankle in Week 2. He was released on October 2, 2018.

Salt Lake Stallions

On December 22, 2018, Clay signed with the

Salt Lake Stallions The Salt Lake Stallions were a professional American football franchise based in Salt Lake City, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF), which began play in February 2019. The Stallions were the northernmost team i ...

of the Alliance of American Football. He was placed on injured reserve on March 13, 2019. The league ceased operations in April 2019.

References

External links

Baltimore Ravens bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clay, Kaelin 1992 births Living people Players of American football from Long Beach, California American football wide receivers American football return specialists Mt. SAC Mounties football players Utah Utes football players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Detroit Lions players Baltimore Ravens players Carolina Panthers players Buffalo Bills players New York Giants players Salt Lake Stallions players Long Beach Polytechnic High School alumni