Malcolm Xavier Kelly (born December 30, 1986) is an

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

coach and former

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

who played in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He was selected in the second round (51st overall) of the

2008 NFL draft The 2008 NFL draft was the 73rd NFL draft, annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York (state), New York ...

by the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

at the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

Early life

Kelly attended Longview High School in

Longview, Texas Longview is a city in, and county seat of, Gregg County, Texas, United States. Longview is located in East Texas, where Interstate 20 and U.S. Highway system, U.S. highways U.S. Route 80, 80 and U.S. Route 259, 259 converge just north of the Sabi ...

. He was a three-time all-district first-team selection at wide receiver and was also named First-team all-state his final two years in 2003 and 2004. Kelly caught 29 passes for 638 yards and nine touchdowns as a senior, as well as 27 passes for 826 yards and six touchdowns as a junior. Kelly was ranked the sixth best wide receiver in the nation by both ''Rivals.com'' and ''Scout.com'', behind

Patrick Turner Patrick Steven Turner (born May 19, 1987) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the third round of the 2009 N ...

and

DeSean Jackson DeSean William Jackson (born December 1, 1986) is an American college football coach and former player who is the Head coach, head football coach at Delaware State Hornets football, Delaware State University. Known for his speed, he is recog ...

among others.

College career

Playing as a

true freshman The following terms are used in American football, both conventional and indoor. Some of these terms are also in use in Canadian football; for a list of terms unique to that code, see '' Glossary of Canadian football''. 0–9 ...

in the 2005 season, Kelly led the Sooners in receptions and receiving yards. He had a season-high eight receptions at

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

, and hauled in five passes for a season-best 118 yards against

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

. He became the fourth freshman in OU history to lead the team in receiving, the first since 1975. Kelly was named to ''

The Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...

'' Freshman All-American Team and All-Big 12 Freshman Team. He also received an All-Big 12 honorable mention (Big 12 Coaches). Kelly ranks No. 4 at Oklahoma for receiving yards by a freshman, No. 5 for receptions by a freshman. In his 19th career game at Oklahoma, Kelly became the fastest player in Sooners history to reach 1,000 career receiving yards. During the 2006 season he led the Sooners in receptions, receiving yards and touchdown catches. In a game against

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship institution of the five- ...

he tied the school record with 11 receptions. He also went over 100 receiving yards in five games with a best of 164 versus

Middle Tennessee Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the state's capital an ...

. He was named MVP of the Big 12 Championship Game. After only two seasons with the Sooners, Kelly made it to eleventh on the all-time career receiving list with 1,464 yards. He also has the second most receiving yards in a season in OU's history with 993 yards, behind Mark Clayton's 1,425 yards. He also led Oklahoma to the

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Okla ...

championship. He scored ten touchdowns in his junior Campaign. Kelly suffered a knee injury early in the

2007 Fiesta Bowl The 2007 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl was a college football bowl game played as part of the 2006–2007 Bowl Championship Series (BCS) of the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The game was played on January 1, 2007, at its new venue, the Univers ...

and missed most of the game. Kelly began the 2007 season with a great game against

North Texas North Texas is a term used primarily by residents of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex to refer to a geographic area of Texas, generally considered to include the area south of Oklahoma, east of Abilene, Texas, Abilene, west of Paris, Texas, Par ...

, receiving for over 150 yards in a 79–10 victory. A week later he recorded 102 yards and three touchdowns receiving as the Sooners beat the

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes, known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes, are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Coll ...

51–13. In his junior season he ranked second on the Sooners, grabbing 49 passes for 821 yards (16.8-yard average) and nine touchdowns. After being injured in the Fiesta Bowl, Kelly did not work out at the NFL Combine. On pro day at Oklahoma on April 9, 2008, Kelly ran a disappointing 4.75 and 4.68 in the 40 yard dash. Afterward, the Oklahoma coaching staff acknowledged a last-minute change in the venue and turf—players must wear appropriate shoes for a given surface. Kelly claimed, nd Oklahoma denied with little effort towards a second opinion his injury was misdiagnosed by the Oklahoma staff. Kelly benched 225 15 times. Kelly's short shuttle was 4.15 with a 6.83 cone drill. He was thrown 22 passes from stand-in QB Eric Crouch and caught 21.

Professional career

Kelly was selected by the

in the second round (51st overall) of the

. On July 14, he signed a four-year, $3.36 million contract with $1.655 million guaranteed. However, due to injuries Kelly was inactive for three of the first five games of his rookie season. He appeared in only five games his first year, catching three passes for 18 yards. Kelly played 16 games in 2009 recording 25 receptions for 347 yards. Kelly spent the entire 2010 season on injured reserve with a knee injury. On August 30, 2011, Kelly was released with an injury settlement.

Post-playing career

On February 21, 2017, it was announced that Kelly joined the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

's football program as an offensive graduate assistant. On March 4, 2019, it was announced that Kelly joined the Texas Christian University's football program as an outside wide-receiver coach.

References

External links

Oklahoma Sooners bioWashington Redskins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Malcolm 1986 births Living people American football wide receivers Oklahoma Sooners football players Players of American football from Longview, Texas Longview High School alumni Washington Redskins players Houston Cougars football coaches TCU Horned Frogs football coaches