Mark Peter Kellar (July 17, 1952 – November 23, 2023) was an American professional

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who played three seasons with the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

of 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 by the Vikings in the sixth round of the

1974 NFL draft The 1974 NFL draft took place at the Americana Hotel in New York City, New York, on January 29–30, 1974. Each of the 26 NFL teams were granted 17 selections for a total of 442 picks. Many experts consider the Pittsburgh Steelers to have had t ...

. He played

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Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois, United States. It was founded as "Northern Illinois State Normal School" in 1895 by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld, initially to provide the state with c ...

and attended Irving Crown High School in

Carpentersville, Illinois Carpentersville is a village in Kane County, Illinois, United States. The population was 37,983 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area. History Julius Angelo Carpenter (August 19, 1827 – March 30, 1880) was the foun ...

. Kellar was also a member of the Chicago Fire,

Chicago Winds The Chicago Winds was the World Football League's ill-fated 1975 successor to the Chicago Fire. The team was so named because Chicago was nicknamed "The Windy City." The Winds played at Soldier Field and the team was assigned to the WFL's West ...

and

San Antonio Wings The San Antonio Wings were an American football team who played a single season in the World Football League in 1975. The team started as the Florida Blazers in 1974, then moved to San Antonio, Texas in 1975, becoming the San Antonio Wings. Hi ...

of the

World Football League The World Football League (WFL) was an American football league that played one full season in 1974 in sports, 1974 and most of its second in 1975 in sports, 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a w ...

(WFL).

Early life

Kellar earned two varsity

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in football, two in basketball and three in track at Irving Crown High School in

. He finished third in the state

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field sport in which the participant athlete throws an oblate spheroid weight (object), weight called a discus in an attempt to mark a further distance than other competitors. It is a ...

his senior year. He also earned All- Tri-County Conference honours in all three sports. Kellar was part of the inaugural class of inductees into the Dundee-Crown Athletic Hall of Fame in 2004.

College career

Kellar played for the

Northern Illinois Huskies The Northern Illinois Huskies are the athletic teams that represent Northern Illinois University (NIU). The Huskies are a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I and the Mid-American Conference (M ...

from 1971 to 1973. He led

NCAA Division I-A The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...

in rushing yards with 1,719 in 1973. He set a school record for career rushing yards with 3,745 and also scored 33 touchdowns. Kellar played in the North-South Shrine Game his senior year in 1973. He was a three-time team co-MVP from 1971 to 1973 and was voted Huskies quad-captain in 1973. Kellar was also named an Honorable Mention

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by the

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and

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during his college career. He was named to the All-Time Huskie Stadium Team in 1995 and the Huskies' All-Century Team in 1999. His jersey number 31 has been retired by the Huskies and he was inducted into the Northern Illinois University Athletics Hall of Fame in 1983.

Professional career

Kellar was selected by the

of the NFL with the 155th pick in the

. He was selected by the Chicago Fire of the WFL in the seventh round (82nd overall) of the 1974 WFL Draft. He rushed for 778 yards and nine touchdowns on 189 attempts during the 1974 season. Kellar also accumulated 28 receptions for 342 yards and six touchdowns. He signed with the WFL's

in 1975. He recorded 179 yards and two touchdowns on 62 rushing attempts during the 1975 season. Kellar also accrued 19 receptions for 181 yards. The Winds folded only a few months into the 1975 season. He then signed with the

of the WFL and played for them during the remainder of the 1975 season. He was signed by the Minnesota Vikings in 1976 and played in 33 games for the team from 1976 to 1978. Kellar then retired from football.

Personal life and death

Kellar's brother

Scott Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Sas ...

also played football at Northern Illinois University and in the National Football League. Mark Kellar died November 23, 2023, at the age of 71.

References

External links