Reginald Kuta Kelly (born February 22, 1977) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

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 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 ...

for the

Mississippi State Bulldogs Mississippi State Bulldogs is the name given to the college athletics, athletic teams of Mississippi State University, in Mississippi State, Mississippi. The university is a founding member of the Southeastern Conference and competes in NCAA D ...

. and was selected by the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

in the second round of the

1999 NFL draft The 1999 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 17–18, 1999, at the Theater at M ...

. He played the majority of his NFL career for the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

College career

Kelly attended

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, Un ...

. 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 The 1998 SEC Championship Game was won by the Tennessee Volunteers 24–14 over the Mississippi State Bulldogs. The game was played in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on December 5, 1998, and was televised to a national audience on ABC. Mississippi ...

. After the Conference Championship, Kelly finished his college career playing in a New Years Day Bowl at the

1999 Cotton Bowl Classic The 1999 Southwestern Bell Cotton Bowl Classic was a post-season college football game played on January 1, 1999. It pitted the Texas Longhorns against the Southeastern Conference (SEC) West champions Mississippi State Bulldogs. This was the firs ...

Professional career

Atlanta Falcons

Kelly was drafted by the

in the second round (42nd overall) of the

. 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 National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

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, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...

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

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 () was a hero of the Trojan War who was known as being the greatest of all the Greek warriors. The central character in Homer's ''Iliad'', he was the son of the Nereids, Nereid Thetis and Peleus, ...

. He was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

two days later. On May 13, 2010, Kelly re-signed with the Bengals.

Return to Atlanta

Kelly returned to the

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 Sportspeople from Aberdeen, Mississippi Players of American football from Mississippi American football tight ends Mississippi State Bulldogs football players Atlanta Falcons players Cincinnati Bengals players