Robert James Kelly III (born June 21, 1974) 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

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

for four seasons with 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 ...

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) and one on the

injured reserve list 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 t ...

for the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

. 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

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree, ...

Career

Kelly was selected in the second round of the 1997 NFL draft. Kelly retired from football in 2002 and age 28, after he sustained an injury during training camp to a nerve between his neck and shoulder.

References

External links

*DeVito, Maria (February 9, 2018)
"Newark Catholic's Rob Kelly: Game of football is too violent to play"
''

The Newark Advocate ''The Advocate'' is the local daily newspaper of Newark, Ohio, serving the general Licking County region. It has been part of the Gannett family of newspapers and periodicals since 2000. "Thomson Corp. will sell ''The Advocate'' and other paper ...

''. 1974 births Living people People from Mount Vernon, Ohio Sportspeople from Newark, Ohio American football safeties Ohio State Buckeyes football players New Orleans Saints players New England Patriots players 20th-century American sportsmen {{Defensiveback-1970s-stub