Robert James Kelly III (born June 21, 1974) is a former professional

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 wit ...

player who played

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for four seasons for the

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in the

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and one on the

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for the

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Career

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.

Health problems

On February 2, 2018, Kelly's wife, Emily, wrote an article for ''

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'' chronicling her husband's life after football. She wrote that her husband had never used steroids or had a diagnosed brain injury, but starting in 2009, he began suffering mood swings and depression and later saw his weight plummet to 157 pounds by 2016. She wrote that in 2013, the NFL player retirement plan and supplemental disability plan awarded him total and permanent disability benefits, which will provide monthly payments for the rest of his life. She wrote that the clinician who examined Kelly concluded that "repeated concussion" likely had caused Kelly's "neuropsychological dysfunction."

Personal life

Lives in Ohio.

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 papers ...

''. 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 {{Defensiveback-1970s-stub