Ryan Patrick Kelly (born May 30, 1993) is an American 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 ...

center for the Minnesota Vikings 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 played

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for the Alabama Crimson Tide, and was selected by the Colts in first round of the 2016 NFL draft.

Early life

Kelly attended Lakota West High School in West Chester, Ohio, where he was teammates with Jordan Hicks. As a junior in 2009, he was a first team all-conference and all-city selection on the offensive line. During his senior season, he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in the last game of his season against rival Lakota East, yet he still was named third-team Division I All-Ohio. Although selected, he was unable to play at the Under Armour All-America Game coming off of his knee injury. Rated as a three-star recruit by ''

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'', Kelly was ranked as the No. 4 center prospect in his class. He collected numerous scholarship offers from major programs, including

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, Florida State,

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, and

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, but none from his home-state Ohio State Buckeyes who signed the third-ranked center, Brian Bobek from Palatine, Illinois, instead. Kelly verbally committed to Alabama in July 2010.

College career

After redshirting his initial year in Tuscaloosa, Kelly came off the bench to play in 10 games of the 2012 season at center, backing up All-American senior Barrett Jones. Kelly was named to the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

(SEC) All-Freshman team, alongside Amari Cooper and T. J. Yeldon. In his sophomore year, Kelly took over starting duties from Jones, making the calls on an offensive line that ranked 23rd nationally and fourth in the SEC for fewest sacks allowed per game (1.31). As a junior, Kelly was named to the Rimington Trophy watch list and started 12 games at center. A highly reliable anchor on the offensive line, he missed just seven assignments in 806 snaps on the year for a 99.1 percent success rate and did not allow a

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

sack. After wins at

and against Western Carolina he was named Alabama's Offensive Player of the Week. In his senior season, Kelly missed only eight assignments in 1,012 snaps for a success rate of 99.2 percent on the season, and committed just one penalty in 1,012 snaps with no holding calls. He was a consensus first team All-America selection, earning first-team honors from the Walter Camp Football Foundation, ''

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'', ''

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'', the Football Writers Association of America, and the American Football Coaches Association, and won the Rimington Trophy in 2015.

Professional career

Indianapolis Colts

The

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

selected Kelly in the first round (18th overall) of the 2016 NFL draft. The Colts drafted him with the expectation of him becoming "the first solid center for the franchise since Jeff Saturday." He was Alabama's first interior offensive lineman selected in the first round since Chance Warmack in 2013. On May 4, 2016, the Colts signed Kelly to a fully guaranteed four-year, $10.45 million contract that includes a

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

of $5.80 million. He started all 16 games at center during his rookie year. On August 17, 2017, it was revealed that Kelly would undergo foot surgery for a broken bone he suffered during practice. He missed the first four weeks of the season, and went on to start the next seven games. He suffered a concussion in Week 12 and missed the next three games before being placed on injured reserve on December 18, 2017. On April 27, 2019, the Colts picked up the fifth-year option on Kelly's contract. On September 4, 2020, the Colts signed Kelly to a four-year, $50 million extension, making him the highest paid center in the NFL.

Minnesota Vikings

On March 12, 2025, Kelly signed with the Minnesota Vikings on a two-year, $18 million contract. The Vikings followed Kelly's acquisition by also signing his Colts offensive line teammate Will Fries.

Statistics

Personal life

On December 17, 2021 Kelly and his wife Emma lost their newborn daughter due to a heart failure.

Notes and references

External links

Indianapolis Colts bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Ryan 1993 births Living people People from West Chester, Butler County, Ohio Players of American football from Butler County, Ohio American football centers Alabama Crimson Tide football players All-American college football players Indianapolis Colts players American Conference Pro Bowl players Under Armour All-American football players Minnesota Vikings players