Career
He played college football as an end at Yale University. His jersey number was 19. Kelley was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1969.
Kelley was an All-American and the captain of the Yale football team
Following his career at Yale, he played for the Boston Shamrocks of the American Football League in 1937. Following his career in football, Kelley was a history teacher and alumni director at the Peddie School in Hightstown, New Jersey, his alma mater.
He taught algebra at Cheshire Academy and spent 12 years in the glove manufacturing industry. The Ian Graham Athletic Center at the Peddie School holds a replica of the Heisman Trophy donated to the school by Kelley.
His health was visibly failing by then after having suffered a minor stroke and having open-heart surgery, and on June 27, 2000, Kelley died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his home in Hightstown, ruled a suicide by the police.
He was 85 when he died.