Still on the subject of former Gee-Gees making it to the pros, we have the following Winnipeg Free Press article about Ron Kelly “making the jump” from the Northern Football Conference to the Calgary Stampeders roster.
For those aging, ex-university players still chasing their pro football dreams, the 26-year-old receiver from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., has demonstrated the Canadian Football League is attainable.
Kelly has gone from running routes for his hometown Steelers in the Canadian Major Football League last summer to wearing a Calgary Stampeders jersey and preparing for his first CFL game July 1.
The CMFL is a senior men’s league of former university players or men over the age of 21 wanting to continue to play full-contact, full-equipment football.
“Just a group of guys still trying to live their dream,” Kelly said Friday. “They all have full-time jobs.”
The Stampeders plucked Kelly from those ranks, brought him to training camp and named him to their 46-player active roster
“Definitely this is something I’ve been looking forward do since I was 19, so about seven years now,” he said. “To actually be doing this feels great.
“This is just the beginning. It’s a long season, so just come out, work hard every day and win a Grey Cup.”
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Friday’s practice was the first since the Stamps named their active roster the previous day. Kelly says he high-fived roommate Mike Cornell and couldn’t wipe the smile of his face when he found out he was still a Stampeder.
Injuries in Calgary’s receiving corps may have helped Kelly’s cause, but the six-foot-four, 214-pounder has impressed fellow slotback Nik Lewis and quarterback Henry Burris.
Both compare him to a young Jason Clermont, who was named the top Canadian player for both the league and Grey Cup in 2004 when he played for the B.C. Lions.
“Coming here, he was just like any other rookie, having all this ability and potential to do big things,” Burris said of Kelly. “He’s risen to the occasion by working his tail off in the classroom, getting to know the playbook, but also bringing that to the field and executing.”
Lewis has been Kelly’s mentor through training camp.
“I don’t see him being nervous at all,” Lewis said. “At first he was kind of quiet. I really didn’t know what to expect from him, but once we went up to Edmonton and he made plays, I said, ‘Hey, that’s a player right there.’”
Kelly played three seasons for St. Mary’s University in Halifax starting in 2004 and then transferred to the University of Ottawa. He sat out a year and then had an undistinguished season with the Gee Gees due to injuries.
He attended a CFL combine in Montreal last winter and caught the eye of the Stamps.
“Kudos to our scouting department who saw this young man at a tryout,” head coach and general manager John Hufnagel said.
“He played whatever league he was playing in, but he had great measurables that they saw demonstrated in his workout. He’s had an excellent camp. He was slowed for a few days by an injury, but kept up with his assignments. When he got opportunities to make plays in a football game, he made plays.”
Kelly is still adapting to the pace of the pro game and its intricate playbook.
“Everything is at a higher level,” he explained. “You’re not just running your route out there and doing your assignment. Depending on what the defence gives you, you have so many different options of what you have to do.
“It’s a lot of studying and a lot of hard work, but I’m up for the challenge.”
His former Steelers teammates have been wishing him well on his Facebook page. Kelly’s girlfriend Nadia, his father Ron Sr., and his father’s fiancee Jennifer are planning to fly to Calgary for Thursday’s game in hopes of seeing Kelly get on the field for his CFL debut.
“All these things, anything leading up to it is all new, but I’m excited for everything,” Kelly said.
