# Brian Kelly (cornerback)

Brian Patrick Kelly (born January 14, 1976) is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the USC Trojans and was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the second round of the 1998 NFL draft. Kelly earned a Super Bowl ring with the Buccaneers in Super Bowl XXXVII and also played for the Detroit Lions. His son, Kyu Blu Kelly, also played in the NFL.

## Early life

Kelly is a high school graduate from Overland High School in Aurora, Colorado. Overland won the 1993 6A state championship in his senior year.

## College career

Kelly graduated from the University of Southern California in 1997.

## Professional career

Pre-draft measurables :
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press |
| 5 ft 11+1⁄8 in (1.81 m) | 192 lb (87 kg) | 32+1⁄8 in (0.82 m) | 9+1⁄8 in (0.23 m) | 3.82 s | 7.25 s | 33.5 in (0.85 m) | 10 ft 0 in (3.05 m) | 8 reps |
| All values from the NFL Combine |||||||||

### Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Kelly was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2nd round of the 1998 NFL draft. In 2002, he helped the Bucs win the Super Bowl, during that same season he had 8 interceptions, which tied for the league lead along with Rod Woodson. On February 15, 2008, he exercised a buyout option in his contract and became a free agent.

### Detroit Lions

On March 8, 2008, he signed a three-year deal with the Detroit Lions. He appeared in 11 games (all starts) for the Lions in 2008, recording 26 tackles and a pass defensed. The team released him on December 9 after signing cornerback Dexter Wynn.

### NFL statistics

| Year | Team | Games | Games | Tackles | Tackles | Tackles | Tackles | Tackles | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Fumbles | Fumbles |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | Sfty | PD | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | FF | FR |
| 1998 | TB | 16 | 3 | 27 | 25 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1999 | TB | 16 | 3 | 34 | 29 | 5 | 0.0 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2000 | TB | 16 | 3 | 48 | 44 | 4 | 0.0 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 2001 | TB | 16 | 11 | 57 | 46 | 11 | 1.5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2002 | TB | 16 | 16 | 65 | 57 | 8 | 1.0 | 0 | 21 | 8 | 68 | 9 | 31 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2003 | TB | 5 | 5 | 15 | 13 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2004 | TB | 16 | 16 | 58 | 51 | 7 | 0.0 | 0 | 21 | 4 | 101 | 25 | 75 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2005 | TB | 16 | 16 | 50 | 41 | 9 | 1.0 | 0 | 17 | 4 | 19 | 5 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2006 | TB | 2 | 2 | 12 | 11 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2007 | TB | 11 | 4 | 21 | 19 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2008 | DET | 11 | 10 | 26 | 23 | 3 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | Career | 141 | 89 | 413 | 359 | 54 | 3.5 | 0 | 104 | 22 | 227 | 10.0 | 75 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Source: pro-football-reference.com |||||||||||||||||

## Personal life

Kelly's son, Kyu Blu Kelly, played cornerback at Stanford and was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the 2023 NFL draft.