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Chad Kelly decided to take his talents to the CFL after failing to make a mark in the NFL, but his future is once again up in the air now that he’s been suspended by the league due to an incident with a female trainer who claims he threatened her after she spurned his romantic advances.
If you’ve kept tabs on Chad Kelly over the years, you probably know the quarterback’s career has been largely defined by his inability to stay out of trouble while costing himself in the process.
The nephew of legendary Bills quarterback Jim Kelly spent a couple of seasons at Clemson before he was dismissed for conduct detrimental to the team. He spent a year in exile at East Mississippi Community College and landed in hot water after being arrested for assault before linking up with Hugh Freeze at Ole Miss, where he bounced back in a big way thanks to his stellar junior season.
Unfortunately, his senior campaign was cut short by a knee industry that (along with his off-the-field issues) undoubtedly contributed to him earning Mr. Irrelevant honors when the Broncos selected him with the last overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.
Kelly was cut by Denver the following year after being arrested yet again for drunkenly stumbling into a stranger’s house following a Halloween party. He got another opportunity with the Colts but never saw any action, and when he was released in 2020, his NFL career effectively came to an end following four seasons where he played a grand total of one snap (a kneel at the end of a game).
The QB eventually got the chance to reboot his career with the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL and took full advantage. He came off the bench to lead his squad to a Grey Cup victory in 2022 and earned Most Oustanding Players honors in 2023 after securing the starting role, and it seemed like the 30-year-old had finally managed to turn things around.
However, things took a turn earlier this year when a female strength and conditioning coach who’d been employed by the Argonauts sued Kelly and the team. In the filing, she asserted she was subjected to “unwanted romantic advances” from the QB and that the team ignored her complaints and ultimately fired her after he verbally threatened her when she turned him down.
Kelly firmly denied any wrongdoing on his part, but according to Pro Football Talk, the CFL determined there was merit to those claims before deciding to hit him with a nine-game suspension while ordering him to undergo counseling he must complete if he wants to be reinstated.
The CFL preseason is slated to kick off later this month before the regular season gets underway in June, and as things currently stand, Kelly won’t be eligible to suit up until toward the end of August.