Cole Kelley is a pretty memorable name for Teurlings Catholic fans and alumni as well as anyone who keeps up with Acadiana high school football. In high school, Kelley was hard not to notice as he stood at 6’7” and over 200 lbs., not to mention he had a rocket for an arm. He led the rebels to door state semi-finals in his senior. He became a highly sought-after 4-star recruit who accept a scholarship to play at Arkansas in 2016.

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He wouldn’t see the field as Freshman but would get a few games under his belt in 2017, but he wasn’t able to cement himself as the starter. In 2019, he would transfer to Southeastern where he would thrive.

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In the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Kelley would light up the stat sheet. In the shortened Covid season, he completed 70% of his passes for 2,662 for 18 to just 4 interceptions. He had an even more impressive season in 2021 where he would complete 73% of his passes for 3,634 passing yards with 31 touchdowns to 6 interceptions. He was so good in 2021 that he won the FCS Walter Peyton Award which is given to the best player at the FCS level.

He would enter the 2022 NFL draft but he would go undrafted. He would sign as a free agent with the Washington Commanders in May of 2022, but would eventually be released in August. Well, ladies and gentlemen, I am here to tell you that the Lafayette native will be playing professional football once again in the USFL as a member of the Memphis Showboats.

Everyone who has ever played with Cole or Watched him play, took to Twitter to show their support for the former Rebel.

The USFL is a professional football league that saw a little success in its first season in 2019 before Covid shut them down and they didn’t return until the spring of 2022.  The Showboats are the newest addition to the USFL. The USFL season is set to get underway in just 80 days, and I can’t wait to see what Kelley can do. Congratulations and best of luck!

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