Former Broncos QB was massively suspended in the CFL

The Denver Broncos have had their fair share of problems at the quarterback position for what seems like forever. One of those quarterbacks that many fans believed had promise was Chad Kelly, who the Broncos selected with the final pick in the 2017 draft.

His NFL career has long since fizzled out and he now plays in the Canadian Football League. He had a lot of success there. He was part of the Toronto Argonauts team that won the Gray Cup in 2022. Last season he became the starting quarterback and was named the league’s most outstanding player.

But it looks like the rollercoaster ride that has been his playing career is about to end after it was revealed that he would be suspended for the entire preseason and nine games afterward for what is being described as “gender-based violence” following allegations. The ban was made by a former coach.

Chad Kelly was suspended nine games by the CFL

Unfortunately, this is not out of character for Kelly.

In college, he became a big name at Clemson. After all, he is the nephew of Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly. But in 2014 he was fired by Clemson for conduct detrimental to the team.

He then spent a season at East Mississippi Community College and won the NJCAA National Championship that year. This allowed him to get back on track and match Ole Miss to finish his college career.

Kudos to the CFL for thoroughly investigating and subsequently imposing a minimum 9-game suspension on Argos quarterback Chad Kelly for sexually harassing an Argos employee. Kelly has proven himself welcome almost everywhere he has been. I would be surprised if we ever see him in the CFL again.

– Bob Irving (@BobIrvingCJOB) May 7, 2024

But when his college career ended, most NFL teams didn’t want to take him because they thought he had an attitude problem. A torn cruciate ligament in 2016 didn’t help his cause either.

But John Elway, seemingly as a favor to Jim Kelly, decided to draft his nephew. And Chad was quickly seen as a bright spot for the Broncos as he played quite well in the preseason. Going into 2018, it was far from out of the question that Kelly could be the team’s future starting quarterback.

But in October of this year, he was arrested for trespassing after entering a residence following a Halloween party. The Broncos decided to cut ties with him at the time, essentially torpedoing his NFL career.

The Indianapolis Colts tried him out in 2019 and he spent two seasons there on the practice squad. But after being released from there, he took his talents north to see if he could salvage what was left of his playing career in Canada.

And it’s been going pretty well… until now. One has to wonder where his career goes from here.