This Tri-City native is going for pro. He’s already been an All-American success

Southridge High School graduate Brenden Kelly was busy trying to catch his next flight Tuesday when he got a text from one his Eastern Oregon University football teammates.

The text told him “Congratulations.”

Kelly had just been named an American Football Coaches Association NAIA First-Team All-American at wide receiver.

It surprised the redshirt senior a bit.

But those who know him weren’t surprised at all.

“BK (Brenden Kelly) is an outstanding person and athlete who has represented himself, his family and Eastern Oregon in a first-class fashion since the day he stepped foot on our campus,” said EOU head coach Tim Camp. “He deserves all the accolades he is getting, based on the fact that he has worked for them and has never asked ... just worked. Myself and the staff wish him the best in the future.”

That future begins today.

Kelly is scheduled to play in the Free Agent Football Senior Bowl series in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

It’s a set of four games in which players of different levels go against each other — NAIA go up against NCAA Division 3, or D-2 take on D-3, or FBS play against FCS.

However, Kelly said he was asked by organizers to move from the NAIA level — the lowest level of college football — up to the NCAA Division I game that starts at 1 p.m. Saturday.

The 6-2, 205-pounder just had too many good stats.

He finished this season at Eastern Oregon – which finished 6-4 – with 53 catches for 1,219 yards and seven touchdowns.

The yardage was the sixth-best total in the nation in NAIA, while his average-per-game as fourth best.

Kelly said he felt confident he’d have a good final season, “just because I’ve always progressed in my seasons, from freshman to sophomore seasons on up.”

But 2018 was a monster season.

He broke the school record in September for receiving yardage in a game, catching 10 passes for 265 yards. Four games later, he broke it again with 7 catches for 281 yards.

His 97-yard touchdown catch was a school record for longest play.

“Honestly, the difference was better chemistry with my quarterback (Kai Quinn of Pendleton) this season,” Kelly said. “Last year he was a freshman, and the timing wasn’t as good as it could have been.”

Kelly also got more athletic.

“I’ve gotten even better physically,” he said. “I trained with Elite Ambitions Training since I was a junior in high school.”

He’s planning to see how far football can take him.

“I have been training ever since the season ended,” he said.

He and his wife Paris and daughter Aaliyah moved from La Grande after the season ended back to the Tri-Cities, where he’s taking an online class to complete his business management degree.

“I had almost everything done before this season started, but to stay eligible I had to take a class,” Kelly said.

Paris, he says, is his record tracker and stat book.

“One of my personal goals coming into this season was to break some school records,” Kelly said. “My wife would always tell me how many catches or yards away I was from a record.”

Kelly’s 3,046 receiving yards is an EOU career record.

And although not a school record, his career 29 touchdowns is impressive.

Kelly is hopeful that Paris will be able to keep doing that for him after college, with a chance to play professionally.

EOU’s last All-American wide receiver was Jace Billingsley in 2015, when he was second team.

Billingsley has been on NFL practice squads with the Detroit Lions and the New England Patriots.

Kelly would like a similar chance.

Becoming an NAIA first team All-American should give him that opportunity.

This story was originally published December 14, 2018 at 5:46 PM.